Two academicians have been collecting rare journals,census reports,gazettes & books on South Asian history for the last 8 years to digitize them for easy access
Shreya Roy Chowdhury | TNN
For the last eight years,a group of academics have been on a rescue mission.Finding procuring material for research a Herculean task during their own fieldwork,two research fellows started gathering rare books and documents on South Asian history with the intention of digitizing them for easy access to researchers.They collected books from waterlogged homes,dusty government shelves,even bathrooms and on November 7,the South Asian Research Foundation will launch the digital archive containing completely searchable digitized versions of five million pages.
The first batch of two-lakh pages was purchased from the stalls of halfa-dozen rare-book dealers at the 2005 Kolkata Book Fair.Boria Majumdar and Sharmistha Gooptu were collecting material randomly till they formed the foundation in 2008 and got more organized.These included many 19 th century Bangla journals,government censuses from the British era and gazettes.The online library will include early editions of William Jones works and of the Asiatic Review (from 1780 s ),full sets of law reports (from 1870 s),film ephemera (film pamphlets with synopses of films and songs from the 1930 s and 40s),about 200 journals,census reports,medical histories and government reports.The colonial government was in the habit of producing reports, says Gooptu.There are reports on increasing the number of pubic latrines in Bombay,on sale of rotten fish in Kolkata,statistics of cholera epidemics and problems of urbanization and housing in Bombay all from the early 20th century.Theyve been painstakingly gathered from government offices,private collectors and rarebooks-dealers.About 15% of the documents are in Bangla more languages may be added later and series of documents will come with an introductory note from the editors.
And because bibliophiles dont really know where to stop,the duo have found documents being stored in unlikely places the most extreme case being that of a Hatibagan (Kolkata ) collector whod stacked on a platform of bricks,a lot he couldnt accommodate in the rooms,in the damp bathroom.The foundations project manager spent an entire day in the bathroom sifting through the material and found in it,records of proceedings of the Governor General in council and Lieutenant Governor General in council,starting from the 1910 s.In 2008,Majumdar had discovered journals of the Botanical Society in a private residence in Dumdum.It was monsoon,there was waterlogging inside the house and there,in knee-deep water,I found the soaked copies of the journals, he says.
Once rescued,the foundation does what it can to preserve the documents.The original hardcopies are housed in a rented a three-floor property on Diamond Harbour Road,near Taratala,Kolkata.Before a digitized version can be created,books are treated to deal with the pinholes and the yellowing.Pest control treatments twice every month keep the worms at bay.
The archive building is not airconditioned and the cost of maintenance is high.We will donate the entire archive to the government,and the HRD ministry has been very cooperative and has agreed to set up a library and call it South Asia Archive, says Majumdar.United Kingdombased publisher,Routledge,is funding the digitization process and will also take care of marketing to educational institutions outside India.Within the country,the team has received support from the University Grants Commission.Majumdar assures that the material will be available at a reasonable price to institutions and individuals.The couples paying for the purchase and preservation themselves.
On their collection drives,they have encountered dealers for whom rare books is purely a business proposition and genuine collectors whove dedicated a lifetime of work and large sections of their homes to them.They dont possess degrees and are humble backgrounds but have a great appreciation and respect for learning.If they make Rs.1,000 in a month,theyll spend Rs.2,000 on pestcontrol.Thats the typical profile, says Gooptu.They found one of the earliest English commentaries on the Upanishads from such a collector,in Bardhaman.
His books had taken up an entire room in a small house, says Gooptu,His wife was happy to see them go.
NEW LIFE: The page of a rare journal before and after it was processed for digitization
Source: Times of India, http://mobilepaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=20§id=edid=&edlabel=CAP&mydateHid=14-10-2012&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Delhi&edname=&articleid=Ar02000&publabel=TOI
Shreya Roy Chowdhury | TNN
For the last eight years,a group of academics have been on a rescue mission.Finding procuring material for research a Herculean task during their own fieldwork,two research fellows started gathering rare books and documents on South Asian history with the intention of digitizing them for easy access to researchers.They collected books from waterlogged homes,dusty government shelves,even bathrooms and on November 7,the South Asian Research Foundation will launch the digital archive containing completely searchable digitized versions of five million pages.
The first batch of two-lakh pages was purchased from the stalls of halfa-dozen rare-book dealers at the 2005 Kolkata Book Fair.Boria Majumdar and Sharmistha Gooptu were collecting material randomly till they formed the foundation in 2008 and got more organized.These included many 19 th century Bangla journals,government censuses from the British era and gazettes.The online library will include early editions of William Jones works and of the Asiatic Review (from 1780 s ),full sets of law reports (from 1870 s),film ephemera (film pamphlets with synopses of films and songs from the 1930 s and 40s),about 200 journals,census reports,medical histories and government reports.The colonial government was in the habit of producing reports, says Gooptu.There are reports on increasing the number of pubic latrines in Bombay,on sale of rotten fish in Kolkata,statistics of cholera epidemics and problems of urbanization and housing in Bombay all from the early 20th century.Theyve been painstakingly gathered from government offices,private collectors and rarebooks-dealers.About 15% of the documents are in Bangla more languages may be added later and series of documents will come with an introductory note from the editors.
And because bibliophiles dont really know where to stop,the duo have found documents being stored in unlikely places the most extreme case being that of a Hatibagan (Kolkata ) collector whod stacked on a platform of bricks,a lot he couldnt accommodate in the rooms,in the damp bathroom.The foundations project manager spent an entire day in the bathroom sifting through the material and found in it,records of proceedings of the Governor General in council and Lieutenant Governor General in council,starting from the 1910 s.In 2008,Majumdar had discovered journals of the Botanical Society in a private residence in Dumdum.It was monsoon,there was waterlogging inside the house and there,in knee-deep water,I found the soaked copies of the journals, he says.
Once rescued,the foundation does what it can to preserve the documents.The original hardcopies are housed in a rented a three-floor property on Diamond Harbour Road,near Taratala,Kolkata.Before a digitized version can be created,books are treated to deal with the pinholes and the yellowing.Pest control treatments twice every month keep the worms at bay.
The archive building is not airconditioned and the cost of maintenance is high.We will donate the entire archive to the government,and the HRD ministry has been very cooperative and has agreed to set up a library and call it South Asia Archive, says Majumdar.United Kingdombased publisher,Routledge,is funding the digitization process and will also take care of marketing to educational institutions outside India.Within the country,the team has received support from the University Grants Commission.Majumdar assures that the material will be available at a reasonable price to institutions and individuals.The couples paying for the purchase and preservation themselves.
On their collection drives,they have encountered dealers for whom rare books is purely a business proposition and genuine collectors whove dedicated a lifetime of work and large sections of their homes to them.They dont possess degrees and are humble backgrounds but have a great appreciation and respect for learning.If they make Rs.1,000 in a month,theyll spend Rs.2,000 on pestcontrol.Thats the typical profile, says Gooptu.They found one of the earliest English commentaries on the Upanishads from such a collector,in Bardhaman.
His books had taken up an entire room in a small house, says Gooptu,His wife was happy to see them go.
NEW LIFE: The page of a rare journal before and after it was processed for digitization
Source: Times of India, http://mobilepaper.timesofindia.com/mobile.aspx?article=yes&pageid=20§id=edid=&edlabel=CAP&mydateHid=14-10-2012&pubname=Times+of+India+-+Delhi&edname=&articleid=Ar02000&publabel=TOI
No comments:
Post a Comment
Librarianship is a noble profession and we feel proud to be among Librarian Community. Regular visit to Library Soup Blog (http://library-soup.blogspot.com/) is essential for easy and smooth functioning of Librarianship and for the better know how and understanding of the Profession. So, Keep Browsing Library Soup Blog !!!
Cheers !!!!!