General Update | Filing PF withdrawal Claims Online Likely to be a Reality in December

 The Employees' Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) will launch the online facility for submitting provident fund withdrawal claims in December, which would quicken such settlements and benefit its over five crore subscribers.

At present, subscribers of the retirement fund body have to file PF settlement claims manually after they leave a job or after their retirement. The online application of such claims would enable EPFO to eventually settle those within three days.

"EPFO has decided to provide the facility of online application for PF withdrawal claims. It will be launched by mid-December," a source said.

According to the source, all those subscribers whose PF and bank accounts are linked with Aadhaar number would be able to avail this facility.

Elaborating further he said that since Aadhaar number provide anywhere anytime authentication of identity on the basis of captured biometric details of a person, there would be remote chances of fraud or cheating.

A senior official said that sometimes EPFO takes more than mandated 30 days for settling provident fund withdrawals claims due to various reasons including errors while filling the manual form.

He said, "EPFO would eventually settle all type of claims including PF withdrawal and transfer within three days of filing those applications."

EPFO has planned to settle 20-30 per cent of PF claims online by the end of this financial year. During the last fiscal year, it had settled a total of 1.21 crore claims including over a million PF transfer cases.

The body has recently issued over four crore Universal PF Account Numbers (UAN) which are being seeded with Aadhaar number and bank accounts. This portable PF account would enable subscribers to have only one account while working with various employers throughout his/her life.

Source | http://profit.ndtv.com/news/your-money/article-filing-online-pf-withdrawal-claims-likely-to-be-a-reality-in-december-702148

This app trains you to read a 1,20,000-word novel in 2 hrs

It lets your eye take in huge quantities of words at an accelerated rate

In the movie Lucy, Scarlett Johansson plays a woman who ingests a drug that gives her super-intelligence, allowing her to read huge volumes of material in just minutes.In real life, Boston tech startup Spritz has made a speedreading app that allows you to do just that.

After a small amount of practice reading with the Spritz app, you should be able to read at 1,000 words per minute -a speed fast enough to let you take in a 1,20,000 word novel in just two hours.

The app has a novelty factor -it feels bizarre to let your eyes passively take in huge quantities of words at an ac celerated rate instead of leisurely scanning sentences the old-fashioned way. And as everything comes at a constant speed, you can't slow down to savour a passage or skip past the boring bits. But in terms of raw factual intake, it can't be beaten.Will consumers get used to it? Probably: They got used to the pageless pagination of the Kindle, after all.

Spritz founder and CEO Frank Waldman believes his company will give birth to a golden era of speed reading.

Samsung's line of Gear smart watches, t he impending launch of the Apple Watch, and Google Glass a l l b e g the same question: How will these new, tiny screens deliver information? Spritz solves that problem by delivering words in a stream instead of in a series of lines. In fact, Spritz is already integrated into the Gear 2 watches, Waldman said.

However, anyone who worries about constant information overload in the digital age might not be too enthusiastic about Spritz's other interesting effect: Waldman says that just because Spritz allows you to read twice as fast doesn't mean you're going to cut your reading time in half. “It enables readers to read more. if you read twice as fast you don't read half .the time, you read twice as much,“ Waldman says 

Source | Economic Times | 14 November 2014

Teaching with technology

While 88 per cent of educators consider technology to be important and 95 per cent are convinced that it helps to improve the pace of student learning, only 32 per cent of schools have actually introduced virtual learning. "We all understand the need for technology but don't know how to harness its potential," explains Anil Sethi, director, commercial channels, Dell India. Held last month in New Delhi, the Learn Today Educational Technology Summit brought together nearly 120 different school principals, academics, administrators and technology experts to discuss not just the benefits but also the steps needed to set up virtual classrooms. "This is the era of connectivity and individualism. On one hand we are more connected to the people around us but on the other hand we are very bad at dealing with them. Social growth and aesthetics have been forgotten and learners are much more emotionally disturbed today; they have the means but don't know how to use it effectively. This is why familiarisation with social interaction and networks from an early age is important," says Rajendra Pawar, co-founder, NIIT and keynote speaker at the summit. "Each of us needs to learn how to curate new information and be independent learners in a wired world," he adds.

DIGITAL LEADERSHIP

According to Pawar, the reputation of a school is inversely proportionate to their investment in technology. "Most educators realise the benefits of technology in schools. They are also committed towards increasing the use in their own institutes. But commitment without involvement leads to nothing," he explains. He further recommends that top management in schools keep aside a technology hour every day so that teachers, management and students can interact and update one another on what is being done with various software and devices in school. He also feels a teacher should clock atleast eight hours of technology usage in a month so as to become more familiar with different kinds of technology. "Management also needs to be more proactive in resolving conflicts between users and IT providers. There is a widening gap because of a lack of communication and awareness on both ends. This needs a hands-on approach in order to be overcome," he says.

AWARENESS IS KEY

Most speakers agreed that schools remain largely unaware of the new ways in which technology can redefine classroom learning. According to a survey conducted by PEW Research, on an average a teacher only voluntarily uses technology one to two times in a whole year. "From online parent teacher meetings to instant report cards and individual analysis, there is a whole world of interactive, simple and fun features that schools are missing out on if they chose to ignore technological innovations," says MM Pant, former pro-vice chancellor of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). Pant delivered a talk on the need for sustained integration of technology in the classroom at the summit. "Education is something you can talk about for years and still not come to a complete resolution but that doesn't mean you should stop trying. The new generation today has different interests and challenges to face than their predecessors. Teaching has to be adapted accordingly," adds Pant.

21ST CENTURY SKILLS

Sam Al-Schamma, director, education sector, Asia-Pacific region, Intel Corporation also stressed upon the changing nature of skill training required for students today at the summit. "Jobs and lifestyles are different today - let us accept this. Today students no longer want to learn blindly. They want to interact and collaborate and tackle tasks in a more practical manner. It's sad that classrooms have not changed to match this mindset yet," he says. According to Al-Schamma the days when teachers spoke and students listened passively are over. "Imagine a child who plays with his gaming console and surfs the Internet for cartoons in the evening. And the next day he has to sit silently and stare at a blackboard. Neither is he learning anything nor is he being prepared to face 21st century workplaces. Companies don't need passive workers, they need, rather demand, employees who can think critically, work in teams and come up with innovative solutions," adds Al-Schamma.

STUDENT AS TEACHER

One of the major ideas generated at the summit was that of evolving the classroom into a student-centric environment without leaving teachers behind. Many felt that the solution lay in finding the right device and medium; one that a teacher is comfortable using on a daily basis. Often small problems such as ambiguous maintenance procedures or a cluttered interface can deter teachers from coexisting with technology. Interestingly a number of software and hardware providers are now recognising these user challenges and coming up with solutions accordingly. For example, Jumping Frog, an advanced student management software developed by Netspec Global, offers teachers a simple dashboard from where they can maintain individual student profiles. Teachers can upload performance, quizzes, friend circles, hobbies and behaviour patterns for each student. This comprehensive e-profile can then be accessed by the school, parent and student - thus building an accessible network between all stakeholders. As Al-Schamma sums it up, "the magic is not in technology but in the teacher. The minute a teacher understands technology and starts to work with it, that's when the real magic happens in the classroom."

Source | http://indiatoday.intoday.in/

Pvt sector must be encouraged to broaden role in scientific research

Modern India has had a strong rhetorical focus on science and technology, considering it a key element of economic growth and the development of a rational and critical worldview. This rhetoric, while uplifting, failed to impact on poverty reduction and development. Careers in science no longer provide enough remuneration or prestige to draw top-level talent. Our translation of R&D into actual production has been weak. Technological imports, whether in electronics or fighter engines, have grown rapidly. Our scientific manpower was built on a small, educated pool of scientists, most of whom chose to leave for distant shores. Despite the dawn of the computing age, India missed out on semiconductors and silicon chips. We chose to adopt and purchase, instead of innovating. 

A new science policy: India lies in the lowest quartile on R&D, both in terms of spending (<1% of GDP) and researcher count (<100 per million population). Our R&D allocation is dominated by the public sector (>80%), with universities left with a paltry 3%. In most countries of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, it’s the opposite — the private sector contributes the majority, with universities coming at around 20%. 

We need to address our limited scientific base. This will require a three-pronged approach focused on knowledge creation and commercialisation, inclusive innovation and subsequent knowledge diffusion and absorption. This needs to be supported by a focus on higher education, information infrastructure and innovation financing. The private sector needs to be encouraged to take greater risks in innovation, bolstered by an encouraging policy and regulatory framework. 

Public policy has its role to play. With a stronger Intellectual Property Regime (IPR), matching grants and tax subsidies, knowledge creation can be boosted. A simplified technology licensing policy, combined with good infrastructure and a stable macroeconomic environment, can work wonders. 

More physicists, fewer managers: Gross enrolments in higher education continue to remain below 20%. Just 16% of Indian manufacturing firms offer in-house training. Basic skill deficits need to be addressed by investments in primary, secondary and vocational education, and by building manager and worker skills. The quality of India’s engineers and researchers needs to be improved substantially through investment in ITIs. Financial support for early stage technology development should be addressed by regulatory efforts to deepen the pool of early stage venture capital and a promotion of pro-poor inclusive banking. Micro, small and medium enterprises should be offered viability gap funding through existing government innovation programmes. 

Expanding our technological base: Political prestige seems to drive our scientific allocation. Defence research and space are considered paramount, while our IITs are announced grandly and located in politically vital constituencies, with little consideration to their faculty and catchment area. Less than 20% of public research spending is allocated for civilian applications; 8% to the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), and 4% to the Indian Council for Agricultural Research (ICAR). Our public civilian research spending needs to go up. The CSIR, along with the ICAR and the Department of Science’s laboratories, needs to be restructured and refocused on the market, along with more fiscal and managerial autonomy. University R&D should be supported by competitive grants, along the lines of the US National Science Foundation, along with greater academic partnerships and researcher exchange programmes. The Sponsored Research and Development Programme and Small Business Innovation Research Initiative need to be expanded. 

Indian Patent Offices should be upgraded to cater to individuals and organisations. A special Court of Appeals for intellectual property rights should be set up, along with a policy think tank. Links between industry, universities and public laboratories should be strengthened by providing support for technology transfer. 

Private and inclusive innovation: Private firms need to be encouraged to spend on R&D, by expanding early stage technology development programmes and utilising public procurement to promote innovation. Tax regimes should encourage a favourable treatment of R&D. Technology parks and incubators should be expanded through fiscal incentives. Inclusive innovation is also necessary. Formal R&D efforts for the poor should be scaled up and focused on informal enterprises. The CSIR’s technology applications, like e-Choupal, should be scaled up across the country’s villages. The National Innovation Foundation’s grassroots innovation repository (>50,000 products) should be commercialised, with benefits flowing down to local communities. The Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network should be expanded to serve as an incubator for local innovation. 

Grand challenges still matter. Cleaning up the Ganga or making India clean should be showcases for innovative products and practices. By making local communities and officials compete, we could solve our budding congestion and water crisis. A simple light-touch oversight mechanism that links such local initiatives with innovation hubs and provides viability gap funding will help provide appropriate monitoring to achieve realistic targets. ‘Make in India’ can mean high technology as well.

Source | Hindustan Times | 6 November 2014

Indians prefer printed books over e-books: Survey

Despite all the strides taken by India in the digital world, nearly four out of five respondents in the Tata Literature Live! Survey 2014 conducted across the country say they favour printed books over electronic reading. 

In an attempt to understand the evolving landscape of literary reading, amidst technological, social and behavioural impacts, the survey brought forth key insights into Indians' reading habits, a press release from the Tata Group said.

According to it, the results of the survey revealed the preference of printed books across all generations. 

From among the respondents, hyper-connected post-millennials in the age group of less than 20, rank highest in this preference with 81%. This is followed by those in the age group of 21-30 with 79%, 31-40 age group and 41-50 age group with 75% each, the lowest being the age-group of 50 and above with 74%.

Regionally, Mumbai respondents lead with 80% opting for the printed word. This is followed by Delhi with 79%, Kolkata with 78%, Bengaluru with 77% and Chennai with 76%.

"The Tata Literature Live! Survey 2014 is an effort to look into contemporary India's literary leisure reading. The survey has not only explored reading tastes, but more importantly how India is reading today. It is heartening to see India's love for the written word, and the findings encourage us to celebrate it even further at the forthcoming editions of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest!" says Mr. Anil Dharker, Founder and Festival Director of Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest.

Dr. Mukund Rajan, Member – Group Executive Council and Brand Custodian, Tata Sons, says, "The Tata Literature Live! Survey has thrown up very interesting findings. In a world of primetime TV, breaking news, and intensive social networking, reading books remains a popular activity. Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest endeavours to promote the cause of literature, particularly amongst the younger generation, and the findings of the survey enthuse us to strengthen our efforts in this direction."

The survey looks deeper into other aspects of reading habits as well. Some of the highlights are:

• 60% respondents read a literary piece once a week 
• 42% respondents ranked reading as the best means to survive a bad day
• 74% respondents prefer reading to internet, social media or gaming 
• 69% respondents prefer reading over watching television shows or movies 
• 61% respondents prefer reading over socialising 
• 60% respondents prefer reading over outdoor/indoor games 
• Mumbai respondents show highest preference for printed books (80%) and choose reading over digital entertainment (78%), socialising (66%) and indoor/outdoor games (64%)
• The survey crowns Kolkata as the literary capital of India as - 67% people opt for leisure literary reading once a week, 17% respondents have more than 300 literary books and 49% people choose reading as an escape from a bad day, all highest among other metros
• Across generations, it is the post-millennial readers (73.49%), who read literary pieces more often than any other age-group
• Also, people of 50 years and above emerge as the generation of book hoarders, with 20.59% claiming to have more than 300 books on their shelves
• Further, disclosing author preferences, respondents across regions and age-groups shared mythology as a genre where they enjoy Indian authors more than their non-Indian counterparts.
• Interestingly, when quizzed about what they would bargain to read, about 37.61% of the respondents are willing to let go off their daily dose of favourite TV shows for reading, ranking the highest amongst other categories such as, giving up their lives, skipping a plan/party with friends, taking a day off at work, or not giving up anything at all

Tata Literature Live! Survey 2014 is an exclusive study by the Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest on Indian reading habits. Conducted in October 2014, the survey took a close look into the evolving landscape of literary reading amidst technological, social and behavioural impacts. It focuses on how India is reading today and dwells into the perceptions on literature, across demographics. The research was conducted online, accumulating responses from 1,426 individuals, across the country.

The fifth edition of Mumbai's international literary festival, Tata Literature Live, brought internationally renowned writers and performances from all over the world to Mumbai. The festival which took place at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA), Nariman Point, and, for the first time, at Prithvi Theatre and The Easel in Juhu, had an invigorating line-up of debates, talks, and creative performances which not only started a vibrant exchange of ideas, but also connected with literary conversations currently happening on a broad global stage.

Extremely happy with this year's edition, Dharker said, "The past four days have been an incredible experience. We have witnessed a huge turnout of audience which is overwhelming. Our sessions have seen full attendance and we have had live projections to other venues which have been full as well. Literature has taken hold of the city in a significant way and perhaps Tata Literature Live! The Mumbai LitFest! has contributed in a small way to that."

Over 120 writers, thinkers and performers from countries as diverse as England, the USA, Germany, Italy, Israel and Ireland took centre stage at the festival.

Source | http://netindian.in/

In a world of electronic media, physical libraries still essential

LIMA — Not so many years ago, the notion of the public library would invite images of people flipping through their favorite author’s new novel as they were surrounded by shelves filled with thousands of books. Patrons would flip their fingers through index cards, mastering the Dewey Decimal System while looking for their next read.

However, as technology has advanced, alternatives to books have become more popular. Devices such as the Amazon Kindle and the Barnes & Noble Nook have seen sales in the millions, offering the convenience of holding an entire library on one device, eliminating the need to go to libraries or bookstores.

In addition, as smartphone usage has grown, many Apple and Android apps, including the Kindle App, iBooks and Google Play Books, offer customers the chance to read electronic books without even buying a dedicated e-reader.

Is it making a difference?

These trends have made an impact on how Americans choose to read. A March study by the Pew Research Center noted that 28 percent of adults are reading e-books, although only 4 percent read them exclusively.

“There are a few areas where e-books have an advantage, such as in the area of convenience and storage,” Lima Public Library executive director Gary Fraser said. “Downloading an e-book in less than 10 seconds from your home may be worth the price of purchase for some, especially for best sellers.”

In July, Amazon came out with a new service that could potentially increase that trend. Amazon Kindle Unlimited is a monthly subscription service for e-books and audiobooks, much like Netflix for movies and television. For $9.99 per month, Kindle users can have unlimited access to more than 700,000 titles, including such popular books as “The Lord of the Rings” series and “The Hunger Games.”

So do people even use libraries anymore?

While the reading public have many new alternatives to making the trek down to the local library unneccessary, statistics are showing that the local library is still holding its own. The Pew Research Center reported that 69 percent of Americans over 16 are either heavily or moderately engaged with public libraries, with 90 percent of Americans saying that closing a library would have an impact on the community.

That sentiment was echoed on The Lima News’ Facebook page by area readers.

“I still go to the library,” Lisa McCourt Hollar wrote. “My son loves reading paper books more than he does on my Kindle.”

“I still visit the library regularly to stock up on books for my whole family,” Cassandra Gonzalez Pangle wrote.

“Two things I will love forever are records and books,” Kate Bindel wrote. “There’s something about being able to physically hold something.”

Library staff members feel their institution still has a lot to offer.

“Anything that gives people more access to books is great, but we’re still offering a free service through the libraries,” Auglaize County District Public Library adult services coordinator Andrea Burton said. “There will always be people who do not want to pay for books.”

Jessica Hermiller, director of the Bluffton Public Library, agrees.

“For us, we’re offering a community experience you can’t get anywhere else,” she said. “We have some fabulous libraries in this area that do a lot of good work.”

Adapting to the times

While all area libraries still feature the same book-laden shelves as always, they also are integrating 21st century technology into its services. The Ohio Digital Library, also known as Overdrive, is an online tool used statewide, offering e-books to any card-carrying library member.

“We offer thouands of e-books through the Ohio Digital Library,” Burton said. “Sometimes the wait times for the new e-books can be very long, since there are only so many digital copies available. But they are an option here.”

Many libraries also offer assistance to members looking to become more familiar with e-readers such as the Kindle.

“We still have the majority of patrons coming in looking for help with their Kindles, wondering how they’re activated or what features are available,” Hermiller said. “We also do ‘Tutor Me Paperless,’ which is tech tutoring for people, so they can come in one on one with any device.”

Many local readers also take advantage of these services.

“You can get e-books through the library,” Becky Swora wrote on Facebook. “That’s how I get the majority of books I read on my Kindle.”

Libraries are also putting a renewed focus on community outreach and education.

“On a regular basis, we’re helping people apply for jobs, go through the Ohio Benefits Bank, and we actually provided a Medicare Navigator who would come in and do one-hour appointments with people to walk them through the website when it was open,” Hermiller said. “We have all the kids coming over after school looking for homework help.”

How libraries will look in the future is still unknown, but for Hermiller and other librarians, change is not something to fear.

“I think of libraries as a growing organism rather than a stoic guard of the past,” she said. “It’s something people find important and it’s a way to connect with others. So I think there will always be a space for us.”

Follow Every Rainbow by Rasmi Bansal

3 open source content management systems compared

Whether you need to set up a blog, a portal for some specific usage, or any other website, which content management system is right for you? is a question you are going to ask yourself early on. The most well-known and widely used open source content management system (CMS) platforms are: Joomla, Wordpress, and Drupal. They are all based on PHP and MySQL and offer a wide range of options to users and developers alike.

To help you choose between these three excellent open source CMS platforms, I've written a comparison based on this criteria: installation complexity, available plugin/themes, ease of use, and more.

Installation time and complexity

Installation is the first thing you would need to do before you start using a CMS, so lets have a look at what it takes to install these tools.

Drupal

Drupal is considered by many to be the most complex of them all to install and use, but that's simply not true anymore. Drupal has evolved and the process is fairly simple. Download the files from the website, unzip and place the contents in the root folder of your webserver. Then access the root folder from you browser. From there on, you just let the software do it for you. But remember to create a database for your Drupal site and keep the database user name and password on hand before you start the installation process.

Joomla

Like Drupal, Joomla also needs you to provide the database name during the installation. The installation process in Joomla is similar to Drupal except for a few extra options that Joomla provides during installation. For example, you can choose if your Joomla site should be offline after installation, and you get to see all the configurations before the final installation happens. Also, as a security feature, the installer requires removing the installation code folder after installation. 

Wordpress

Most people think that Wordpress is the most easy to use of these three CMS tools. Rightly so. Wordpress requires the same information as the other two, but this is nicely hidden behind two stages of installation. The first part is the creation of config.php file (all of the information about the database, username/password, database host etc. goes in the file). Once this is done, there's just one click for installation of Wordpress. If you have a config.php file ready (from your previous installation or if you manually created it) there is no need to do the first step.  The installer automatically searches for the file and takes you to config.php file creation only if it is not present.

In summary

Installation of all three of these tools is easy and similar with only a few noticeable differences. While Drupal installation looks and feels a bit lengthy, Joomla provides few extra options and a secure feature of installer files deletion. Wordpress has a minimal interface and the quick installation feels nice, but it doesn’t let you configure much during installation. However, all of them need basic information like database name, user ID, and password, among others.

Plugin and theme availability

This is another important aspect of choosing a CMS. You don’t want to get stuck with a CMS that has too few plugins and themes available, because if you don’t find what you want, you may need to get one built as per your requirements and that will directly impact the overall cost of you project! Lets have a look at the total number of plugins and themes available for each of the CMSs in question, though it is possible that you may not find what you want even if the there are more available; but the higher the count the greater the probability that you will find what you are looking for.

Drupal

At the time of writing this article, Drupal’s official website lists 1223 themes and 14369 modules (plugins are called modules) which are available for free download. This is a pretty good number. If you want to find Drupal themes outside of the theme marketplace though, you will be more hard pressed.

Joomla

Joomla's official website lists 7437 plugins, and there is no information about themes. But the theme marketplaces have relatively more Joomla themes available than Drupal themes.

Wordpress

If you consider only the numbers, Wordpress wins this round hands down. With 2176 themes and 28593 plugins available on the official website, it quite clearly shows the might of the community behind Wordpress. Even the marketplaces have many Wordpress themes available. This huge number is also attributed to the popularity Wordpress has over other CMS solutions.

In summary

Wordpress' count is not simply an indicator of how good a CMS is, rather it is an indication of how popular it is. Also, there is catch here: as many opine, Wordpress needs more plugins because there are fewer core CMS features supported by Wordpress out of the box. Features such as user access control (syndication, news feed management etc.) have to be implemented using plugins, probably because it evolved (or still evolving) from a blogging tool to a full fledged CMS. But then, community support and the peace of mind that comes with it, is equally important. With a bigger community you can be assured that tomorrow if there is security loophole uncovered that will get fixed quickly.

Ease of use

This is another important aspect of having a CMS. You know that your CMS has many features, but you will need to use them without having the time to read the user manual. So, how easy or difficult it is to figure out things by yourself matters a lot.

Drupal

Drupal provides some very important features in a very simple and basic user interface (UI). Once you login to the admin account, you have a menu bar on the top, showing all the important aspects of your Drupal site. There is a content link, which shows you a list of all the content and comments on your site and lets you add or manage them. For example, for publish/remove. Other links in the menu are also quite intuitive: Structure, Appearance, People, Modules, Configurations, and Reports. With each name, you can probably guess what’s in there.

Joomla

When you login to the Joomla admin page for the first time, you will probably feel a little lost. With so many menus on the page, both vertical and horizontal, it is a bit difficult to understand what’s what. But then you will recognize the menu on the left side of the page is just a collection of important links from the main menu on the top. As with Drupal, Joomla lists all the major aspects of the site as different menu items, and below each menu item there is a drop down with more links. Overall the interface of Joomla admin is more polished and refined (compared to Drupal) and also provides more fine-tuned control over the website, but the downside is if you are new to Joomla you will find too many buttons and links all over the place, and it may be difficult to understand their use without looking at the documentation.

Wordpress

Wordpress lives up to being simple and easy to use. The interface is minimal and uses easy to understand language which makes a difference, especially to novices. For example, the button in the admin landing page says "Customize Your Site," encouraging users to go ahead and try it. Compared to the Joomla/Drupal interface that uses more technical language, Wordpress definitely has an edge here.

For websites managed by users with little or no technical background, or small websites with frequent updates required, Wordpress is probably the way to go. The interface is very simple, and you don’t really need to hire someone to do the stuff for you. But if you don’t mind playing around a little and learning things along the way, Joomla is a lot more interesting. It has loads and loads of settings and controls, which let you manage the site to a greater extent. Even Drupal lets you do the same, with a more simple but robust looking interface.

Customization and upgrades

How you can customize and upgrade the CMS is another important aspect you will want to think over before deciding which platform to use. With time, any CMS needs to be upgraded for security or functionality or other reasons, and you may not like to be stuck with a system that is difficult to update or maintain. Also, many times the out of the box solution e.g. themes or plugins are not exactly the way you want them to be, but very close to it. So, you may want to customize things yourself in such cases. Although, customization requires a level of technical expertise, user experience makes the difference. Let’s see how easy or difficult it is to customize or upgrade these CMSs.

Drupal

After some research I found that, the only way to upgrade a Drupal installation is to do it manually, i.e. backup old files and data, extract the Drupal latest package, and replace all the old files except /sites folder (contains themes and other data) and any other files added. This may sound like a tough task for someone new to the field, there is a certain degree of risk involved as well, and if anything goes wrong you may loose your website altogether. But, if you are an expert, or don’t mind getting expert help, there is no need to worry. Again, to customize your theme, there is no in-application support and you will need to either install a new plugin, which lets you edit themes, or do the customization offline.

Joomla

Joomla supports upgrading the core from the backend, i.e. you login to the backend, go to Joomla update component (version >= 2.5.4) or Update tab in Joomla Extension Manager (version < 2.5.4), and click install update. That’s it! However, in certain cases, this update method cannot be used. Other methods to update Joomla are Install method, where you select an update file and then tell Joomla to install it and manually update, where you need to manually replace the files. Do remember to always keep a back up before attempting any updates. As far as editing themes is concerned, you need to edit them offline or install the theme editor plugin.

Wordpress

Like Joomla, Wordpress also supports online updates via the admin user interface. Wordpress alerts you whenever there is an update available, if you want to update, just click on update now and Wordpress is updated to latest version! Of course you can take the manual route to update as well. Another interesting feature is the online file editing. It lets you customize your themes or plugins by editing the files in the application itself. Suppose you don’t like an image which is embedded in the theme, and there is no theme setting to change it. Just head over to Administration > Appearance > Editor menu, select the file which you think has that image and edit it. Then you can straightaway review your change as well. Similarly even plugins can be updated; the editor can be found at Administration > Plugins > Editor.

In summary

Wordpress is the winner for customization and upgrades. That means it will be easy if you alone or a small team of people are planning to set up the website. Having said that, Joomla and Drupal can’t be simply written off. Joomla has update features and although Drupal doesn’t offer that right now it has other critical features that make it a leading CMS

LEADERSHIP EDUCATION

Does an MBA degree make you a good leader? If the number of leadership schools sprouting across the world is anything to go by, the answer could be debatable

Leadership education is picking up like never be fore, with corporate organisations, educational institutes and top MBA schools joining the fray with gusto.

Harvard Business School has an in-house `leadership initiative' that undertakes cuttingedge research and course development projects about leadership and leadership development, both within Harvard Business School and through collaborations with other organisations. The Piramal Group also undertook a similar initiative with the Piramal School of Leadership. And then, there are individual initiatives like the National School of Leadership (NSL) and the School of Inspired Leadership (SOIL), which focus almost entirely, on courses that groom senior professionals to be great leaders.

What sets these schools apart from a run-of-the-mill MBA institute is that most of their students are professionals who are already heading departments in their respective organisations. Take Umesh Bhapkar, head IT infra operations & CISO, Tata Technologies for instance. A student of NSL, he says, “I believe like most human capabilities, leadership capability falls along a bell curve with about 10-15 per cent at the tip of the bell curve; they are `born leaders' who start out good and tend to get better.

At the bottom of the curve is the 10-15 per cent of people who do not make it however hard they try. In the middle of the curve is the vast majority that have some degree of innate leadership capability that can be developed. This is where the real potential for `made leaders' lies.“

MBA students at Stanford's Graduate School of Business take part in experiential leadership labs and project-based simulations that present students with real-life leadership issues like negotiations, while Teachers College at Columbia University offers a PhD in Education Leadership with three potential concentrations in leadership, policy and politics or organisation, leadership and learning. So who should go for a leadership course? “I would recommend that one takes up a shortterm programme for understanding some basic leadership concepts,“ suggests Anil Sachdev, founder and CEO, SOIL. “Participants pursuing these programmes include on-campus students, working professionals including senior management from companies, institutional and corporate trainers and multiple organisations who get their leadership trainings conducted by us,” says Dr Satasuryaa K Sharma, chairman, NSL. 

Leadership education doesn’t come cheap. So is the effort worth it? “What leadership certification doesn’t do is build you a reputation of success as a leader or much else for that matter,” cautions GSS Gopal Krishna, country head, TCS and student of NSL. “A well-known development model is the 70:20:10 model where 70 per cent of effective development happens through ‘on-the-job experiences’ , 20 per cent through feedback and mentoring and ten per cent through formal training,” says Sonali De Sarker, director, human resources staff, NetApp India R&D. 

While organisations do take note of leadership certifications, they have to be combined with real-life examples that demonstrate your leadership abilities. “A certification proves candidates’ interest towards learning, which is an appreciable quality but a certificate is not the only source of credibility for being a leader. The profile of a candidate must display initiative taken towards handling challenges and overcoming them,” remarks Santosh Verma, director, My Eco Energy. “Sometimes, leadership certificates are instruments of attracting people to attend the course, which can be used for decorating one’s profile. But in the professional life, the same person may not have successfully demonstrated leadership qualities,” warns Dr Rajeev Mishra, VP corporate HR & admin, AMW Motors Ltd. What they promise to do is eliminate flaws and orient you to think in a manner conducive to better decision-making. Are you game?

Source | Economic Times | 22 July 2014

What next shall I do?

Generally this question comes in mind when I finish one task and I believe
this question must be taking place in every professional's mind. Really, it
is very tough task to decide what next I can do which will be beneficial
for everyone.

Actually, in my opinion, we must sense the need of our library users and
accordingly we should provide the services from library. I thought of
sharing some of my experiences with young library professionals who have
just started their career...hope it will be very useful for everyone.

*1.      **Library Automation:*

This mechanism has reduced the work load of every professional in this
digital era but now-a-days, the biggest problem is to choose the right
library automation software. Actually, there are many good library
automation software available in the market (Commercial and Open Source
both). In my opinion, those libraries which are in primitive stage, they
must go ahead with Open Source Technology such as *Koha, NewGenLib, and
Evergreen etc*. which supports International Standards and later, if you
are not satisfied with the current software's functionality, very easily
you can switch over to the Commercial Software or any other with all your
bibliographical data in same condition.

*Open Source Tools for Library Automation:*

Koha, NewGenLib, Evergreen etc.

*2.      **Digitization:*

A library can start this service for maintaining the Institutional
Repository or managing the electronic documents with the help of open
source technology such as *DSpace, E-Print, and Greenstone* etc. But In my
opinion, *DSpace* will be suitable for all as it has some unique features
which will be very effective for academic community as well as for working
staff for both operation and dissemination of Information.

*Tools for Digitization: *

DSpace, Greenstone, e-Print and Fedora Project etc.

*3.      **Library Website*

This is the best service & application for any library to dissemination
information quickly. As web application can be accessed anytime from
anywhere, every library must maintain library web page. Now the question is
how to maintain and develop the website? Now-a-days, there are many open
source content management system available using which anyone can develop a
very good and attractive website for library. I have also developed many
websites using Joomla. (http://library.nitrkl.ac.in), wordpress (
www.librarianguide.net)  etc.

Please download the PDF file which contains the information on Joomla and
Its use:

http://www.joomlashine.com/free-download.html

For video just visit the link given below:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xwhz4vhMz-c

*4.      **e-Newsletter*

This service can also be started in library which will be very effective
for library to bring to the notice of all the library users about one month
activity of library. This e-newsletter can be designed and published using
many methods. But, I find easy to publish e-newsletter with *Microsoft
Publisher* which is available in *MS Office Package* in every system now a
days. This tool is very easy to use and publish the newsletter.

http://library.nitrkl.ac.in/enewsletter/v1n7.pdf

*Tool to publish e-newsletter: *

a.      Microsoft Publisher

b.      Adobe Photoshop etc.

*5.      **Information KIOSK*

The users find very easy to get the information about library & its
resources with this equipment. Generally, it costs approximately Rs.
140000/- It is available with different configuration such as Thin Client,
Stand Alone etc. Develop the software your own for this and keep in front
of main gate of library which will be very effective for dissemination of
information.

*Tools to develop program for Information KIOSK: *

We can use HTML and Flash for developing the program for Information KIOSK.

 *6 **Develop Android Application for Library*

A library can develop an Android Application for its services which will
also be very effective as keeping smartphone has become very easy for
everyone so the users can be made aware about library services through
smart phone.

*Tools to develop android application: *

*Intel XDK*, this can be downloaded from the link given below:

http://xdk-software.intel.com/downloader.html?windows

*7.      **New Arrival*

This service is very essential as it keeps every library users updated with
the latest editions available in the library. Generating the list of new
arrivals is very easy as ready option is available in almost every software
now-a-days. If not, this can be generated manually based on the processed
documents in technical section. Later, the same list can be sent to all
members through mail. User likes this service very much as they get
information about latest books.

http://library.nitrkl.ac.in/newarrival/2014/june/4.pdf

*8.      **Photocopier with Smart Card: *

This service can also be provided to the user with Smart Card facility. In
this, users are given one smart card (just like an ATM Card) with an option
to have balance in it. When users come to take photocopy, they first swap
the card and deduct the amount equal to the calculation of pages for which
photocopy is to be done. Then, system allows user to photocopy the document
up to the limit already deducted from user's account. In-case, user does
not have sufficient balance then user can recharge it.

*9.      **User Education Program: *

Every month, a user education program can be organized on library services
and its resources. This service is very useful for making the students
aware about library resources, how to use these and also about other
services. This program generally must be provided according to the user's
requirement.

*10.  **Demonstration:*

Most of the library users don't understand the nature of resources
available in the library especially e-resources. A demo can be very helpful
for all the users who access e-resources.



Apart from all these, there are many services which can be provided to our
users.

Thanks for spending time to read my post, if you also have any new service,
kindly share with all of us.