Annals of Library and Information Studies

Open Access Open Access  Restricted Access Subscription Access

Some Issues in the Shodhganga – A Theses Repository from India


Affiliations
1 Former Chief Scientist & Head, KRC, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India
 

Shodhganga theses repository, a cooperative effort between universities and INFLIBNET has a digital collection of over 460000 theses. Metadata from Shodhganga on the theses on Marathi literature was downloaded to study the trends in this area of knowledge. While carrying out this study, many flaws in the metadata and relevant files on Shodhganga were noticed. Time lag in the submissions of theses by the participating Universities, duplicate records for one document, non-adherence to the cataloguing standards while entering metadata, absence of abstracts and apt keywords for the document being described, attributing theses to wrong departments/subject areas, garbled text in metadata and files, identification of similarity between items conferred with a degree and inconsistencies in the rendering of full-text file names and linking incorrect documents were noticed. This study showcases such specific examples from within the repository and suggests some solutions and reccomendations to avoid the flaws in the repository.

Keywords

Theses, Shodhganga, Repository, Marathi.
User
Notifications
Font Size

  • UGC, HRDC. Minimum standards & procedure for award of M.Phil./ Ph.D. degree, Regulation, 2009 (Amendment 5 July 2016). The Gazette of India, Part III Section 4(278) (5 July 2016). 1-12. https://www.ugc.gov.in/pdfnews/4952604_UGC-(M.PHIL.-PH.D-DEGREES)-REGULATIONS,- 2016.pdf.

  • Manojkumar, K and Arora, J, Shodhganga: Digital Repository of Indian Electronic Theses and Dissertations - User's Guide and Tutorials, (INFLIBNET), (ND) 1-8. https://Shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in:8443/jspui/sguserguide

  • Anon, Shodhganga NDLTD Award to the Director and Scientist of INFLIBNET Centre on Aug 2017 (Washington). Available at https://Shodhganga.inflibnet. ac.in/newmoredetails/Shodhganga_Album/NDLTD/index.html (Accessed on 20 May 2023).

  • Paul S and Maity B K, Research trends in library and information science in India during 2011 to 2018. In: Information Systems Management [Working Title] (IntechOpen; London), 2023. https://www.intechopen.com/online-first/86502

  • Ghatowar N K and Kalita D, An empirical evaluation of research on "library management" at the doctoral level in India: A study of the Last 50 years from 1971 to 2020. Open Information Science, 7(1) (2023). DOI: 10.1515/opis-2022-0138

  • Kousar A, Reference accuracy in Indian library and information science theses, Journal of Indian Library Association, 59(1) (2023) 25-30. https://www.ilaindia.net/jila/index.php/jila/article/view/1440

  • Nicholas D, Rowlands I, Watkinson A and Jamali H R, Digital repositories ten years on: What do scientific researchers think of them and how do they use them? Learned Publishing, 25(3) (2012) 195-206. DOI: 10.1087/20120306

  • d'Aquin M, Kirstein F, Oliveira D, Schimmler S and Urbanek S, FAIREST: A framework for assessing research repositories. Data Intelligence, 5(1) (2023) 202–241. https://doi.org/10.1162/dint_a_00159

  • Chapman J W, Reynolds D and Shreeves S A, Repository metadata: Approaches and challenges, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 47(3-4) (2009) 309-325, DOI: 10.1080/01639370902735020

  • Rittberger M and Rittberger W, Measuring quality in the production of databases. Journal of Information Science, 23(1) (1997) 25–37. https://doi.org/10.1177/016555159702300103

  • Beall J and Hearn S, Introduction: Bibliographic database quality, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 46(1) (2008) 1-3, DOI: 10.1080/01639370802182711

  • Oury C, Assessing the ISSN register: Defining, evaluating, and improving the quality of a shared international bibliographic database, Cataloging & Classification Quarterly, 55(7-8) (2017) 588-605, DOI: 10.1080/01639374.2017.1354115

  • Kiraly P, Measuring metadata quality. Ph.D. Thesis. Georg-August-Universitat Gottingen. (2019) 168pp. DOI: 10.13140/RG.2.2.33177.77920

  • Kiraly P, Measuring metadata quality. https://www.rd-alliance.org/sites/default/files/attachment/peterkiraly-measuring-metadata-quality-rda14-poster.pdf

  • Pandit N, Research scholars in a fix after MU delays theses uploading on Shodhganga, Hindustan Times, 2 May 2023. https://www.hindustantimes.com/cities/mumbai-news/mumbai-university-negligence-phd-students-forced-to-change-research-topic-after-university-fails-to-upload-theses-on-digital-repository-101682966289051.html (Accessed on 20 May 2023).

  • Anon. Rashtrasant Tukadoji Maharaj Nagpur University. https://nagpuruniversity.ac.in/index.php/department/Content page/index/RlBObW9laFBHdjVYZWxmTTZDTT0%3D/RXY4aHZ1dENTZnhTWlZZPQ%3D%3D/en (Accessed on 20 May 2023).

  • Anon. 6.3. Other title information. In: Cataloger's Reference Shelf. CONSER Cataloging Manual. https://www.itsmarc. com/crs/mergedprojects/conser/conser/module_6_3__ccm.htm (Accessed on 20 May 2023).

  • Anon. Creation of metadata and uploading theses into Shodhganga. https://Shodhganga.inflibnet.ac.in/newmoredetails/metadata_thesis.html (Accessed on 20 May 2023).

  • Strader C R, Author-assigned keywords versus Library of Congress Subject Headings, Library Resources & Technical Services, 53(4) (2009) 243-250. https://doi.org/10.5860/lrts.53n4.243

  • Anon. Unit 17. Techniques for subject indexing. IGNOU, 2017 84-86. http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/33116


Abstract Views: 42

PDF Views: 28




  • Some Issues in the Shodhganga – A Theses Repository from India

Abstract Views: 42  |  PDF Views: 28

Authors

Murari P. Tapaswi
Former Chief Scientist & Head, KRC, CSIR-National Institute of Oceanography, Goa, India

Abstract


Shodhganga theses repository, a cooperative effort between universities and INFLIBNET has a digital collection of over 460000 theses. Metadata from Shodhganga on the theses on Marathi literature was downloaded to study the trends in this area of knowledge. While carrying out this study, many flaws in the metadata and relevant files on Shodhganga were noticed. Time lag in the submissions of theses by the participating Universities, duplicate records for one document, non-adherence to the cataloguing standards while entering metadata, absence of abstracts and apt keywords for the document being described, attributing theses to wrong departments/subject areas, garbled text in metadata and files, identification of similarity between items conferred with a degree and inconsistencies in the rendering of full-text file names and linking incorrect documents were noticed. This study showcases such specific examples from within the repository and suggests some solutions and reccomendations to avoid the flaws in the repository.

Keywords


Theses, Shodhganga, Repository, Marathi.

References