Above: The maunscripts of Mahant Mukat Ram, Malerkotla, Punjab.
Panjab Digital Library: A Success Story
by ANANDITA GUPTA
Not too long ago, research meant trudging down to the library, searching for journals through musty stacks and queuing up for the photocopier. But not anymore. Digital books will play a vital role since people today are more tech-savvy and time-conscious.
Taking a cue from the trend,
Punjab has acquired its first digital library, providing an access to
swathes of information.
Launched in 2003 by Davinder Pal Singh
and Harinder Singh under Nanakshahi Trust, the Panjab Digital Library
(PDL) is an independent, non-profit endeavour, providing digital
archiving services for Punjabi heritage.
PDL digitally preserves
manuscripts, books, records and historical documents for individuals and
institutions, making them available online. "It seeks to save and make
accessible the vast amount of handwritten, rare literature and art,
scattered in and around Punjab," explains Harinder Singh.
The Sikh duo
was pained to see a great loss of Punjabi heritage due to human
negligence. Harinder says, "Despite these losses, there was still a lot
left worth saving. So, after much brainstorming, we established PDL in
2003, to archive the endangered and invaluable Punjabi manuscripts."
In
2006, Nanakshahi grew from a small, three-employee organisation to
India's leading digital preservation NGO. "Armed with ten active working
groups and well drafted policies, our strength grew to 30. This
increased our digitally preserved pages from 5,000 a month to 5,000 a
day," shares Davinder Pal Singh.
Today, with about 35 installed
workstations, PDL has the region's highest number of data processing
power as an NGO. It has acquired specially customised digitisation
worktables, a complete digitisation apparatus and computer systems.
Access to all digital data at www.panjabdigilib.org is free of cost.
This
transition from physical to digital is not just going to change the way
we read, but also going to determine the future of books. Though it would be interesting to see whether it would be able
to book success over the print world, and emerge as a reader's choice in
the long run.
The digital scorecard of Panjab Digital Library hit new highs.
- 8,200 books
- 6 million pages digitised
- 3,990 issues of periodicals
- 25,578 issues of newspapers
- 9,152 photographs
- 248,000 legal documents
- 168 hours of video recordings
[Courtesy: India Today]
July 7, 2011
Conversation about this article
1: A.J. Singh (San Francisco, California, U.S.A.), July 07, 2011, 10:50 AM.
Here is a link to the Panjab Digital Library Archives: http://www.panjabdigilib.org/
2: Bibek Singh (Jersey City, USA), July 07, 2011, 3:54 PM.
We all must support such projects.
3: Sangat Singh (Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia), July 07, 2011, 4:03 PM.
This is the most wonderful news as a boon for the researchers. A dear friend and a scholar, Krishan Bhugtiar in U.K., has been trudging from place to place, and mostly through the British Museum, to study the Guru Granth Sahib Bir there to compare it with the printed Birs available and noting some apparent differences. A quantum jump for scholars indeed. Congratulations for undertaking such a monumental and much needed work.
4: Harinder Singh (San Antonio, Texas, U.S.A.), July 08, 2011, 12:47 AM.
PDL has a unique opportunity to get a 50-yr lease on space on Madhya Marg in Chandigarh. If PDL continues at its current capacity (annual budget of $230,000), we already have 17 years of matter awaiting digitization, while our non-human enemies (light and humidity) gaze. If you can help in raising $60,000 by July 31, this can become long-term focused organization. Invest to reveal the invisible heritage of Punjab!
5: Jagmohan Singh (Ludhiana, Punjab), July 08, 2011, 1:48 PM.
The Punjab Digital Library is a treasure-house of the Sikh people and it is the duty of every Sikh to ensure its continuance and progress. There is so much to be done. At the present rate, it may take decades. To hasten the process, we need to be part of the Sikh heritage preservation movement.
6: K.B.Singh (India), July 08, 2011, 11:10 PM.
Heritage is like our forefathers. It needs proper preservation not only for ourselves but for generations to come. Let us join hands together for the noble cause. If not done today, we will regret it later.
7: Chuharh singh (Mohali, Punjab), July 09, 2011, 6:04 AM.
Beyond imagination! Great work.
8: Hardeep Kaur (Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada), September 14, 2011, 2:40 AM.
I am in Chandigarh at the moment and was wondering if PDL has established an office here that I may visit ...