KALNET (Kerala Academic Library Network), a shared platform for academic resources of libraries, has come into being in the State. Developed by the Kerala State Higher Education Council (KSHEC). the platform brings together 15 lakh titles of 11 universities and 147 libraries.
While it is modelled on DELNET (Developing Library Network) that links libraries in the country, KALNET is known to be the first such platform for university resources.
With a single search interface created using VuFind open source software, it serves as a unified catalogue to search for items across the collections of different academic libraries in the State. It enables quick searches based on the title, subject, author and ISBN or ISSN codes. In addition to books, other library resources such as journals or periodicals, Ph.D theses, postgraduate dissertations, DAISY Digital talking books (audio books) and various reports have also been indexed.
University of Kerala, Cochin University of Science and Technology, University of Calicut, Mahatma Gandhi University, Kerala Agricultural University, Kannur University, Sree Sankaracharya University of Sanskrit, Thunchath Ezhuthachan Malayalam University, Kerala Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Kerala University of Fisheries and Ocean Studies and National University of Advanced Legal Studies have become part of the endeavour.
While data from the libraries of these university have been shared through KALNET, the libraries of affiliated colleges will be linked in the next phase. The council also plans to provide the live status of the availability of library materials. KALNET can be accessed through the council’s website.
