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Foundation of Library and Information Science

Notes Self Assessment

Fill in the blanks:
16. The Virtual Library aims to be subjecting ………………..
17. ………………… is the ultimate reason behind all collection decisions.

18. ………………… collections are built to support local needs, and expenditure of local
resources must have a demonstrable local benefit.

Case Study Digital Heritage Archiving in India

he preservation of the documentary heritage has to be seen in the broader context
of managing what we have inherited from the past in a way which will allow us to
Thand it over to the future. Documentary preservation makes sense only when we
take accountability of the preservation of the objects, built-in environment and create
landscapes for the same. But we cannot preserve everything, and indeed should not seek
to do so. As a society needs and desires change, the political and social expression of its
understanding of, and need for, its inheritance also changes. In responding to change, each
generation makes its own contribution to the heritage of the future.
Punjab University was established in the year 1882 in Lahore and after the partition of
India and Pakistan; the library was shifted to Shimla. In the year 1955-56, it was moved to
its present campus in Chandigarh. The library building was formally inaugurated in the
year 1963. Since that time the library has progressed in all ways and shifted from a manual
system to fully automated one. The library introduced computers for the first time in
mid-1990 and in the year 1996, the scenario was changed with the introduction of integrated
system, connected to the campus network and subsequently, possessed numerous facilities
like telefax, e-mail, internet, Online Public Access Catalogue, multimedia, CDROM
databases, e-books and e-journals etc. The library has a rich collection of more than 7 lakh
volumes and 600 Periodicals. The digital library along with the facility of e-resources both
online as well as offline has been created.
Manuscript Collection
Collection of Manuscripts in Punjab University Library is rare and important. In order to
preserve its heritage, the Punjab University Library commenced digitization of its rare
collection in the year 2004 and took the decision to open an archive for the upkeep of its
numerous collections. Because of the cultural and historical importance and its implication,
the magnitude of such holdings can be well ascertained. There are total of 1493 manuscripts
available in various languages like Hindi, Urdu, Persian, Punjabi, and Sanskrit and Sharda
Script wrapping extensive range of subjects for instance, Persian, Court Etiquette, Poetry,
Writings of the Sikh Gurus and other translations of eminent personalities as listed below.
Government Reports and other general archival trends are also component of the holdings.
List of Manuscripts Available in Punjab University Library:

Mutiny Records.
Writings on different tribes of North-Eastern States & Andaman Nicobar by different
English authors.

Contd....

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