The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Library for digitising old texts

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Sep 25, 2007
ePaper

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Library for digitising old texts

Special Correspondent

MoU signed between heads of SVDL and Sarasvathi Mahal Library

TIRUPATI: The TTD’s Sri Venkateswara Digital Library (SVDL), which has a tie-up with the US-based Universal Digital Library, will be taking up the task of digitising the old texts, palm leaf manuscripts, paintings, books and other material available in Sarasvathi Mahal Library (SML), Thanjavur.

This is sequel to a request from the Tamil Nadu government in this behalf. A Memorandum of Understanding was also signed today at Thanjavur between the heads of the SVDL and the Sarasvathi Mahal Library.

According to Bhuman Subramanyam Reddy, who signed the MoU on behalf of the SVDL as its Director, it will be a stupendous and prestigious task given the preciousness of the ancient palm leaf manuscripts, books and so on in terms of the treasure of knowledge that lay hidden in the antiquated texts.

On behalf of the SML, the MoU was signed by the District Collector, Thanjavur Vijay Rajkumar who is also the Ex-Officio Director of the SML. The TN Minister for School Education, Thangam Tennarasu, Vice-Chancellor of the Tamil University, C. Subramanian were among others present at the programme.

Manuscripts

Reddy said as part of the project as many as 734 Telugu manuscripts and 1083 Telugu texts will be digitised and pointed out that though they logically belonged to Andhra Pradesh, for some reason or other they remained with the Thanjavur Library even after the formation of separate AP state bifurcating it from the Composite Madras state.

Reddy said that the project would be a feather in the cap of the TTD’s SVDL given the fact that the Sarasvathi Mahal Library authorities who were disinclined to part with the manuscripts despite repeated requests from the former Chief Minister, N.T. Rama Rao have now come forward to have a tie-up with the TTD to get the texts digitised.

The SVDL, he said, was already on a similar task-- digitisation of as many as eight lakh old Telugu texts found stacked in the archives of another equally famous Chennai-based Connemera Library.

Mr. Reddy said that Tamil Nadu’s Bharathiyar University would also be soon inking pact with the SVDL for a similar project.

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