From Srinivas Sirnoorkar
DH News Service
Gulbarga: Gulbarga university has established a state-of-the-art Virtual Learning Research Centre and Digital Library thus giving a philip to study, teaching and research in any branch of the knowledge. The  logistics support and assistance is rendered by the Infosys Foundation, charity wing of the IT giant Infosys Technologies Ltd.

Equipped with 100 work stations, the main frame servers and COD NAT server provide excellent access internet, COD-ROM Databases and e-learning packages using 2 MBPS leased line for the benefit of students, research scholars and faculty. Access facilities are provided for learning materials of different subjects. Users can work on  some of the software for data analysis and research results from the  LRC and Academic Commons. Assistance provided by e-resources search and downloading and Network Digital printing facility available on a normal fee.
Congenial ambience
Three units of work stations in LRC with pleasant interior and air condition provide ideal learning opportunities for students, research scholars and faculty.
The VLRC and DL is the brainchild of the University Librarian Dr R B Gaddagimath who has put his heart and soul in realising the dream project. His excellent work has resulted in the Indian Library Association  conferring the `ILA-Dr L M Padhya Best University Library Award’ for 2007 to Gulbarga University Library.
Interactive
The Virtual Learning Centre provides the information required within no time as it has digitised hundreds of international journals, research theses and  study materials. One of the important features of the Centre is it provides different types f learning packages for students. It is also equipped with interactive type of learning package through which one can evaluate himself. Capacity building an skill development of students is an inherent objective of the Virtual Learning Centre. ``Earlier the education was teacher centric and class room based and today it is virtual learning in which student alone is the focal point with the e-information occupying the place of the invisible teacher’’ says Dr Gaddagimath.
Subscription
It has embarked upon Institutional Repository by digitising the publications of the university and faculty along with rare and archival materials. Mirror images of  COD/DVDs databases and instructional materials on various subjects have been created on NAT Server in LRC  and accessible under network within the library. Though the Centre caters basically to the needs of all the 39 faculties of the university outsiders too can make use of it by becoming subscribers. Dr Gaddagimath said though the efforts were on to network all the faculties  in the campus the ultimate goal was to network all the 240 affiliated colleges spread over five districts  Gulbarga, Bidar, Raichur, Koppal and Bellary.