NISCAIR: India’s Premier Science Communication Institution

When you brew a cup of turmeric tea or apply neem paste to a wound, you are using knowledge that Indian households have carried for thousands of years. In the 1990s, foreign companies tried to patent these very practices, treating ancient wisdom as if it were a brand-new invention. India fought back and won, but those battles exposed a deeper problem: scientific and traditional knowledge needed to be organised, documented, and made accessible. This is where the National Institute of Science Communication and Information Resources, better known as NISCAIR, played a central role. For nearly two decades, it stood as the country’s foremost institution for managing, publishing, and disseminating science and technology information.

Formation and objectives 🔗

NISCAIR was not built from scratch. It was the product of a strategic merger. On 30 September 2002, two well-established laboratories of the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) were combined into a single body. These were the National Institute of Science Communication (NISCOM) and the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC).

Each parent institution brought distinct strengths. NISCOM traced its roots to publication units formed in the 1940s, including the Journal of Scientific and Industrial Research started in 1942 and the Wealth of India series. It specialised in science journals, popular science magazines, and encyclopaedic publications. INSDOC, established in 1951 with support from UNESCO, focused on documentation, abstracting and indexing, translation of scientific literature, and the training of information professionals. INSDOC also hosted the prestigious National Science Library and the SAARC Documentation Centre.

The merger eliminated overlap and created one comprehensive organisation. The core mandate of NISCAIR was to collect, store, publish, and disseminate science and technology information using a mix of traditional and modern methods.

Mission and goals 🔗

The objectives of NISCAIR were broad and society-focused. The institute aimed to act as a custodian of scientific knowledge and to promote science communication using appropriate technology. Its specific goals included disseminating S&T information to the general public, especially school students, to build interest in science. It also worked to collect and share information on the country’s plant, animal, and mineral wealth, develop human resources in library and information science, and collaborate with international institutions pursuing similar goals.

Services offered by NISCAIR 🔗

NISCAIR offered a wide portfolio of services that served researchers, policymakers, students, and industry. These can be grouped into a few major categories.

The National Science Library 🔗

Inherited from INSDOC, the National Science Library (NSL) was one of the oldest and largest libraries of its kind in the country. It held a vast collection of scientific journals, conference proceedings, and reference material. The library supported document delivery, inter-library loan, literature search services, and reader services. For students and researchers who could not afford expensive subscriptions, the NSL was a critical access point to global scientific literature.

E-journal consortium 🔗

One of the most valuable services managed by NISCAIR was access to electronic journals through a consortium model. NISCAIR served as the custodian of the National Knowledge Resource Consortium (NKRC), which facilitated access to more than 5,000 e-journals from major publishers, along with patents, standards, citations, and bibliographic databases. A consortium pools the buying power of many institutions to negotiate better subscription terms. This model was especially helpful for smaller colleges and institutions in remote areas, helping reduce the gap in access to scientific information across the country.

Bibliometric and scientometric analysis 🔗

The National Science Library also carried out bibliometric and scientometric analysis, a service that has only grown in importance. Bibliometrics is the quantitative study of research output. NISCAIR conducted analysis to study the growth, development, and spread of research areas and to identify centres of excellence and influential authors.

These services included citation analysis of research papers by individual scientists and institutions, including nominees for prestigious honours like the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar Prize and Young Scientist awards. The institute also calculated Impact Factors for journals not covered by the Science Citation Index. This data was useful for heads of departments, research planners, and policymakers who needed objective measures of research performance.

Publishing and information products 🔗

NISCAIR continued the publishing legacy of NISCOM. It brought out a large number of peer-reviewed research journals across disciplines such as chemistry, biology, physics, and engineering. It also published the well-known popular science magazines Vigyan Pragati and Science Reporter, which carried scientific ideas to a wider readership. Other services included the Contents, Abstracts and Photocopy Service (CAPS), foreign language translation, and the issuance of the International Standard Serial Number (ISSN) for Indian publications.

The Traditional Knowledge Digital Library 🔗

Perhaps the most internationally significant project associated with this ecosystem is the Traditional Knowledge Digital Library (TKDL). To understand why it matters, you need to understand the problem it solved.

The biopiracy problem 🔗

Biopiracy refers to the unauthorised appropriation of biological resources or the traditional knowledge of communities, usually through patents, without consent or fair compensation. In the late 1990s, India faced a series of alarming cases. In 1995, two researchers at the University of Mississippi Medical Center received a US patent for using turmeric to heal wounds, a practice common in Indian homes for generations.

The European Patent Office granted a patent on the antifungal properties of neem, and there were disputes over basmati rice as well. The root cause was clear. India’s traditional medical knowledge existed in languages such as Sanskrit, Hindi, Arabic, Persian, Urdu, and Tamil, which patent examiners abroad could neither read nor access. To them, this ancient knowledge appeared to be a novel invention, so they granted patents on it.

Reversing the turmeric patent took India roughly two years and considerable expense, requiring the submission of references from ancient Sanskrit and Urdu texts to prove the knowledge already existed. This experience made one thing obvious: India needed a systematic, accessible record of its traditional knowledge.

How the TKDL works 🔗

The TKDL was set up as a collaborative project between CSIR and the Ministry of AYUSH. It is a digital repository that documents traditional knowledge, particularly relating to medicinal plants and formulations from the Indian systems of medicine, namely Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, and Yoga.

The genius of the system lies in its design. The ancient texts are translated and converted into five international languages so that patent examiners worldwide can read them. The information is then organised using the Traditional Knowledge Resource Classification (TKRC), a system compatible with the International Patent Classification. This means an examiner reviewing a patent application can quickly search the TKDL and find that the claimed “invention” is actually centuries-old knowledge, which serves as prior art and blocks the patent.

To protect this sensitive content, the TKDL is shared with foreign patent offices, including the USPTO and the European Patent Office, under non-disclosure access agreements. The database has helped India successfully challenge hundreds of patent applications at the pre-grant stage, making it a cost-effective shield against biopiracy and a model that other countries now study.

Human resource development and training 🔗

An institution rich in expertise has a responsibility to share it. NISCAIR took human resource development seriously and ran a structured set of training programmes for library and information science professionals.

Short-term courses 🔗

NISCAIR conducted short-term courses in library and information science and related fields. These covered practical, in-demand areas such as information technology for information management, library automation and networking, digital libraries, bibliometric tools, and science communication. For working professionals, these courses offered a way to update their skills and keep pace with a rapidly digitising profession.

Attachment training and consultancy 🔗

Beyond classroom courses, NISCAIR offered customised attachment training programmes. The content and schedule were designed for each participant or group based on their professional background. Training was available in specialised areas such as barcode technology, networking, web page design, herbarium techniques, scientific writing and editing, and graphic design.

The institute also provided consultancy services. It advised organisations on the automation, modernisation, and reorganisation of libraries and information centres, and it designed specialised databases on a turnkey basis. This combination of training and consultancy made NISCAIR a knowledge partner for institutions across the country, not just a service provider.

From NISCAIR to NIScPR 🔗

It is worth noting where this institution stands today. NISCAIR continued its work until another merger reshaped it. On 1 April 2021, CSIR-NISCAIR was merged with the National Institute of Science, Technology and Development Studies (NISTADS) to form the CSIR-National Institute of Science Communication and Policy Research (NIScPR). The new institute carries forward the publishing, library, consortium, and TKDL-related legacy while adding a stronger focus on science, technology, and innovation policy research. So while the NISCAIR name has changed, the services and resources it built continue to serve the scientific community.

What do you think? If a country can document its traditional knowledge to stop wrongful patents, should every nation be required to build a system like the TKDL? And as research increasingly moves online, how important is it for a public institution to keep negotiating affordable access to scientific journals for smaller colleges?

References

1. https://niscpr.res.in/about/genesis
2. https://ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in/lisp4/chapter/national-information-systems-services-and-products-niscair/
3. https://www.netugc.com/national-institute-of-science-communication-and-information-resources-niscair
4. https://listestseries.wordpress.com/2023/07/28/national-institute-of-science-communication-and-information-resources-niscair/
5. https://www.pib.gov.in/PressReleaseIframePage.aspx?PRID=1688585&reg=3&lang=2
6. https://nsl.niscair.res.in/BibliometricService.jsp
7. https://niscpr.res.in/divisions/nsl
8. https://sustainability.shiksha/challenges-to-sustainable-development/biopiracy-exploitation-traditional-knowledge-rights/
9. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traditional_Knowledge_Digital_Library
10. https://anantamias.com/biopiracy/
11. https://www.mondaq.com/india/patent/586384/traditional-knowledge-and-patent-issues-an-overview-of-turmeric-basmati-neem-cases
12. https://www.iiprd.com/patenting-of-traditional-knowledge-in-light-of-the-turmeric-case/
13. http://eprints.rclis.org/22784/1/EPRINT%20NISCAIR%20Activities%20and%20Services.pdf