The Bhoothalingam Library is a primary resource centre at MS Swaminathan Research Foundation (MSSRF). It was inaugurated on January 6, 1994, by Mrs Mathuram Bhoothalingam, mother of late Ms Mina Swaminathan. We have a vast collection covering several thematic areas ranging from biodiversity to agriculture, food to biotechnology, rural development to nutrition and health, marine/coastal to climate change, gender and grassroots institutions.

The primary mission of the library is to support MSSRF programme areas with physical and intellectual access to information that is consistent with the present, to enrich the anticipatory and participatory research functions of the Foundation. We strive to develop a comprehensive collection of documents useful for faculty and researchers.

The Bhoothalingam Library is also open to public

The users of our library are mostly scientists and researchers, budding scholars, interested college and school students, among others. Students from several agricultural institutions and universities, also from engineering and technology colleges across the state visit the premises quite often.

There are over 20, 000 books, journals, theses, working papers, policy papers, manuals, and reports. We also have over 4,500 back issues of science-centric periodicals. An exhaustive collection of publications by Professor M S Swaminathan and Ms Mina Swaminathan have made the library rather unique and special.

Here is a brief list of some famous books authored by Prof Swaminathan:

• Towards a Hunger Free World
• In Search of Biohappiness: Biodiversity and Food, Health and Livelihood Security
• From Green to Evergreen Revolution: Indian Agriculture: Performance and Challenges
• 50 Years of Green Revolution: An Anthology of Research Papers
• Combating Hunger and Achieving Food Security

Library Services

The library provides services such as Reference and Referral Services, User Guidance Services, Circulation Services, and online OPAC search services, as well as e-Document Delivery Service, CAS, Weekly Book Display, and Research support services. There is also a well-equipped reading space for its patrons.

We use the KOHA system – an Integrated Library Management software package, with all the modules for the library housekeeping operations. The library Online Catalogue database has more than 18,000 records of books (Bibliographic Information). Using KOHA OPAC, users can search the Library Online Catalogue by Author, Title, Subject, and Keywords. The user can also find information about open access journals and magazines from the library OPAC. We have a digital repository to manage MSSRF publications. 

Research support offer

We provide research support to researchers visiting the library by:

• Assisting them in refining / shaping their research questions
• Using various reference management systems like Zotero to assist researchers in managing citations and references
• Guiding them to avoid plagiarism while writing research articles
• Assisting in the identification of high-impact journals

We have subscribed to more than twenty high-impact print and online journals such as Nature, Scientific America, Science, Economic and Political Weekly (EPW), New Scientist, etc. We maintain a separate reference collection consisting of encyclopaedias, dictionaries, directories, handbooks, atlases, and yearbooks.

Readers may approach the Reference Desk for information or any assistance while using our collections and services. The Bhoothalingam Library staff also makes an extra effort to respond to users via email.