University Libraries Network of Karnataka to be launched in April

Students of state universities will soon have a larger repository of books and journals at their disposal. The University Libraries Network of Karnataka (UNILINK), one of the biggest projects of the higher education department which has tasked Bangalore University (BU) with its implementation, will be launched in the first week of April.

The project was finalised at the last meeting of the Inter University Board in Belgaum.“Currently, Bangalore University’s collection of about 12 lakh of book titles are under the UNILINK. These include international journals and rare books,” said an official of BU.

Mysore University, Karnatak University and Gulbarga University have enrolled themselves for the project and will avail of the project’s benefits in the first phase itself. Once the project is launched, the libraries of the three universities will be included in the common pool.

“Currently each state university is spending at least Rs1 crore on books, newspapers and journals every year. Most of the times, the universities are buying the same books and journals. The UNILINK will help avoid duplication and it will also help the students to access journals which their university is not subscribing,” said an official.

University authorities want the project to be launched by chief minister BS Yeddyurappa and have already written in this regard to the chief minister’s office.