33 National Information Systems and Programmes in Humanities
R K Verma
I. Objectives
To get an overview of National information systems and programmes in Humanities currently in progress in India; and to learn about the structure, objectives, functions, products, achievements, and information dissemination activities of major institutions in this field.
II. Learning Outcome
After reading this module, you will be able to:
• get an overview of National information systems and programmes in Humanities currently in progress in India,
• familiarize with the activities of the major national level institutions in the field of Humanities,
• learn about the structure, objectives, functions, products, achievements, and information dissemination activities of major National Information systems in Humanities, and
• Take stock of the information infrastructure of premier institutions in Humanities particularly reflecting the use of modern ICT.
III. Module Structure
1. Introduction
2. Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR)
3. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)
4. Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA)
5. National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM)
5.1 Digitization
5.2 National Digital Manuscripts Library
6. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
7. National Museum, New Delhi
7.1 The National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology
8. National Archives of India (NAI)
9. Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL)
10. Sahitya Akademi
11. Summary
12. References
1. Introduction
Information plays a vital role in education, research and knowledge development. It is considered as an important resource not only in S and T areas but also in the cultural development of a nation. The information system is, however, composed of all the components which collect and disseminate information and involves hardware, software, people, and infrastructure for communication including data and telephone lines etc. It is felt that though, scientific achievements increase the knowledge and power; it is humanism which teaches how to use this knowledge and power in a moral, and human way. Humanities is therefore a way of looking at the world, which emphasises the importance of human beings, their nature and their place in the universe and is mainly concerned with human values and human culture. Recognizing this need, many academic and research institutions have been set up by Government of India and other agencies also. These institutions have a communication system which selects, organizes, stores, and disseminates information and knowledge to the users as per their objectives and mission.
Several institutions have come up in India, in addition to the academic institutions like universities and colleges. Some of these institutions at the national level are Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR), Indian Council for Cultural Relations (lCCR), Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (lGNCA), Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), Sahitya Akademi, Central Institute of Indian Languages, National Archives of India, National Museum, and many more. Libraries and information centres attached to these institutions as well as those supported by these institutions, provide information and publication support in their respective areas of specialization.
This module deals with some of National Information systems and their programmes in the field of humanities covering leading Government as well as Private institutions engaged primarily in dissemination of information at National level in various disciplines like religion, philosophy, arts, languages, literature, and history under the broad field of humanities. Within each institution, various aspects like their background, scope, objectives, major activities/programmes, and a brief sketch of documentation and information dissemination activities are highlighted.
2. Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR)
Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR) was established in 1977 by the Ministry of Education, Government of India as an autonomous organization designed to bring back the entire tradition of Indian philosophy to its perfect and original form and provide required thrust to nurture and promote new thinking through its intensive programs of research. The main objectives of the Council are as follows:
• Striving for excellence, creativity and originality in philosophical research within the country.
• To identify and encourage inter-disciplinary research especially on topics that are intellectually challenging, especially those that are concerned with national planning and development.
• To sponsor or assist projects or programs of research in philosophy.
• To give financial support to institutions and organizations engaged in research activities in philosophy.
• To indicate periodically, the areas in and topics on which research in philosophy should be promoted and to adopt special measures for the development of research in neglected or developing areas in philosophy including publication of digests, journals, periodicals and scholarly works devoted to research in philosophy
• To institute and administer fellowships, scholarships and awards for research in philosophy by students, teachers and others.
• To develop and support documentation services, including maintenance and supply of data, preparation of inventories of current research in philosophy and compilation of a national register of philosophers.
Some of the major activities of ICPR relate to:
• Developing programs to assimilate in condensed form some of the important achievements of Indian philosophers, and publishing a series of books focused on important problems of ontology, epistemology, ethics, social and political philosophy and Indian spirituality, and works related to living philosophers of India. Books that bring out Indian expertise with regard to Western philosophy are also included.
• Developing schemes for seminars, workshops and refresher courses that aim at promoting very high level research in philosophy by the philosophical community of India on themes relevant to the recovery of ancient classical systems of Indian philosophy and relevant also to the progress of contemporary Indian philosophy that would find for itself a high place in the contemporary scene of philosophy in the world at large.
• Establishment of relationships with various organizations of philosophy in India, and the world in the universities and in the colleges.
• Preparing exhibitions on philosophical themes, and organizing international conferences on philosophy as a channel forbringing together the philosophers of East and West for a fruitful exchange of ideas and experiences.
• Development of a world class library of philosophy, located in Lucknow.
• Establishment of close relationship with the Government of India for collaborative projects as also for promoting interdisciplinary research in the country.
Under its publication programme, the Council publishes – monographs, survey reports, project reports and other works produced by scholars and Fellows of the Council; Selected Proceedings of ICPR sponsored Seminars; Re-publication of rare and out-of-print works of renowned authors;
Publication of documentation series. The Council publishes Journal of Indian Council of Philosophical Research (JICPR), launched in 1983, published and managed by Indian Council of Philosophical Research, New Delhi, which isa well-known journal in Philosophy and interdisciplinary research.
Another publication is Author and Subject index of the JICPR. This contains a Cumulative Index of Articles, Book Reviews and Discussions and Comments published in the JICPR Volumes I-XX. It constitutes two parts viz. author access and subject access for early reference. This volume will come handy for the students and researchers to locate the topics of their interest and serve as an important tool of research in philosophy.
3. Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR)
ICHR is an autonomous organization, established under Societies Registration Act (Act XXI of 1860) in 1972. The objectives of the Indian Council of Historical Research as laid down in the Memorandum of Association are to: bring historians together and provide a forum for exchange of views between them; give a national direction to an objective and scientific writing of history and to have rational presentation and interpretation of history; promote, accelerate and coordinate research in history with special emphasis on areas which have not received adequate attention so far; promote and coordinated a balanced distribution of research effort over different areas; and elicit support and recognition for historical research from all concerned and ensure the necessary dissemination and use of results.
In pursuance of these objectives (a) the Council provides fellowships and financial assistance to the young teachers in colleges, universities and registered research organizations, as well as to senior scholars who might need financial support, (b) brings historians together by providing financial assistance for holding symposia, seminars, workshops, etc. for exchanging views related to history, (c) provides publication subsidy to the seminars, congress proceedings and journals so that these publications may reach to researchers and scholars, (d) maintains a large and expanding Library-cum-Documentation Centre exclusively for researchers and scholars, and (e) maintains two regional centres namely ICHR North-East Regional Centre (Guwahati) and ICHR Southern Regional Centre (Bangalore), which provide assistance to researchers/scholars.
Its Library-cum-Documentation Centre is well equipped with over 70,000 print reading materials, which include books, reports, conference proceedings, theses and dissertations and other valuable source documents. The Library subscribes to more than 100 national and international journals in print format and also subscribing many e-journals from different publishers. Apart from these, the library has a good collection of microfilms and microfiches in the concerned subjects. The library extends reading, reference and consultation services to students/scholars from various universities/institutions pursuing their studies on various aspects of historical research. Some of the publications of researcher’s interest are:
Quarterly update of forthcoming conferences, seminars and workshops on History in India and Abroad (October-December, 2013); Papers on Indian History (June-December, 2013);Cumulative Index of the Journal Entitled The Indian Economic and Social History Review Vol.1-48 (1963-2011)Cumulative Index of the Journal Entitled Studies in History Vol.1-27 (1985-2011); Conference Alert on History in India and Abroad for the year 2013; Subscribed Journals list for the Year 2013-2014; New arrivals of Books for the year 2012; List of available E-books; List of Thesis and Dissertations are added during the period 2011-12; and Papers on Indian History, June -December, 2012. (Students may visit official Website of ICHR for current details).
ICHR publishes a bi-annual journal entitled ‘Indian Historical Review’(IHR). Started in 1974, it addresses research interest in all areas of historical studies, ranging from early times to contemporary history. While its focus is on the Indian subcontinent, it has carried historical writings on other parts of the world as well. Committed to excellence in scholarship and accessibility in style, the IHR covers articles which deal with recent advancements in the study of history and discussion of method in relation to empirical research. All articles, including those which are commissioned, are independently and confidentially refereed. The IHR aims at promoting the work of new scholars in the field. In order to create a forum for discussion, it is interested in particular in writings which critically respond to articles previously published in this journal. Another journal Itihas in Hindi has been revived with publishing of its Vol. I (new series)
4. Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (IGNCA)
The IGNCA was launched on 19th November, 1985 and its Trust was constituted and registered at New Delhi on 24th March 1987. In its premises, five rocks from five major rivers – Sindhu, Ganga, Kaveri, Mahanadi and the Narmada (where the most ancient ammonite fossils are found) were composed into sculptural forms. These remains at the site reminds the antiquity of Indian culture and the sacredness of her rivers and her rocks. Also five trees have been planted as significance of Indian civilization. These trees are associated with the different divisions of the Centre and replanted appropriately. These are: The Asvattha (Ficus Religiosa) – associated with the Sutradhara, The Nyagrodha (Ficus Bengalensis) – associated with the landscaping of Janapada Sampada,The Asoka (Saraca Indica)-associated with Kala Nidhi, The Arjuna (Terminalia) – associated with Kala Kosa, and The Kadamba (Anthocephallus Camba) – associated withKala Darsana. IGNCAhas three regional centres viz. Eastern Regional Centre, Varanasi; Southern Regional Centre, Bangalore; and North-Eastern Regional Centre, Guwahati.
The objectives of IGNCA are:
• to serve as a major resource centre for the arts, whether written, oral or visual source materials;
• to undertake research and publication programmes of reference works, glossaries, dictionaries and encyclopaedia concerning the arts and the humanities;
• to establish a tribal and folk arts division with a core collection for conducting systematic scientific studies and for live presentations;
• to provide a forum for a creative and critical dialogue through performances, exhibitions, multi-media projections, conferences, seminars and workshops between and amongst the diverse arts, traditional and contemporary;
• to foster dialogue between arts and current ideas in philosophy, science and technology, with a view towards bridging the gap in intellectual understanding between modern sciences and arts and culture;
• to elucidate the formative and dynamic factors in the complex web of interactions between diverse social groups, communities and regions; and
• to promote a network with national and international institutions
IGNCA’s activities are reflected under its various divisions viz., Kalanidhi including reference Library, Information and databank, and cultural archive; Kalakosa including area studies and Gender, Culture, and Civilization network; JanapadaSampda covering lifestyle studies, Multimedia presentation, Ethnographic collection, Children world, UNESCO chair, and Program activities; and, Kaldarsana – which compliments JanapadaSampada and provides the venue and forum for facilitating a creative dialogue amongst cultures, disciplines, levels of society and diverse arts. Through its programmes, it has established a unique style of projection and presentation of the arts. Other activities are: Cultural informatics- Multimedia Research Centre, established in 1994 with United Nations Development Program (UNDP) assisted multimedia documentation project titled “Strengthening National Facility for Interactive Multimedia Documentation of Cultural Resources” Media Centre; Rock Art Unit, and Sutradhara which provides the administrative, managerial and organisational support and services to all the Divisions of the IGNCA. It serves as a nodal administrative Division and central coordinator of programmes. It comprises Administration, Finance, Accounts, Services & Supplies and International Dialogue Unit.
Its resources include: Personal collection of some of the most eminent Indian scholars and artists in Kalanidhi Reference Library, online books, Culture and Development series include ‘ongoing’ series fromIGNCA, setting out compelling, multidisciplinary perspectives on development issues vis-a-vis ecology, identity questions, and lifestyles in fact, the whole range of cultural variables and definitions, Prakrti series, Kalasamalokana series, and Hindi books. Also includes manuscripts, a rare collection of photographs, slides, audiovisuals, tribal art and culture digital images, Archeological sites and inventory on the intangible cultural heritage.
Its services include Cultural Information & Knowledge Resources of Kala Nidhi, Content development in Indian language network including Cultural heritage digital library with special focus on Hindi speaking region are the highlights of its publications. A complementary programme of theIGNCA for the Arts is to compile bibliographies of particular scholars, especially those whose work was multi-disciplinary and multi-lingual. Also, the efforts are is to make bibliographies of particular subject areas and special subjects.
Its publications include: Books on Kalātattvakośa Series(A series on Indian Key Concepts), Kalāsamālocana Series (A Series of annotated bilingual and critical editions of fundamental texts relating to the Indian Art), and Kalāsamālocana Series –Analytical & Interpretative writings on the Arts, Exhibition catalogues, Seminar proceedings, Documentaries DVDs, Multimedia DVDs, Vihangama newsletter and picture postcards.
IGNCA publishes a journal entitled ‘Kalakalpa’, a bi-annual journal which addresses itself to a holistic understanding of the arts, not as an activity dissociated from life but as a response to it. Its aim is to foster an active dialogue amongst the scholars of various disciplines. In its definition of art, the journal has a broad-based approach covering areas like art history, sociology, philosophy, folklore, religion, aesthetics, ecology and environment. It includes original research with new ideas, pertinent to an area of specialization. IGNCA also brings out a newsletter entitled ‘Vihangama’.
5. National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM)
The National Mission for Manuscripts was established in February 2003, by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture, Government of India. A unique project in its programme and mandate, the Mission seeks to unearth and preserve the vast manuscript of wealth of India. It possesses an estimate of five million manuscripts, probably the largest collection in the world. These cover a variety of themes, textures and aesthetics, scripts, languages, calligraphies, illuminations and illustrations. Together, they constitute the ‘memory’ of India’s history, heritage and thought. These manuscripts lie scattered across the country and beyond, in numerous institutions as well as private collections, often unattended and undocumented. The Mission aims to locate, documents, preserve and render these accessible to connect India’s past with its future, its memory with its aspirations. Its objectives are:
• To locate manuscripts through national level survey and post-survey,
• To document each and every manuscript and manuscript repository, for a National Electronic Database that currently contains information on one million manuscripts,
• To conserve manuscripts incorporating both modern and indigenous methods of conservation,
• To train the next generation of scholars in various aspects of Manuscript Studies like languages, scripts and critical editing and cataloguing of texts and conservation of manuscripts,
• To promote access to manuscripts by digitizing the rarest and most endangered manuscripts, and
• To promote access to manuscripts through publication of critical editions of unpublished manuscripts and catalogues.
5.1 Digitization
The Mission started with digitization of five caches of manuscripts as a Pilot project. In the first phase of the pilot project approximately 39 lakh pages of manuscripts were selected for digitization. Out of these selected pages, about 25 lakhs pages have been digitized. The Oriental Research Library, Srinagar has a rich collection of manuscripts mainly in Arabic and Persian and some in Sanskrit as well and 10591 manuscripts have been digitized from the collection of the Library. The State of Kerala was surveyed for Kutiyattam manuscripts with the help of the digitizing agency, Centre for Development of Imaging Technology, Kerala. The scanning for 340 Kutiyattam manuscripts has been done in the repositories itself. Besides this, 1938 Siddha manuscripts are located in the Government Oriental Public Library and Research Centre, Chennai. Other repositories include Institute of Siddha and Homeopathic Medicine, Institute of Asian Studies and Adyar Library. Similarly, 1749 rare manuscripts are mainly located in the Orissa State Museum, Bhubaneswar. Smaller collections at Behrampur University, Utkal University, Sambalpur University, Dasarathi Pattanaik Library Trust, Orissan Institute of Maritime and South East Asian Studies are also covered. Further, the work collection and digitization for 180 manuscripts out of 1000 Jain Manuscripts in Lucknow has been completed. The Mission, in collaboration with University of Madras, Chennai is currently digitizing the existing volumes of New Catalogus Catalogorum (NCC).
5.2 National Digital Manuscripts Library
The mission has proposed a project for National Digital Manuscripts Library. This project includes development of software which will prove very useful for the scholars and people interested in research by searching different manuscripts. They can search particular manuscripts by using different search criteria like author, title, script, language, subject, etc. The manuscripts are also searchable by geographical locations.
The publications of National Mission for Manuscripts include, a bi-annual Kriti Rakshana, started in August 2005. It is distributed to all universities and public libraries in India and sent to select scholars in foreign institutes who have interest in Indian manuscripts. The Mission not only encourages documentation of manuscript collections all over the country but also plans to publish them. It has a programme of publishing descriptive catalogues of all the collections of the Manuscript Resource Centres working with the Mission. Among catalogues, the Mission has published a catalogue of the exhibition of Indian manuscripts at the Frankfurt Book Fair, Germany. The catalogue covers several aspects of Indian manuscripts such as ‘From Clay to Copper’, ‘The Making of a Manuscript’, ‘Fields of Learning’ ‘Veneration, Submission, Worship’, and ‘Royal Commands and Plain Records’ The Mission for Manuscripts has taken the initiative of publishing critical editions of rare and previously unpublished texts under the title Krtibodha.
6. Indian Council for Cultural Relations (ICCR)
ICCR was established in 1950 which helps formulate and implement policies pertaining to India’s external cultural relations. It fosters mutual understanding between India and other countries and promotes cultural exchanges with other peoples. The objectives of the Council are:
• To participate in the formulation and implementation of policies and programmes relating to India’s external cultural relations;
• To promote and strengthen cultural relation and mutual understanding between India and other countries; and
• To establish and develop relations with national and international organisations in the field of culture.
Its regional offices coordinate the Council’s activities in the various states and regions of India with regard to international students and their welfare, cultural performances by foreign troupes, outgoing cultural delegations from the region, distinguished visitors, exhibitions and seminars. They work closely with local cultural and educational organizations and the State Governments for carrying out ICCR’s man date of activities. The Regional Offices also provide artists in the different states a platform to show their talent by arranging for their performances under the Horizon Series.
The Council has 20 Regional Offices in India and 30in foreign countries. The Council collaborates actively in the operation of some foreign cultural centres in India. ICCR’s programmes include foreign cultural festivals in India, Indian festivals abroad, the sending and receiving of cultural troupes, the holding of exhibitions and of conferences and seminars both in India and abroad, inviting distinguished world personalities to India, sponsoring the visits of Indian scholars and artistes abroad, and providing a platform for upcoming artistes to present their talent globally Maulana Azad, the founder President of ICCR, recognized the significance and importance of literature and in his pursuit to disseminate Indian art, culture and philosophy through literature established the ICCR Library in 1950 by way of gifting his entire collection of books and manuscripts to the Council. This priceless gift of Maulana Azad is the core around which the ICCR Library has been built. This rare personal collection has been housed in a special enclosure, the “Gosha-e-Azad’.
The ICCR Library collection is one of the major cultural resources in India, and comprises more than 56,000 titles of books, journals, manuscripts, and magazines in English, Hindi and Urdu. The collection encompasses Indian art, culture, history, literature, philosophy, international studies and allied subjects. The Library is also the proud possessor of 197 rare manuscripts in Urdu, Arabic and Persian, which are also available on micro film rolls.
The Library serves a broad-based clientele, which includes students, research scholars, government officials and diplomats specializing in the fields of humanities and culture. Its major services include Online Public Access Catalogue (OPAC) for bibliographic search of the catalogued books of the library, fast Internet facilities, and microfilms of some of the rare materials. The ICCR Library is a member of the Developing Library Network (DELNET). The Council has published books in English, Hindi and in some foreign languages cover the subjects of arts, culture, philosophy and literature.
7. National Museum, New Delhi
The National Museum, New Delhi, was inaugurated on August 15, 1949.The vision/motto of the National Museum is:
• To collect art objects of historical, cultural and artistic significance for the purpose to display, protection, preservation and interpretation (research),
• To disseminate information and knowledge about the significance of the objects in respect of history, culture and artistic excellence and achievements,
• To serve as cultural centre for enjoyment and interaction of the people in artistic and cultural activity, and
• To serve as embodiment of national identity.
The National Museum Library collects books and journals related to the fields of history, art and culture of the world for specialized research and reference. It covers a variety of themes such as anthropology, archaeology, conservation, decorative arts, history, literature, museum studies, painting, philosophy and religion. It contains over 60,000 volumes of books, bound journals as well as several Indian and international journals and magazines.
The Museum presently holds approximately 2,00,000 objects of a diverse nature, both Indian as well as foreign, and its holdings cover a time span of more than five thousand years of Indian cultural heritage. The Museum has a Conservation Laboratory for restoration of all organic and inorganic art objects and for providing training facilities to the students.
Besides bringing out art publications on Indian Art & Culture, the Publication Department also rolls out research publications, guide books, gallery sheets, brochures on exhibitions and galleries, catalogues, monographs, activity books and picture postcards. The efforts have been made to provide the material bilingual for the benefit of visitors.
7.1 The National Museum Institute of the History of Art, Conservation and Museology
It was formed in 1989 under the Societies Registration Act, 1860 and was accorded the status of ‘Deemed to be University’. Since its inception, the Institute has been one of the leading centres in the country for training and research in the field of art and cultural heritage. The Institute is situated within the premises of the National Museum with an objective that students can have direct exposure to the masterpieces of art and cultural heritage and have easy access to the facilities of the National Museum such as its laboratory, library, storage/reserve collection and technical support sections for a holistic learning.
National Museum has launched a new Programme –YuvaSaathi, YoungVisitor Programme, dedicated to school children. YuvaSaathi is a pioneering effort aimed at engaging young minds in a dialogue with the objects of National Museum with the help of Young Volunteer guides, YuvaSaathi.
8. National Archives of India (NAI)
National Archives of India is an attached office under the Ministry of Culture and has a Regional Office at Bhopal and Records Centres at Jaipur, Puducherry and Bhubaneswar.Set up in March 1891 in Calcutta as the‘Imperial Record Department’, it was shifted to New Delhi in 1911 and is now housed in present building since 1926.NAI is the repository of non-current records of Government of India. Its Mission is
• To encourage the Scientific Management, Administration and Conservation of records throughout the country,
• To foster close relations between archivists and archival institutions both at the national and international levels,
• To encourage greater liberalization of access to archival holdings, and
• To help in developing greater professionalism and a scientific temper among creators, custodians and users of records for proper care and use of our documentary heritage.
Among the major services, NAI provides facilities for the public use of reference media, records and publications available among its holdings; provides assistance to documentary film makers and other professionals in locating, selecting and filming material of their interest; organizes conducted tours to various Sections for the benefit of officials/ trainees for education and professional Institutes, as well as groups of individuals, with a view to apprising them with the different activities of the Department, and extends professional expertise to Institutions by deputing officers to deliver lectures, conduct workshops on management, administration and preservation of records. In the context of ‘Records management’, NAI is the custodian of all `Public` records of Government of India and are available for use of ‘bonafide’ research. Access to the records in National Archives of India is governed by the provisions of Public Records Rules, 1997.
NAI’ s library besides possessing bulk of Public Records and Private Papers, has a rich and ever growing collection of some of the oldest and rare publications on a variety of subjects, besides contemporary published material. The holdings of the Library consist of the material as: 1,78,000 Books & Reports, 3,299 Prescribed Publications, 400 Selections from Vernacular Native Newspapers, 4,225 Selections from Government of India/State Government Records, 4,590 Volumes of Indian Parliamentary Papers, 1,285 Volumes of Fort William College Collection, 3,560 Journals & Periodicals, 1,778 Gazettes, and 2,960 Publications in Foreign Languages. Other activity is Networking of Five Major Libraries initiated byThe Department of Culture. These are: (i) Central Secretariat Library(CSL), New Delhi, (ii) National Museum Library(NML), New Delhi, (iii) National Gallery of Modern Art(NGMA) Library, New Delhi, (iv) National Archives of India(NAI) Library, and(v) Archaeological Survey of India(ASI) Library, New Delhi. Its main objectives are: Availability of Library Catalogue Details on Computers, Internet/Intranet access for libraries, and Remote log-in to internal database/network. (Students may visit official Website of NAI for current details).
Since 1942, NAI has been engaged in bringing out various publications such as journals, volumes and reports that facilitate in propagating the archival awareness in the country. Several outstanding and scholarly publications have since been brought out by the Department. Further, to facilitate research by the scholars of other countries the NAI in collaboration with UNESCO brought out a set of six volumes under the Asian Chapter of Guide to the Sources of Asian History to provide comprehensive information to users about record holdings housed in the National Archives of India, the State Archives and other custodial Institutions. The Department also brings out a bi-annual journal The Indian Archives, Quarterly newsletter Abhilekh and Annual Report of the Department. A computerization and digitalization programme for an “Automated Retrieval System” with the help of tailor made software known as “Archival Information Management System (AIMS)”, has been launched and computerization of reference media to records of the Home (Pub.) (1748-1859) Home (Pol.) (1907-68) Foreign & Political Department (1860-1946), Ministry of External Affairs (1947-1970) and Ministry of State(1947- 1953) has been completed. The same is available online for use in Research Room by Research Scholars/Archivists/users of archives on the intranet set up of National Archives of India. The Department has also computerized the reference media of Library Books in the “LibSys” Software. The same is available for use by scholars. Also a Project for WAN Connectivity of five libraries under Ministry of Culture is in progress. The Department has also taken up a new project of digitalization of rare and valuable manuscripts with the assistance of National Institute of Advanced Studies, Bangalore.
9. Central Institute of Indian Languages (CIIL)
The CIIL was set up on 17th July 1969 with a view to assist and co-ordinate the development of Indian Languages. The Institute is charged with the responsibility of serving as a nucleus to bring together all the research and literary output from the various linguistic streams to a common head and narrow the gap between the basic research and developmental research in the field of languages and linguistics in India. It also runs seven Regional Centres in various linguistic regions of the country to help and meet the demand for trained teachers to implement the three- language formula and thereby provides assurance to linguistic minorities. It intends to promote inter-disciplinary research and contributes towards mutual enrichment of languages which ultimately may pave the way for emotional integration of people of India. In this direction, the special efforts have been made by the CIIL in protecting, promoting and documenting the little known linguistic heritage by archiving 118 Indian languages, including 80 tribal languages.
Its objectives are:
• To advise and assist Central as well as State Governments in the matters of languages,
• To contribute to the development of all Indian languages by creating content and corpus,
• To protect and document minor, minority and tribal languages, and
• To promote linguistic harmony by teaching 15 Indian languages to non-native learners.
Its various units are: Bhasha Bharati Samman (Including language teaching, testing and evaluation); Linguistic Studies Unit(Including Sociolinguistics, Historical Linguistics and allied sub-disciplines other than Applied Linguistics);Endangered and Minor Languages Unit (Including Andaman and Nicobar languages); Literacy and Cultural Unit (Including Lexicography); Educational Technology Unit(Including CAU, Speech Lab, On-line Teaching and Website maintenance); Documentation Unit(Including Katha Bharati, SravyaBharathi, Bhasha Mandakini and Publications).
CIIL has four Commissioned Projects vizCIIL-Neo-Literate Children Literature Material Bank; Composite Correspondence Course in Kannada Project; Language Information Service (LIS) – India Project; North-East Language Development (NELD) Project (Including mother tongue education).
Intensive Courses, Phonetic Readers, Vocabularies and State School Readers in all languages have been published through CIIL Intermediate and Advance Readers. Pictorial Glossaries in most of the languages are also published, while same for other languages are at different stages of publication. The centres keep close liaison with State Government Agencies such as SCERT, SLI, Cultural and Sahitya Academies and other language and tribal research organisations as well as with the directorates of secondary educations of the region and the language departments of the universities of the region. The centres offer language counselling to the State bodies as above, conducts collaborative programmes such as seminars, workshops, short term training programmes etc. and collaborate with State Agencies in the preparation of dictionaries and translation of classical literary works.
From 1971 to 2001, the Group has brought out 490 titles including collaborative publications. Various areas of the Institute publications include phonetics, grammar, reading, folklore, lexicography, socio- linguistics, applied linguistics, adult literacy, evaluation and testing, geo- linguistics, literary criticism, psycho-linguistics, dictionaries and bibliographies besides the second language teaching materials.
The Institute has a highly developed Technical Library. It is conceived as a multi-media center with printed books, microfiche cards, microfilms and other media materials. It has a collection of nearly 63,500 volumes and 250 journals in and on Indian languages, linguistics and allied subjects. It has 12,564 microfiche cards, 850 micro films, cassettes, etc.
The library services include: Web-OPAC, Census of India, Newspaper clippings, Indian scripts gallery, Virtual Bhasha Granthalaya and Late Prof. Prabodh Narayan Singh’s (1924-2005) collection. Besides this, some of the services available on the intranet are: Repository, e-database, e-resources, Bhasha VigyanShodh, Maps Archive, National Bibliography, and Directory of Institutions. The non-print collection of 28,000 titles has: 2413 cassette tapes (audio & video), 7613 compact disks, 47 film strips, 9 gramophone records, 2920 maps (restricted and unrestricted maps), 12957 microfiches, 406 microfilms, 165 photographs, charts on the development of Indian scripts and writings, 167 slides, 896 theses and dissertation. The electronic resources include: e-journals database (EBSCO), e-books(Cambridge University Press), CJDA-Online Journals, Repository(CIIL’s academic contributions), Digitized documents (around 400 books), and INFLIBNET. Special collections include: Census reports and Imperial gazetteers from 1872 to 1951 in microfiche and in print form from 1961 onwards, Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias in various Indian languages, Language textbooks from standard I to X in all major Indian Languages (taught in various states), College level textbooks published by various granth academies on various subjects in major Indian languages, Indian literature in translation, Children’s literature in all major Indian languages, Adult education and literacy primer’s, and reprints of rare documents. (Students may visit official Website of CIIL for current details).
As a new initiatives of the Institute, Language Information Services of India(LIS India) has been setup. Initial work through workshops and meetings of the experts has already commenced and the draft format for an expandable Information site in the public domain has been prepared. The work is to be carried out in coordination with a number of university departments of linguistics.
10. Sahitya Akademi
The Sahitya Akademi was inaugurated by the Government of India on 12 March 1954. The Government of India Resolution, which set forth the constitution of the Academi, described it as a national organisation to work actively for the development of Indian letters and to set high literary standards, to foster and co-ordinate literary activities in all the Indian languages and to promote through them all the cultural unity of the country. The Academy was registered as a society on 7 January 1956, under the Societies Registration Act, 1860. Sahitya Akademi, India’s National Academi of Letters is the central institution for literary dialogue, publication and promotion in the country and the only institution that undertakes literary activities in twenty-four Indian languages, including English. It has been promoting healthy reading habits over the last 60 years of its existence.
Akademi gives twenty-four awards annually to literary works in the recognized languages and the same number of awards to literary translations from and into the languages of India. It also gives special awards called Bhasha Samman to significant contribution to the languages not formally recognized by the Akademi as also for contribution to classical and medieval literature. It has also a system of electing eminent writers as Fellows and Honorary Fellows and has also established fellowship in the names of Dr. Anand Coomaraswamy and Prem chand. The Akademi has launched Centres for Translation in Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Kolkata and Delhi, and an Archive of Indian Literature in Delhi. A project office for the promotion of Tribal and Oral literature has also been set up in the North Eastern Hill University Campus, Shillong.
Four Projects running successfully under SahityaAkademi are: Project for Tribal andOral Literature, Archives of Indian Literature, Centres for Translation, and Indian Literature Abroad (ILA) Besides this, six schemes running successfully under the guidance of SahityaAkademi are: Encyclopaedia of Indian Poetics, Navodya Scheme, National Bibliography of Translations, National Bibliography of Indian Literature, Sahitya Akademi Companions, and History of Indian Literature.
The Sahitya Akademi Library is one of the most important multi-lingual libraries in India with a rich collection of books on literature and allied subjects in 24 languages recognised by the Sahitya Akademi. The Library is also well-known for its huge collection of books on literary theories and criticism, women’s studies, cultural histories and translation studies. Its specialized collections include publications on and by Rabindranath Tagore, Sri Aurobindo and Mahatma Gandhi. It also includes enriched reference books focusing mainly on Indian and World literature, philosophy, religion, art and culture. The library also has a special collection of books donated by Prof. Gopi Chand Narang. The computerization of Bodo, Dogri, English, Hindi, Kashmiri, Maithili, Manipuri, Odiya, Punjabi, Rajasthani, Santali, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu collections of the Library has been completed. Online catalogues for these language books are now available on its website for users. Computerized cataloguing of other languages have also been started. The Akademi is maintaining a serious literary culture through the publications of journals, monographs, individual creative works of every genre, anthologies, encyclopaedias, dictionaries, bibliographies, who’s who of writers and histories of literature and to increase the pace of mutual translations through workshops and individual assignments. It has also been keeping alive the intimate dialogue among the various linguistic and literary zones and groups through seminars, lectures, symposia, discussions, readings and performances. It has so far brought out over 4200 books, the present pace of publication being one book every thirty hours. Every year the Akademi holds at least thirty seminars at regional, national and international levels along with the workshops and literary gatherings-about 200 in number per year, under various heads like ‘Meet the Author, Samvad, Kavisandhi, Kathasandhi, Loka: The Many Voices, Men and Books, Through My Window, Mulakat, Asmita, Antaral, Avishkar and Literary Forum meetings’.
The library also maintains a small collection of bound volumes of literary periodicals. Online Indexing of periodical literature received in the library is being carried out from 1988 onwards (hard copies of the Indian Literary Index are available for 1988-90 and 1996). Newspaper clippings of literary events and feature articles on literature and writers are also available for consultation. The regional offices’ libraries of the Akademi at Bangalore, Kolkata and Mumbai have sizeable collections. The libraries at the Regional Offices are being built up as centres for the concerned regional languages and are being envisaged as liaison institutions for important language libraries in the regions.
The Akademi brings out a bimonthly journal entitled ‘Indian Literature’. It is India’s oldest and the only journal of its kind featuring translations in English of poetry, fiction, drama and criticism from twenty-three Indian languages besides original writing in English. There is hardly any significant Indian author who has not been featured in the pages of this journal that has completed 55 years of service to the cause of Indian Literature. Other publications are: SamkaleenBhartiyaSahitya – a bimonthly publication, SamskritaPratibha, and SahityaAkademi quarterly newsletter.
11. Summary
Recognising the need for a systematic and formal information system in Humanities, an overview of National Information systems and programmes in India as reflected in the major activities and programmes of leading institutions in this field is presented. In this context, the role of major institutions covering various sub-fields under Humanities, viz. Philosophy, Culture, History, Arts, Language and Literature have been highlighted. These institutions are:Indian Council of Philosophical Research (ICPR), Indian Council for Cultural Relations (lCCR), Indira Gandhi National Centre for Arts (lGNCA), Indian Council of Historical Research (ICHR), SahityaAkademi, Central Institute of Indian Languages, National Archives of India, National Museum, and National Mission for Manuscripts (NMM)The information content under each Institution covers the important aspects such as background, scope, objectives/goals, major activities and programmes, and information dissemination services details including journals and e-resources.
12. References
1. Biswas, SC. Art and culture information preservation. In: Gupta, B.M (ed.). Handbook of Libraries, Archives, and Information Centres in India. Aditya Prakashen, Delhi, 1991, Vol. 9, pp.1-8
7. http://www.nationalmuseumindia.gov.in/