Wednesday, June 30, 2010

NATIONAL LIBRARY OF INDIA Collection Development | Collection Organisation |

| Collections | Collection Development | Collection Organisation |



Collections



Indian Languages Collection

National Library receives books and periodicals in almost all the Indian languages. These are received under the Delivery of Books & Newspapers (Public Libraries) Act 1954. (D.B. Act).
Language divisions acquire, process and provide the reading materials to the readers in their respective languages. Hindi, Kashmiri, Punjabi, Sindhi, Telugu and Urdu language divisions maintain their own stacks. Other language books are stacked by the stack division. Language divisions are also responsible to answer the short and long range reference queries.

The library has separate Indian language division for Assamese, Bengali, Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, Kashmiri, Malayalam, Marathi, Oriya, Punjabi, Sanskrit, Sindhi, Tamil, Telugu and Urdu Languages. Sanskrit language division also collects and process Pali and Prakrit books. English books published in India are also collected under D.B. Act.




Assamese Language Collection

In1963, a separate division was established in the National Library to collect and process Assamese books. At present the division has 12,000 books. This collection has some works published between 1840 and 1900. Some of the important publications are :Asamiya larar mitra by Anandaram Dhekiyal Phukan ( 1849), Larabodh byakaran by Dharmeswar Goswami, (1884), Prakrit bhugol Lambodara Datta (1884) and several volumes of Sri Sankardev's Kirattan , Gunamala, Sriamad Bhagavad, Bargit, Rukmini haran nat, Ankiyanat are also available in the division. Volumes of Arunodoi Patrika (1846-1853, 1856-1858) are also available in the collection.



Bengali Language Collection
The library has 85,000 books in its Bengali collection. The collection contains very rare and valuable books as well as periodicals published from the last quarter of the 18th century. Early Bengali dramas and novels are well represented in this collection. The collection has many rare items like the manuscripts of Sarat Chandra Chattopadhaya, Bibuti Bhushan Bandaopadhaya, Jibanananda Das and Visnu De; 154 letters of Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose written to his nephew Sri Asok Nath Bose and letters to Sarat Chandra Bose are also available in the collection. The collection has the complete set of Ravindranath Tagore's works, except a few of his early works. This includes 190 first editions of Tagore's works.

Some of the rare and important works in this collection are: A grammar of the Bengal Language (1778) by Nathaniel Brassey, which is the earliest printed book in Bengali, Henry Forstar's 'A vocabulary in two parts', English and Bangalee (1799), William Carrey's Dialogues, intended to facilitate the acquiring of the Bengali language ( 1801), Ram Ram Basu's Raja Pratapaditya Charitra …(1801), Mrityunjay Vidyalankar's Batris Simhansan (1802), Ramayana -- translated by Kirteebas and published in five volumes, Mahabharat translated by Kashee Ram Dass (1802), Chandicharan Munshi's Tota Itihas (1805), Jayanarayan Ghosal's, Sri Karunanidhanavilasa (1814), William Carey's Dictionary of the Bengali Language in which the words are traced to their origin and their various meanings given -- 2 Volumes( 1815-1825). The collection has 400 titles of Bengali periodicals including many rare 19th century periodicals. Digdarshan (1818) first Bengali monthly and the first issue of The Samachar Darpan (1831) -- the first Bengali weekly can be seen in the collection.

The library has published a four volume catalogue of Bengali Books.




A grammar of the Bengal Language (1778) by Nathaniel Brassey


Gujarati Language Collection

The library has 37,000 Gujarati books. The collection has about 1100 rare Gujarati titles published prior to 1900. This collection also has 30 albums of paintings by Kanu Desai published during the period 1936 to 1956. Ancient Jaina Miniature Paintings are very well reproduced in Sri Jaina Chitravali, Sri Jaina Chitra Patavali and other valuable books edited by Sarabhai Nawab. The authentic editions of the poetic works of medieval Gujarati poets like Narsinh Meheta, Mirabai, Premanand and Symal Bhat are well represented in this collection.

Some of the rare titles available in the collection are Robert Drummond's Illustrations of Grammatical Parts Guzerattee, Maratta and English languages (1808), translations of Aesope's Fables by Bapushastri Pandya Raykaval (1818), Edalji Patel's Suratani Tavarikh (1890) and Jnana Chakra --a Gujarati encyclopaedia in 9 Vols. (1867).


Hindi Language Division

Hindi is the National language of India. The Collection building of Hindi books started ever since the time of Imperial library. A separate division was established in 1960. At present 80,000 Hindi books are in the library collection. The collection has rare works published during the last decades of the 18th Century. Many of the publications published by Lulloo Lal, the first printer, publisher and writer of Calcutta, are very well represented in this collection. The following rare books published by Lulloo Lal are in the library: Braja Bhasha Grammar (1811), Lataife Hindi (1821) and Rajaniti (1827). Prem Sagur (1842).

Apart from the above publications, the library has -- The oriental linguist with an Extensive vocabulary English and Hindoostanee and Hindoostanee and English by John B. Gilchrist (1798), Hindi-Roman Orthoepigraphical Ultimatum… by John B. Gilchrist (1804), Rajneeti by Narayana Pandit (1809), Sudamacaritra by Haldhara Dasa(1819), Raga Kalpadruma (1843), Baital Pachisi by Duncan Forbes ( 1861), Dictionary of Hindee and English by J. T. Thompson (1862), Yavan Bhasa Ka Vyakaran by Hooper William (1874), Siva Simha Saroja by Siva Simha Senagar (1878), Hindi Pradipa edited by Balkrishna Bhatt (1877-1909), Brief account of the Solar system in Hindi (1940), and a microfilm copy of 'Bal Bodhini,' (1874 - 1877)-- a monthly Journal for women edited by Bharatendu Harischandra. There are also about 1200 rare first issues of important journals in this collection.

The division also has a good number of Maithili books.




Title page(top) and 1st page(below) of Lulloo Lal's Prem Sagur (1842)




Kannada Language Collection

A separate Kannada division came into existence in 1963 in the National Library, to collect and preserve the books and other published materials in Kannada language. In 1960, the library purchased the personal collection of H. Channakeshava Ayyangar. This collection consists of 1300 books published between the last two decades of the 19th century and the first three decades of the 20th century. The efforts of G.P. Rajaratnam, a noted Kannada author, in building the Kannada collection in the library is worth mentioning. Immediately after the enactment of the D.B. Act, Rajaratnam toured erstwhile Mysore state to create awareness among the publishers about the Act. He also collected about 1,500 books on behalf of the library and sent them to the library, with out any expense to the library. The Kannada collection in the library is very useful for the study of cultural history of Karnataka.

At present there are 32,000 Kannada books in the library.


Kashmiri Language Collection

Kashmiri division became an independent division in 1983. Now the library has 500 Kashmir books. Some of the important publications available in this collection are : Muhammad Yusuf Teng's Shirin Qalm (2 Volumes), Wiyur edited by Ghulam Muhammad Rafiq, Ghulam Nabi Khyal's Akah Nandun, Nurnama (Sayings of Nuruddin Wali) and compiled by Muhammad Amin Kaim, Fazil and Kashmiri's Krishna Lila.



Malayalam Language Collection

Malayalam division, as a separate division, was established in the National Library in 1963. Then the division had 5,000 books. Now the collection has 34,500 books. The earliest printed book available in the collection dates back to 1791, Centum Adagia Malabarica is a Latin translation of Malayalam proverbs. Both the Malayalam originals and Latin translations are printed side by side. Among the many rare and old books, mention may be made of the following works: Robert Drummond's Grammar of the Malabar Language (1799), Dr. Gundart's Malayalam--English dictionary (1872) Vartamanapustakam by Parammachkal Govarnnodoracchan, Appu Nedungadi's Kundalata and Chantu Menan's. Indulekha (1889). Apart from these, many works representing the early periods are also available in this collection. Few of them are: Ramacaritam, (earliest known Malayalam work), works of Niranam (15th Century poet), Cerussery's Krishnagatha (16th century), Vatakkan Pattukal (Ballads of North Malabar), Ezuttachan's Adhyatama Ramayana, Ramaprattu Variyar's Kucelavrtam, Kuncan Nampyar's Tullol.


Marathi Language Collection

Marathi division was established in 1963 with a collection of 8900 volumes, to collect and process Marathi books in the National Library. Now the division has 37,000 books in its collection. In 1954 the National Library purchased the library of the Bengal Nagpur Railway Indian Institure, Kharagpur which had a good number of Marathi books. Sir Jadunath Sarkar Collection also has about 350 Marathi books, on the history of Maratha period. The division has many rare and old Marathi Publications. Few of them are: William Carey's -- A grammar of the Mahratta language (1805) and Dictionary of the Maharatta language (1810), Simhasana battisi (1814), Raghuji Bhinsalyanihi vanshavali (1815), Vans Kennedy's -- A dictionary of Maratta language (1824), Nava Karar (1850), A Short Account of Railways by K. Bhatwadekar (1854), Charles Hutton's Bijaganit (1856), Vishnu Parashuram Pandit and Shankar Pandurang Pandit edited Tukaram's Abhangachi gatha (1869), H. A. Acworth edited Itihasaprisiddha purushanche va striyanche povade (1891).



Oriya Language Collection

A separate Oriya division was established in 1973, in the National Library, to acquire and process Oriya books. Imperial Library had only 133 books, later the collection was increased to 425 books. Now the division has 19500 books.

The oldest publication available in the Oriya collection dates back to 1831. It is Rev. Amos Sutton's Introductory Grammar of Oriya language . Some of the other rarities in the collection are: Jayadeva's Gitagovinda, translated by Dharanidhara, Amos Sutton's An Oriya dictionary -- 3 vols.(1841-1843), Dharmapustakara Adibhaya (1842-1843). Purnacandra Odiabhasa Kosh (1931-1940), a lexicon of Oriya language compiled by Gopalachandra Praharaj.


Opening page of Jayadeva's Gitagovinda


Punjabi Language Collection

A separate division for the acquisition and processing of Punjabi language books, was established in 1974. Most of the works in this collection are of recent origin. But still the collection has few old and rare Punjabi books. Some of them are : William Carey's A Grammar of Punjabee Language (1812), Samuel Starkey's A Dictionary of English Punjabee (1849), Geographical Description of the Panjab (1850), Bhai Santosh Singh's Guru Paratap Suraj Granthavali (1882) and Gurudas Bhai's Vars (1893).


Sanskrit, Pali and Prakrit languages Collection

Sanskrit has the rich heritage of literature in all the spheres of knowledge. A separate division is functioning in the National Library to collect and process Sanskrit books. At present the division has over 20,000 Sanskrit books, printed in Devnagari script. Almost all Indian Language divisions possess Sanskrit works printed in their respective language scripts. The Library also has a rich collection of Sanskrit works edited or translated with original scripts, in English and many other foreign language.

The collection is so rich, that it attracts scholars both from India and abroad. Apart from Sanskrit, books in Pail and Prakrit languages are also collected and processed by this division. At present the library has about 500 books in Pali and a similar number of books in Prakrit.


Sindhi Language Collection

Since 1957, Sindhi books are being added in the National Library. At present the Library has 2,100 Sindhi books. Shah Abdul Latif's Shah Jo Rasalo and Shah Jo Sher are the prized works in this collection.


Tamil Language Collection

Tamil division was formed in 1963 in the library. At present the division has 57,000 books. Apart from this, the Library has 1000 Tamil books and 300 Tamil Manuscripts in Vaipuri Pillai collection. The library has many rare and old Tamil works. Earliest printed Tamil books available in the library are: Tamil Bible (1723); John Philip Fabricius's A Malabar and English Dictionary (1779); Tamil translation of John Bunyan's Piligrim's progress (1793); Caldwell's Comparative Grammar of Dravidian languages (1850). The collection also includes standard editions of five great Sangam Classics.







Tamil translation of Bible (1723)

Telugu Language Collection

Telugu division was formed in the National Library in 1963. The collection has good number of old Telugu books published since the earlier decades of the 19th Century. Some of the Telugu language rarities available in this collection are: William Carey's Grammar of Telugu language (1814); C. P. Brown's A vocabulary of Gentoo and English (1818); Vakyavali (1852); Catalogue of Telugu books in the British library, London, (1912) compiled by L. D. Barnett.


Urdu Language Collection

Like Arabic and Persian collection, Urdu language collection was also well developed from the days of Imperial library. Buhar library, Hidayat Husain collection, Zakariya Collection. Imambara collection also have some Urdu books and manuscripts. In 1968 a separate Urdu division was formed in the Library. At present the collection has more than 20,000 books. Some of the oldest books in this collection are: Uklakhi Hindee or Indian Ethics (1803), Mir Muhamad Takis Kulliuat- e- Mir (1811).

care and preservation of library material for future generation

Conservation Activities
One of the basic functions of the National Library is to conserve the printed heritage to the future generations. For this purpose the library has separate divisions for physical, chemical, reprographic and digital conservations.

Physical Conservation
All the books damaged by human error or by the natural reasons are mended, repaired and bound in the Binding division. Journals are bound volume wise.

Chemical Conservation
Laboratory Division of the library, established in 1968, is taking care of the chemical treatment of the books. Advanced system of chemical treatment is being adopted to restore the brittle and damaged books. The library is in the process of developing non-chemical treatment system for the preservation of printed materials . Indigenously developed fumigation chamber is being used to destroy the eggs and larvae of insects and termites. Encapsulation is another method of preservation developed by the National Library, India.

Reprographic Preservation

Most of the 19th century newspapers, Arabic, Persian and Sanskrit manuscripts have already been microfilmed 5000 rolls of microfilms are already produced so far by the Reprography division.






The Chemical Laboratory
Old books are being scanned


Digitisation

The scanning and archiving or rare and brittle books and other documents on compact disc is under taken. English books and documents published before 1900 and Indian publications of pre 1920 are considered for digitisation. So far 6,600 selected books in Indian and English languages have already been scanned and stored on 548 CDs -- a total of over 25,00,000 pages.

Friday, June 25, 2010

library automation

Introduction:
Library automation which started in late 70s in few special libraries has now reached most of the university libraries. It is yet to take off in college libraries in India owing to various problems.

Why library automation:
Even though this question seems to be very fundamental it is essential to emphasize this aspect as the library automation is yet to take off in majority of the Indian libraries. Secondly, while justifying need for library automation more than cost-effectiveness the benefits derived by the library users become the major consideration. Since library does not happen to be an economic entity such benefits need to be looked at in a different perspective. To appreciate the advantages it becomes necessary to highlight the different levels of library automation. For convenience it can be visualized at four levels:

Library cataloging system
House keeping operations and networking
Development of CD-ROM library / products
E-mail system and internet
The library catalogue or index to the collection forms the base for most of the library activities such as acquisition, reference, bibliographic service, inter-library loan etc. The users of library card catalogue will appreciate how fast is the retrieval, search and printing in automated environment. If the same system is available in network environment, users can have simultaneous access to the same database. From the library staff point of view the cumbersome job of printing the cards and their subsequent filing gets eliminated. Also, it conserves space and saves stationary.
The second level automation will be to use a software which can handle all the house keeping operations of the library such as acquisition, circulation and serial control thus creating a network within the library or becoming part of the existing network of the institution. Networking of computers within an organization helps the users to browse the cataloguing system from any of the workstation/ terminal.

A very handy technology available for library is the CD-ROM products which can be considered at the third level. The development of CD-ROM collection not only conserves space but also provides multi-user access in network environment. There are many self-tutorial CD-ROMS available with multi-media effect. Libraries facing high incidence of mutilation of materials will benefit from such electronic products. Also people doing empirical research can download data and directly take it to other software platform for analysis and making graphical presentation.

Other technology which libraries can make use of is the e-mail system. This not only reduces the recurring expenditure but also be effective and fast. Sending reminders for non-receipt of journals by e-mail has proved to be very cost-effective. In addition to this, sharing of resources among libraries become easy. Few public domain e-mail software are available and there will be no additional expenditure incurred.

Another technology which has revolutionized the information world is the development of internet. Subscribers of internet, in addition to getting access to various public domain databases and services, will also get free e-mail and fax facility. Some publishers have started giving content pages of journals and libraries having subscription to such journals can also have full text of the articles. Many academic and research institutes have given free access to their working papers.

Barriers of library automation:
Following could be the few possible barriers of library automation:

i . Fear of adverse impact on employment
ii . Apprehension that the technology could be too expensive
iii . The library staff have to undergo extensive training.
iv. Lack of support from the management, may be owing to budget constraints
v. Fifth reason could be retrospective conversion of data.

Let us examine each of the points. If we analyze the various jobs such as book acquisition, technical processing, circulation and reference service one can conclude that human interference is necessary at each and every step. The only area where substantial manpower can be saved is the cataloguing. The data entered at the time of ordering can be used for cataloging with some updation would eliminate multiple card preparation and subsequent filing. The manpower thus saved can be utilized in retrospective conversion and later on for analytical cataloguing or introducing new services. Therefore, there will be no adverse impact on employment.

There is an apprehension that the technology, both hardware and software would be expensive and unaffordable. The cost of hardware and software depends on the level of automation. From the user point of view cataloguing system is most important and also forms the base for other library activities. Keeping these two points in view UNESCO developed a PC based software titled 'CDS/ISIS' and is available at a very nominal price to all the libraries in developing countries. For details librarians may contact ATIRA/NISSAT.

This software which works on a simple IBM compatible PC/XT is also available on UNIX and NOVELL platform. Recently the WINDOWS version has also been released. This software can export data in ISO 2709 format and therefore at later stage if one decides to go in for some other software, data transfer poses no problem. INFLIBNET has developed a public domain library software titled 'ILMS' which is available on DOS AND UNIX platform. With the recent government policy the PCs and other accessories have become affordable. The cost of different hardware has been listed in the annexure I.

The in-house training for handling the software is usually provided by the developers and one can choose the software which can suit their budget. However, training for CDS/ISIS is available at INSDOC, INFLIBNET and DRTC. For further information on training programmes one can contact NISSAT. The training of library staff also depends on the level of automation. If one decides to go only for cataloguing a minimum training of one or two weeks duration will enable the librarians to develop a database and maintain it. With this basic training one can easily transfer the same data on a server/main machine in a network environment. The job becomes easy as most of the institutions have systems department with computer professionals maintaining the network.

Fourthly lack of support from the management, may be owing to budget constraints, will be one of the barriers. Here the role of librarians becomes crucial in convincing the management that the users of libraries will also be the major beneficiaries of automation. Also, the skill and initiative play a major role in convincing the management.

The fifth reason could be retrospective conversion of data. As mentioned earlier the manpower saved could be utilized for retrospective conversion and later on for analytical cataloguing. However, most of the libraries have taken time bound project for this purpose.

Selection of library software:
As mentioned earlier, if a library wants to make a beginning; CDS/ISIS is best suited as it involves minimum investment on both hardware and software. Once a database with bibliographic details is developed, the same data can be used for circulation activities. Here the selection of software becomes crucial because CDS/ISIS can efficiently handle only the cataloguing system. Following criteria might help the librarians to select the right software for other housekeeping operations:

Who are the developers, whether an institution, or reputed company or few individuals. The preference is for institution and second preference is for the reputed company. One has to be skeptical about the software developed by individuals as there will be no continuity
How many times the software has been revised since the time of its first launch.
How many parameters are available for each module. More the parameters better will be the flexibility and needs no or minimum customization.
Whether the software has facility to import bibliographic data available in ISO2709 format and similarly export of data in this format
Training and guidance after installation
Whether available on major operating systems.
Whether it is web interfaceble
Whether it can be interfaced with the e-mail system of the campus network.
Whether it has taken care of Y2K compliant
How many installations it has got in the country, since when and major clients.
Whether it can offer OPAC and different rights to different logins

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

District Kishtwar in the past used to be an independent hill principality the present name, related with "Kishat Rishi" who stayed here, is the modified version of earlier name of Kishaswar. Located about 232 km from Jammu at a height of 5,360 feet, Kishtwar in its ancient form Kashthavata, is first referred to in the Rajatarangini during the reign of Raja Kalsa of Kashmir (1063–1089), when "Uttamaraja", the ruler of Kashthavata visited the court of Kashmiri king in company with several other hill chiefs to pay their respects to the Raja.The Mehta Family was gifted the lands of Kishtwar by the King of Kashmir. Their family temple "Hatta Wali Mata" and their Heritage can still be tracked back to Kishtwar. The founder of this family was the Commander-in-Chief of the Kashmir Army "Sip-E-Salar Sri Jiya Lal Mehta". Known for his Bravery and valour he fought the Mughals and Northern raiders who invaded the land.

Kishtwar endowed with dense forests of deodar, fir and pine is treasure of scenic beauty. There are high altitude mountains ranging between 20,000 feet to 21,000 feet like Num Kum, Burmah and Barnag. It offers tremendous scope for pilgrim tourism also as some important shrines are located in the area. These include Ziarat Zain-Shah-Sahib, Farid-ud-Din Sahib, Hazrat Asrar-ud-Din Sahib, Athara Bhuja Devi temple, Chandi Mata temple and Hatta Wali Matta.

Kishtwar merged with the State of Jammu and Kashmir in 1821, A.D. With the passage of time Kishtwar became a Tehsil of District Udhampur and remained its part till 1948, when it became part of newly created District Doda in the wake of first re-organization of the state during the post-independence period.

In 1941, Kishtwar had a population of 3,235
Kishtwar, situated on a central plateau set amidst sylvan surroundings of wooded hills, is a beautiful town located 216 km from Jammu, at an altitude of 1640 meter above the sea level, in Doda District. It is an upland valley in the north-east corner of Jammu region and is just 107 km from the national highway resort of Batote. Kishtwar branches off in Marwa-Wadwan valley, Paddar valley, Chhatroo valley and is flanked by lofty Himalayas from all sides. The monsoon hardly reaches this part of the State which makes it a drought prone area and insufficient in food grains in particular the Marwah-Wardwan area which remains cut off for 5–6 months in a year due to snowfall in winter. In order to avoid any starvation death sufficient stocks of food grains and other essential commodities are stored well in advance in these areas so that the public may not suffer on this account. Kishtwar has a lot of potential for generation of Hydro Electric Power. One of the major projects implemented in Kishtwar is Dul-Hasti which was commissioned in April 2007. Kishtwar is popularly known as 'Land of Sapphire and Saffron' is also very rich in forest products. The richest forests in Jammu and Kashmir are found on the high mountains and hills of Kishtwar. Kishtwar is linked with other parts of the state by an all weather road, National Highway 1-B, which remains open throughout the year. Kishtwar is also connected with Kashmir Valley by Chhatroo-Synthan road, which is being upgraded into National Highway.
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