Dr. RAMA DEVI,
TELLA
I am working as a Documentation Officer as well
as Associate Professor I/C, at Centre
on Rural Documentation of the National Institute of Rural Development (NIRD),
Hyderabad, India and I have an experience of 20 years under various capacity in
various institutes like college and A.P. Agricultural University. I was awarded
Fulbright Scholarship under the subject Information Science and Technology for
the year 2003-2004 and working as Mortenson Associate of the University of
Illinois, Urbana-Champaign from Aug 28th to Feb 28, 2004. The focus
of the project is on e-learning technologies for rural development communities.
I have a Bachelor degree from
Andhra University with Economics, Psychology and Social Work. During my
graduation I was selected as student representative for the Board of studies in
the year 1977-78 from the Social Work Department of Andhra University. I have a
post graduate degree in Social Work with specialization in community
development besides a Master in Library Science. I was awarded a PhD on “Use of
Grey Literature by Social Scientists by the Osmania University, Hyderabad
I am conversant with software
like LIBSYS, CDS/ISIS, MS Office, FOXPRO, SPSS, Page Maker, Publisher, Corel
Draw, HTML and HTML editors like Front Page, Dream weaver and award winning
text editor Note Tab Light etc. I am also associated with bringing out the CORD
publications like Directory of Rural Development Institutions in India, and
periodicals like CORD Alerts, CORD Abstracts, CORD Index, Holding list of
periodicals and Handbook on Online Resources etc.
I also took an active role in
the development and management of Computerised Library and Information
Clearinghouse (CLIC) database using various sources including Internet, which
we are planning to make it web enabled for the rural development functionaries
at different levels. The CLIC has been developed to serve as a central
reference point for information on all aspects of rural development. CLIC caters to the needs of NIRD faculty and the
development community. Associated with various projects like Library
Automation, Bar-coding of Library Collection , Information needs of RD
community, Functioning of Public
Libraries in Maharashtra and Andra Pradesh
Taking advantage of having the
combination of subjects like Social Work and Library and Information Science, I
got the unique experience to work for two years in the development of Public
Information Kiosks (PIKs) for Rural Development which was established by NIRD
to bridge the Digital Divide between the urban and rural areas. It is a
specialized project for creation of awareness among the rural people about
various development programmes. It works as an Information and Communication
center using information technologies. I used my expertise in identifying the
information needs of the rural poor by conducting a survey in four states of
India, and in the selection of the content to be put in the PIKs and its
management at different stages.
I have attended many
Seminars/Conferences/Workshops and presented papers to keep abreast with the
latest developments in my specialization. I have also presented a paper in an International
Conference on Grey Literature, organized by Grey Net (Use of Grey
Literature in Rural Development: a case study) which was held at Washington,
D.C on 3-4th October 1999. I stayed in USA for more than eleven
months and visited some universities like University of Minnesota, River Fall
University, North Dakota State University, University of California, Stanford
University, University of Irvine, University of Berkley, San Jose, University of Michigan, University of North
Carolina, Duke University, Spring field university, State University of
Bloomington, Chicago Public Library, St.Luois state university, Centre for Research Libraries, Chicago,
University of Toronto, IDRC, Ottawa etc. and I have also visited some public
libraries in New Jersey, New York, Toronto Minneapolis, Library of Congress and
some South Asian libraries.
I published around30 articles in
various journals including IAALD and Public Library Quarterly and in different
conference proceedings. I traveled almost all states in India, to address the
topics such as Digital Divide, Grey Literature,, Social Marketing, Information
Services, Virtual libraries, Web Technologies, Web publishing Best Practices in
Library Usage and Readership Enhancement (LURE), Public Libraries in India, A
different Mind-Set needed for Modern day librarians, Human Resource Management
in the Digital Era, Building up Digital Resources, Information Literacy and out
reach services Impact of ICTs and E-Learning Technologies, Human Resource
Management in the Digital era, Public Information Kiosks-an outreach center,
consortia and partnership development
etc.
As a part of my job, I am
associated with various training
programmes for the librarians like web technologies, Internet resources, and IT
applications for library resource management, web publishing of information
products and services, access to social science information in the Digital Era
besides library and information services, technical processing, administration,
grey literature, library automation, consortia
and networking
During my academic studies, I obtained ranks in
MSW, BLISC, MLISC and awarded prizes. I have been nominated as an active member
in various associations and committees at the NIRD. I am actively involved in
various professional associations in India
As a part of my Fulbright programme I have attended six weeks
pre-academic programme in the University of Kansas. The programme covered the
topics like Oral and written communication skills, academic report writing,
cultural diversity etc. I was
associated to the Mortenson Centre, (International Training Programmes)
University of Illinois for six months . I audited Web Technology course for the
Fall Semester. During my training I visited various libraries, attended various
meetings/Conferences/Workshops and Seminars, and interacted with various
experts and their projects. I presented a country paper in the Illinois Library
Association (ILA) Annual Conference. I have also attended the ALA Mid winter
meetings held at San Diego during Jan 9-14th, 2004. Recently I have
completed successfully the web based workshop on “Electronic Collection
development: Collecting and Organising Web Resources” from Kovacs Consulting
Internet & Web Training , Ohio, USA
http://www.geocities.com/ramadevi_tella/index.html
My
email: [email protected]; [email protected];
[email protected]