CHENNAI: The Tamil Nadu archives, one of the largest repository of documents in southern Asia, is being modernised.

This is being done to preserve the documents better and to make them more accessible to researchers.

According to sources in the Tamil Nadu archives, the department has developed a software that will allow researchers to search through the indices for specific events, years and names. This will help researchers gain access to the original documents more easily.

The department has tested and validated the software for the past year.

A part of the finances set aside for the department from the12th Finance Commission grant is being used for this purpose.

At present, research scholars visiting the archives department have to plough through volumes of indices manually to look for pertinent original documents. Sometimes the search for a document lasts longer than a week, the source said.

"Our staff are good in directing researchers on the whereabouts of documents. But sometimes even they miss some references," an official said. Even after the project is set in motion, it will take a few years before access to documents is made easier for research scholars. This is because data entry has to be done manually for all the indices before the search engine can be put into use.

Tedious process

"Even if we step up the data entry process, it will take us at least 3 to 4 years to complete it. The process is very tedious and time consuming," he said.

Outsourcing data entry

The Department is planning to outsource the work of data entry.

The archives department has 40 lakh records, many of them dealing with the British rule. While the process of data entry for the indices is taking place, the department plans to scan the original documents and digitally store them.

For the past few years, the department has also been microfilming the original documents. However, even this process has not yet been completed.

"Over the next few years, we want to make the archives completely digital so that researchers do not have to physically touch the original documents. Some of the old documents are very brittle," the source added.

Conservation

Apart from the general efforts of conservation, the department to protect loss of manuscripts to floods, which happened due to heavy rainfall last year, has requested the Chennai Corporation to increase the size of the stormwater drain that lies in front of the office building in Egmore.

"Last year's rains were a one-off and we did not lose too many documents. However, we are taking efforts to prevent any loss due to rains," the source said.

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