OPEN
ACCESS ONLINE ARCHIVES FOR TAMIL
N.Nandhivarman
Vatican Library is known as Bibliotheca
bibliothe carum which means library of libraries. Vatican Apostolic Library
has 80,000 volumes in manuscript section and a 75,000 volumes of archival
collections. British Library in London has 56 million items in its major
catalogue. Thirteen million books, journals, newspapers, conferences, maps etc.
37 million journal articles, e-books and hundreds of data base , source
archives items, web archive links , over 400 research data sets. The British
Library funds projects under endangered archives programme.
Our Connemara Public Library
in Chennai has 4,78,273 books as per the online public access catalogue.
Connemara
Public Library at Chennai is one of the four National Depository Libraries
which receive a copy of all books, newspapers and periodicals published in
India. Established in 1896 the library is a repository of centuries-old
publications, wherein lie some of the most respected works and collections in
the country. It also serves as a depository library for the UN. The library was
as part of a cultural complex that grew in the grounds of what was once called
'The Pantheon'. The entire complex now boasts buildings that reflect architectural
unity, even while demonstrating the various stages of Indo-Saracenic
development, from Gothic-Byzantine to Rajput Mughal and Southern Hindu Deccan.
The
Internet Archive's Digital Books Collection
“The Internet Archive and
Open Library offers over 6,000,000 fully accessible public domain eBooks. This
includes a special modern collection of over 500,000 eBooks for users with
print disabilities, and a very interesting
modern collection for the world at large. You can browse, read and
borrow fascinating contemporary materials at Open Library.org.”
Open Library is a free,
digital lending library with millions of eBooks that can be read in a browser
or downloaded for reading offline. Originally developed to support the Print
Disabled community, Open Library now contains public domain and contemporary
eBooks.
The Internet Archive also
encourages libraries, content holders and the reading community at large, to
have their printed materials non-destructively digitized and put online for the
benefit of all. The Internet Archive has digitized over 2.1 million books
and microforms. Both large and small collections of monographs, serials,
archival materials, maps, diaries and photographs to name a few, can be
digitized in over 33 global scanning centres found on 4 continents. Since 2005, the Internet Archive has
collaborated and built digital collections with over 1100 Library Institutions
and other content providers. Partnerships include: Boston Public Library,
the Library of Congress and the Lancaster County's Historical Society. These
collections are digitized from various media types including: microfilm and
microfiche, journals and serial publications, and a wide variety of archival
material. Significant contributions have come from partners in North America
(American and Canadian Libraries), Europe and Asia, representing more than 184
languages.
The
libraries of the past are being replaced by Online Open Access Archives and
Libraries. Simon Warner of Carnell University of USA opines that “The Open Archives Initiative “
should be the order of this century.
The Universal Library
Project, sometimes called the Million Books Project, was pioneered by Jaime
Carbonell, Raj Reddy, Michael Shamos, Gloriana St Clair, and Robert Thibadeau
of Carnegie Mellon University. The Governments of India, China, and Egypt are
helping fund this effort through scanning facilities and personnel. The
Internet Archive has contributed 100 k books from the Kansas City Public
Library along with servers to India. The Indian government scanned the
appropriate books. The Internet Archive has performed automated conversion of
these scans into this collection.
The Biodiversity Heritage
Library works collaboratively to make biodiversity literature openly available to
the world as part of a global biodiversity community. BHL also serves as the
foundation literature component of the Encyclopedia of Life .
While the world is moving
towards digitizing books, my personal hunt for rare books yielded mixed
results. I could trace a book but could not Xerox or copy it since it was
damaged beyond redemption.
The
Jesuit Mission of Madurai maintains an archives in Shenbaganur near Kodaikanal
of and there I found the Tamil-Latin
Dictionary of Veeramamunivar. Dictionarium Tamulico-Latinum by Beschi and Rottler was published in 1852 at
Nagapattinam. Only few pages, because of the worst condition of the manuscript
could be Xeroxed. It struck to me digitizing it and uploading in net as open
access material is the only way to preserve it . For better interaction between
the two classical languages Latin and Tamil and for present day Latin speakers
to understand Tamil, this dictionary is of immense value. Similarly Grammatica
Latino-Tamulica by Veeramamunivar known as Constantius Josephus
Beschius printed by Saint Josephs Industrial School Press , Trichinopoly in
1917 is another rare book which would help Tamils to know Latin grammar was
found in Shenbaganur Archives.
The second Edition of
Dictionnaire Tamoul-Francaise by MM.Mousset and L.Dupuy published by
Pondicherry Mission Press in 1895 [second edition] is preserved in Shenbaganur.
This would enable Frenchmen to understand Tamil, whereas the same authors had
brought out Dictionnaire Francais_Tamoul in the year 1911 from the same press.
This would be of help to Tamils to learn the French language. It is available
in reprints but has no takers is another story.
Having visited various archives
in connection with my project titled Translations of Sangam Classics in
Classical, Foreign and Other Languages for Central Institute of Classical
Tamil, I could find rare books but could not copy them or Xerox them . My
attempts to take photographs of some books will reveal the futile struggle
which all scholars cannot afford to do.
Like
U.Ve.Swaminatha Iyer another scholar or his reincarnation cannot be expected to
come alive by the fag end of this century to start campaign to save rare books
which appeared in Tamil and printing technology was introduced to Tamils by
westerners.
It struck to me that in collaboration with
Anna University, a Tamil NRI based in California Kumbakonam B.Chandrasekar who
funded the India’s first research centre in public-private partnership
succeeded in inventing first Tamil search engine like Google or yahoo and named
it Kazhugu.. AU-KBC research centre had also launched Online Tamil
Dictionary “Agaraathi” and this prompted me to suggest a tie-up of Central
Institute of Classical Tamil and Anna University-KBC Research centre for
digitizing all rare Tamil books and creation on Online Open Access Archives.
During the International
Seminar and Conference on Information Technology in February 1999 a decision to
start Tamil Virtual University was announced. Tamil Virtual University renamed
as Tamil Virtual Academy has a website visited by 2,34,4272 visitors. A birds
eye view of the site will reveal lot more had to be done. In Dictionaries they
have uploaded Pals Dictionary English-Tamil , Tamil-Tamil Dictionary by
M.Shanmugam Pillai, and Madras University Tamil Lexicon Volume 1 to 7. Tamil
Virtual Academy has an Electronic Dictionary with spelling. The Tamil-Latin
Dictionary or Tamil –French Dictionary and grammars referred just as sample,
had to be digitized and uploaded.
Another ambitious project of
Government of Tamilnadu was the Tamil Etymological Dictionary Project which
started in 1974 and ended in 2011, with 12 Volumes in 31 parts running into
12,000 pages being printed and distributed to the libraries of Tamilnadu. A
Comprehensive Etymological Dictionary of Tamil Language which was initiated by
Deveneya Paavanar and finished when R.Mathivanan was the Director in 2011,
needs to be digitized and uploaded as Online Free Accessible Archives material.
But the Former Director of the Tamil Etymological Dictionary Project
R.Mathivanan opined these dictionaries had to be updated and additional inputs
incorporated. Printed copies have been exhausted and reprints are required, he
said.
The Tamil Virtual Academy
had published for online accessibility the Tamil Encyclopaedias , a monumental
work initiated by Education Minister of Madras Presidency Avinasilingam
Chettiar [right ] and edited by Perisamy Thooran [left] in picture. 10 volumes
are for public accessibility. Similarly Children’s Encyclopaedia too is there
in just a click away in Tamil Virtual Library.
The
University Library, a replica of the Indian Parliament House in its structure
is located prominently in the campus of the University. As an ever-growing unit
for knowledge and information, the library concentrates not only in purchasing
new books but also to collect and preserve old and rare books for its shelves. As
on date, the total number of books is 1,36,324 and the total number of
periodicals is 393. A few rare personal collections of great scholars however
procured. Mention may be made of an old collection procured from the first
mobile library started in 1931 at Mannargudi. India Office Library Records
(1600-1900) are available in Microfilm. Scholars of repute, researchers and
students frequently visit the library for reference. Moreover, a current
awareness service, selective dissemination of Information and reprographic
service are offered to them. Apart from the availability of Photostat machine,
materials such as linguaphone records, audio cassettes, video cassettes and
CD's are available for reference in the Library.
.8 Rare books
This library has got more than One Lakh of rare
books and Periodicals. Some of them are:-
Serial
Number |
Year of
publications |
Author
|
Title
|
1
|
1553
|
D. Hieronymi Strido
|
Omnes Quae Extant
|
2
|
1578
|
Plato
|
Opera Quae Exlast Ominia (Greek Latin)
|
3
|
1604
|
Gruler (Jan)
|
Fax Artium Liberalium (Latin)
|
4
|
1608
|
The Bible
|
|
5
|
1678
|
Rheed, etc.
|
Hortus Indicus Malabaricus 12 volumes
|
6
|
1696
|
Ovington (J)
|
A Voyage to Suratt in the year 1689
|
7
|
1698
|
Refulatio Alcorani
|
|
8
|
1781
|
ஞானமுறமைகளின்
விளக்கம்
|
|
9
|
1826
|
Leyden (John)
Erskins (William) Trs |
Refulatio Alcorani
|
10
|
1858
|
Tripe (L)
|
Photographic views in madura
|
11
|
1882
|
Beschi (C J)
|
Grammar of the High Dialect of the Tamil Language
|
It is high time Tamil
Virtual University gets back its old name and strengthened by making it topmost
Digital Archives of Tamil books. Tamil University Thanjavur, International
Institute of Tamil Studies both under State Government and Central Institute of
Classical Tamil under Human Resource Development Ministry of Government of
India must be made epicentres to trigger knowledge explosion by enriching their
libraries converting them into Open Access online libraries to benefit Tamils
and other language scholars spread across the continents. Pondicherry Central
University and its Anandaranga Pillai Memorial Library, Romain Rolland Library
187 year old heritage left by French should become online libraries.
Private initiatives by Tamil
Electronic Library of Malaysia, Project Madurai, Tamil Heritage Foundation etc
are laudable but it struck to me that every house can digitize its collections.
Former Principal of Teachers College Pollachi Nasan, through his website
thamizham.net had added 10814 books
and 34402 journals totalling 45216 collections in Tamil. A Bachelor has
everything arranged in his two room house at Pollachi and digitizes at the rate
of 1000 pages per hour.
Pollachi Nasan.
How he could do this ? to my
surprised query he told Japanese technology helped him.
The Easy Book Scanner - an Introduction to this
1000 pages per hour
To build the above scanner
With technology coming to help every household in
Tamilnadu which houses rare books of past generations, could buy such easy
scanners and keep all their home library books as e-books and prevent loss or
destruction of books due to vagaries of time.
No comments:
Post a Comment