Digital Preservation of Rare Manuscripts in Assam - INFLIBNET Centre

7 th International CALIBER 2009 Digital Preservation of Rare Manuscripts in AssamDigital Preservation of Rare Manuscripts in AssamAbstractNirmal Ranjan MazumdarInformation technology has facilitated preservation of the documents, i.e. digital preservation.Manuscripts are the primary sources of historic information. With the deterioration of the Law ofNature, manuscripts are also deteriorating along with the time. Digital preservation of manuscriptsrestores it from loss, theft and decay. This paper highlights some of the initiatives taken in Assamfor the digital preservation of manuscripts.Keywords :Digital preservation, Manuscripts, KKH Library - Gauhati University1. IntroductionIn present age, the rapid development ofinformation technology and communication systemhas brought revolutionary changes in theorganization and management of information. Theadvance application of information technology hastouched each and every activity of library andinformation centers. Now the informationtechnology brings the unique opportunity to thefield of preservation with the digital preservationfacility of the non digital documents. Digitalpreservation of manuscripts is now given properimportance. Manuscripts are the first hand writtendocuments which reflect our glorious past and tellthe story of our forefather. These manuscripts arethe basic and primary source of information forthe researchers. Due to different reasons, thesemanuscripts are now in poor and fragile physicalconditions and for its proper preservation at presentstage for the future; many foundations, universities,and other institutions are now taking initiatives fordigital preservation of these valuable manuscripts.2. Digital PreservationEncyclopedia of Information Technology definesthe term digital reservation as “The process of7 th International CALIBER-2009,Pondicherry University, Puducherry, February 25-27, 2009© INFLIBNET Centre, Ahmedabad- 14 -maintaining, in a condition suitable for use,materials produced in digital formats. Problems ofphysical preservation are compounded by theobsolescence of computer equipment, software, andstorage media. Also refers to the practice ofdigitizing materials originally produced in nondigital formats (print, film, etc.) to preventpermanent loss due to deterioration of the physicalmedium.” Digital preservation has the twodimensions i.e. preservation of materials that areborn in digital form and another is digitization forpreservation of printed documents and themanuscripts which are touched by the hand ofdeterioration. Digital preservation facilitates theglobal accessibility of any form of documents.For the digital preservation, two processes ingenerally are followed; one is creating image fileof the documents and second is scanned thedocuments and then using the OCR process formaking the text file error free. These files are thenstored in different secondary storage devices.3. Manuscript Collection in AssamOxford English Dictionary defines manuscripts as‘a very old book or document that was written byhand before printing facility was invented.’Etymologically, the word manuscript has been

Digital Preservation of Rare Manuscripts in Assam 7 th International CALIBER 2009derived from the Latin word ‘Manus’ that meanshand and ‘Scribe’ to write i.e. written by hand.Hand written documents are called manuscripts.Yuddha and Sachitra Bhagawata were displayed atthe World Book Fair-2006-07, held in Frankfurt,Germany.Manuscripts in India have a long tradition that wasproduced in all part of our country in differentlanguages and in scripts. These manuscripts wereregarded as rare commodities, produced with hardlabour and cost. A sense of religious sanctity andreverence were associated with them and they wereworshipped like holy relics, which are now storedin different temples, madrasas, museums,universities as well as in personal custody etc.In Assam, the Satra institutes are the majorcustodian of the rare manuscripts, though some arepreserved in different places, such as in temples,madrasas, museums, and universities as well as inpersonal custody. In ancient Assam, the bark ofAgar was used to write on, which is locally calledSanchipat. It is a unique writing material only usedin Assam.In the middle of 15 th century, Srimanta Sankaradevaand his disciple Madhabdeva, along with their otherdisciples initiated Vaisnava renaissance in Assam.They spread the fragrance of Vaisnava faith amongthe masses, by written different dramas, Bargeet,Geet, poem etc. mainly on Sanchipat, tulapat etc.These manuscripts have still a great role in theVaisnava Society as well as in Assamese literature,which are now treated as the cultural heritage ofthe nation. It is proud for us that two manuscriptsof Assam i.e. Chitra Bhagabata and RatnamalaByakaran, written on Sanchipat have been selectedas the National Treasure of India by the centralgovernment of India, both of them are nowscientifically preserved in the archive of KKHLibrary, Gauhati University. More over other twomanuscripts from this Library, i.e. Lava- Kusha- 15 -Besides, the Satras and Namghars, institutions likeKKH Library of Gauhati University, KamrupAnusandhan Samiti, Department of History &Antiquarian Studies, Guwahati, are the mainrepositories of rare and valuable manuscripts inAssam.In Assam, the Vaisnava people worship themanuscripts as the sacred things. Because of thereligious beliefson, these manuscripts are accessibleto the Hindus only within the Satra premises only.In such situation, the digital surrogate of thesemanuscripts may be the best way for theirpreservation and access. Once the digitization ofthese manuscripts is completed; the users can usethem in digital format without the fear ofdegradation of its quality. The single of a particularmanuscript may produce in unlimited numbersaccording to the users’ needs and can disseminatethem to the remote users too. The users can taketheir required manuscripts with them in digitalform, which are generally kept away from thepeople. Digital preservation may facilitate theglobal accessibility of the manuscripts. Moreoverthe owner of such manuscripts may market theirproducts to the user community worldwide byuploading them on web.4. Initiatives in digital preservation ofmanuscripts in IndiaThinking the importance of digital preservation,in India too, numbers of projects are taken bydifferent organizations for the preservation of thesevaluable manuscripts in digital format.

Digital Preservation of Rare Manuscripts in Assam 7 th International CALIBER 2009preservation of manuscripts in Assam. The newsreport ‘Conservation of 6,548 sanchipatscompleted’ published in the Assam Tribune, dated17 September, 2008, informed that CulturalInformatics, a branch of the IGNCA hassuccessfully completed the identification,conservation and digitization of 6,548 numbers ofrare and valuable manuscripts of Assam. Thesemanuscripts are available in different mediums likesanchipat, palm leaf, paper etc. Out of these abovenumbers of manuscripts, 4,396 were on sanchipat,259 on paper pulp, 1,892 on modern paper and 1on palm leaf, collected from 126 sources of theState, including the Satra institutes scattered indifferent places of Assam.At present, digitization of manuscripts, which areavailable in Narayani Handiqui Historical Institute(Department ofHistory & Antiquarian Studies), Guwahati is goingon by the IGNCA, which has also a mightycollection of rare manuscriptsGauhati University, the leading academic andresearch institute of NE India is known for itscentral library i.e. KKHLibrary, which is full of 2.5 lakhs valuable books.The Archival Cell is another important section ofthis KKH Library which is mainly working for thepreservation and conservation of different valuablemanuscripts. Now it has about 4,500 valuablemanuscripts written on Sachipat, tula pat and paperand these manuscripts have been preserved in themanuscript section of the Archival cell of thelibrary. Recently, digitization of around 2,000 hasbeen completed under the National Mission forManuscripts and the library will soon get the CDsof these manuscripts. It is better to mentioned thatin Assam, KKH Library has been working asManuscript Resource Center (MRC) andManuscript Conservation Center (MCC) from thevery beginning of this Mission to carry out thepreservation and conservation works of manuscriptsof the State and the library has developed abibliographic database including all total 25,480manuscripts till 4.12.2008.America based Assam Society of America, has beeninvolving in preservation of manuscript in Assam.The Society had started a Project for the digitalrestoration of rare and ancient Assamesemanuscripts, with Jugal Kalita as the ProjectCoordinator. The Kuruabahi Satra in Golaghat,Assam is one of the famous Satras in Assam, has acollection about 60 manuscripts. In 2005, theSociety digitally photographed these manuscripts,as this Satra had published an advertisement in anewspaper, seeking help for preservation of thesemanuscripts.In Assam, the manuscripts, whether stored inuniversity library, in museum or in otherorganizations, are mainly originated in Satrainstitute. So, emphasis should be given onpreserving these manuscripts first.6. ConclusionThe deterioration is one of the major problems inorganization and management of manuscriptcollection.But deterioration is the rule of nature, so nowemphasis is given on the preservation of thecontents along with the physical preservation ofthe manuscripts; in some cases physicalpreservation of manuscripts is impossible too. Thedigital preservation is suggested and followed as itcan preserve the manuscripts with its own physicalfeatures and contents.- 17 -

7 th International CALIBER 2009 Digital Preservation of Rare Manuscripts in AssamSome people believe that if the manuscripts aredigitized and made available on web, then they areeasily accessible from every nook and corner of theentire world; the manuscripts users will not cometo those places where the manuscripts are physicallypreserved and in such situation the organizationswill lose its glory and also lose an amount ofrevenue from which those organization are gettingfinancial support. The importance of digitalpreservation can not be ignored. The digitizationshould be the supplement for the electronic accessof such manuscript collection and these digitalforms of manuscripts should not be made availableon open access, if the custodians of suchmanuscripts refuse to do it.References4. Das, Utpal . Importance of preservinghistorical materials of Assam. New Spectrum,2006, 2 (1), pp. 15- 24.5. KALITA, Jugal. Photographing manuscriptsat Kuruabahi Xotro. ASA News Letter, March2005, 33 (6), pp.5-6.6. Kumar, Nirender. Manuscriptology andmanuscript libraries in India. In: Library andInformation science: current trends in India,pp. 141-149, edited by P.K. Gupta and UshaPawan. Jaipur: RBSA Publication, 1986.7. Mahapatra, P. K. Preservation of librarymaterial. In: Library management, Kolkata:World Press, 1997. pp. 236-269.1. ALi, Amjad. Encyclopedia of informationtechnology. Vol-1 (A-L). New Delhi: GalgotiaPublications, 2005.2. Barman, Rajani Kanta and Goswami,Chandan. Need for manpower developmentin preservation and conservation: a view. In:Seminar proceedings: National seminar onsocial role of media and building up of anational information resource centre – cumarchive for the North –East, Media Trust,Guwahati, Assam, edited by Alaka Buragohainand Narendra Lahkar. Guwahati: Media Trust,2004, pp.76-80.3. Chopra, H.S. and Naranga, Asha. Digitalpreservation of achieves and manuscripts: anIndian scenario. In: Information andKnowledge Management in Networked World.Proceedings of the International CALIBER2007, Punjab University, Chandigarh,Ahmedabad, INFLIBNET Centre, 2007,pp.25-33- 18 -8. Malesh, M., Lahkar, Narendra andGAJAKOSI, S. Digitization of culture. In:Library as a global information hub:perspectives and challenges, proceeding ofPLANNER -2007, Gauhati University,Guwahati, Assam, 2007, edited by J Arora.Ahmedabad: INFLIBNET Center, 2007. pp.245-253.9. Mazumdar, Nirmal Ranjan. Manuscriptscollection in Satras of Barpeta & role of KKHLibrary, Gauhati University in conservation ofmanuscripts. In: Library profession in searchof new paradigm, proceeding of 23 rd nationalseminar of IASLIC, Bose Institute, Kolkata,2008, edited by Amitabha Chatterjee ( et.al.).Kolkata: IASLIC, 2008.pp 67-72.10.Mehta, Dilnavaz. Caring of books. Jet wings.2002, 2 (11), pp.157.11. Microsoft Corporation. Microsoft computerdictionary. New Delhi: Prentice Hall of India.2002.

Digital Preservation of Rare Manuscripts in Assam 7 th International CALIBER 200912.Rajkhowa, Jyoti Prasad. Sankaradeva: his lifepreaching and practices. Guwahati: BSPublication, 2003. pp. 117-125.13.Saini, M.L. Manuscript literature in Indianlanguage. ILA Bulletin. 1969, 25 (7), pp. 6-19.14. Sharma, N. N. Documentary and archivalresources of NE Region: need for theirorganization, preservation and conservation.In: Seminar proceedings: National seminar onsocial role of media and building up of anational information resource centre – cumarchive for the North –East, Media Trust,Guwahati, Assam, edited by Alaka Buragohainand Narendra Lahkar. Guwahati: Media Trust,2004. pp. 69-75.15. Singh, Sanjay Kumar. Microfilm: a digitalarchiving method of preservation. NewSpectrum. 2006, 2 (1), pp. 7-14.17. http://www.namami.org (Accessed on02.12.2008)18. http://www.nanakshahi.org (Accessed on05.12.2008)19.http://www.healthnet.org.np/ocs/index.php/icikm2008/icikm/paper/viewPDFInterstitial/14/106. (Accessed on 05.12.2008)20.http://www.gauhati.ac.in/admin/library/holding.htm (Accessed on 06.12.2008)21.http://nationalarchives.gov.in/computer.html(Accessed on 25.12.2008)About AuthorMr. Nirmal Ranjan Mazumdar, AssistantLibrarian, GIMT, Azara,Hatkhowapara,Guwahati-781017.E-mail: nrmazumdar@gmail.com.16. http://www.barpeta.gov.in (Accessed on02.12.2008)- 19 -