NEW DELHI: There is good news for researchers across the country.

The National Mission for Manuscripts in collaboration with UNESCO is all set to draw up guidelines for India so that the archives can become a little more accessible. With access to documents and even photographs often strictly controlled by over-cautious officials -- a common roadblock most researchers face -- these guidelines will go a long way in changing the way research is done in India.

This project hopes to be able to develop a "legally sound and ethically nuanced'' policy so that cultural knowledge, manuscripts and other forms of documentary heritage become slightly more easily available.

"We will get people from across the spectrum involved. The guidelines will be scrutinised by all the different stakeholders before we submit it to the Union Ministry of Culture. The draft paper should be ready within two months. We then plan to have a series of workshops across the country in March and April so that all aspects of the proposal can be thrashed out,'' says National Mission for Manuscript director Sudha Gopalan.

While the Union Ministry of Culture is spending crores on digitisation, this invaluable heritage is making only a technological leap.

Moving from locked cupboards of cultural repositories to occupying space on hard-disks in government offices, they still have to cross another yawning divide that separates it from interested people: access.

And this is what the policy drafted by the National Mission for Manuscripts will hope to achieve.

"We have managed to digitise a significant number of manuscripts in the past four years. Our database will soon be available on the Internet. But people will be able to access only the names of the manuscripts and the repository that owns it. People will not be able to access the manuscript itself, as there are copyright issues involved since there are different private owners. We hope to be able to evolve a set of protocol so that the repository too doesn't lose out,'' stated Ms. Gopalan.

A mammoth task, the project -- titled "Development of Legal and Policy Frameworks and Protocols for Promoting Equitable Access to Documentary Heritage, relevant to India and South Asian countries''-- will not only protect the owner but also help promote access to the heritage.

A giant leap

"Getting access to primary sources like the Gilgit Manuscripts for even college students will change their approach to their subjects. It will take research to a different level totally and will be a giant leap,'' said a National Mission for Manuscripts official.

And soon this dream for researchers may just actually come true once a set of protocols is put into place.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail