R&D activities in CDRI are supported
by a modern knowledge Resource Centre
which comprises a fully computerised library
with a rich collection of relevant books
and periodicals, on-line subscription
of a large number of databases and periodicals
and an Information Centre which provides
many services as well as on-line response
to queries. The Centre publishes value
added Current Awareness Periodicals, besides
providing services to the In House S&T
staff as well as to academia and industry
from within the country and even to overseas
users.
The inception of this modern Centre dates
back to 1951 when a small library was
set up with a small collection of about
two thousand Publications to start with
the Library was set up to primarily to
meet the information needs of the Scientific
& Technical Staff of the Institute.
With the passage of time, the library
grew at a fast pace, and, in order to
cater to the ever increasing S&T information
needs of the professionals, it systematically
and gradually grew as a collection of
specialized reading materials such as
books, periodicals, reference works, serials
and various macro & micro-documents
in the areas of Biomedical Research and
Drugs & Pharmaceuticals. The wealth
of this highly specialized library began
to draw the attention of the academic
and R&D workers of other institutions
in the city like Lucknow University, King
George's Medical College, Sanjay Gandhi
Post Graduate Institute etc. and outside
the city from the drug industry and research
organizations.
Owing to its strength as a center of
excellence and having a rich collection
of biomedical literature particularly
on Drugs Pharmaceuticals, National Information
System for Science & Technology (NISSAT),
decided to house National Information
Center for Drugs & Pharmaceuticals
(NICDAP), a Sectoral Information Centre
on Drugs & Pharmaceuticals in the
CDRI library. NICDAP came into being in
1977 with metamorphosis of this library
into a National Information Centre in
the early eighties and a wide spectrum
of Information Technologies were introduced
in the library. The establishment of NICDAP
also added a new dimension to the Information
services generated from its collection
which were provided to the users from
all over the country and even abroad.
