21 Jul 2009

National Mission for Manuscripts (Namami), India
National Mission for Manuscripts, New Delhi, India.
Self-description:
"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 wealth of India. India 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 National Mission for Manuscripts aims to locate, document, preserve and render these accessible -- to connect India's past with its future, its memory with its aspirations."
Site contents:
* About Us (History, Objectives, Performance Summary, Structure of the Mission, Mission Directory);
* Indian Manuscripts (What is a Manuscript, Knowledge Areas; Materials, Sizes and Shapes, Scripts and Languages);
* Partners (Manuscript Resource Centres, Manuscript Conservation Centres, Manuscript Partner Centres, Manuscript Conservation Partner Centres, MRC-MCC Map);
* Downloads;
* FAQ's;
* Manuscripts in Focus;
* Calendar of Events;
* Database ["Kritisampada"] (Search [Title, Author, Script, Language, Subject or Material] Kritisampada online database, Search [Andhra Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chandigarh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu And Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Orissa, Pondicherry, Punjab, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Uttaranchal, West Bengal] for Manuscript repository in different districts of India);
* Photo Gallery;
* Documentation of the Manuscripts (Manuscript Database, National Survey, Post Survey, Cataloguing Manuscripts, History of Cataloguing);
* Manuscript Studies (Concept, Training, Scripts);
* Conservation (Concept, Manuscript Conservation Centres, Manuscript Conservation Partner Centres, Special Field Labs, Standards for Conservation, Conservation Training, Support Services, Research, Indigenous Methods);
* Digitization (Concept, Our Programmes, Standard Guidelines, Sample of Images);
* Publication (Lectures, Seminars, Bi-monthly publication, Catalogues, Critical Editions, Standards for Conservation, Standards for Digitization);
* Outreach (Lectures, Seminars, School Programme, University Debate, Manuscript Treasures; Exhibitions, Memory of the World).
* Contact us;
* Search.
URL http://www.namami.org/
Internet Archive http://web.archive.org/web/*/http://www.namami.org/
Link reported by: T Matthew Ciolek (tmciolek--at--coombs.anu.edu.au)
* Resource type [news - documents - study - corporate info. - online guide]: Corporate Info. / Study/ Documents
* Publisher [academic - business - government - library/museum - NGO - other]: Government
* Scholarly usefulness [essential - v.useful - useful - interesting - marginal]: Essential
* External links to the resource [over 3,000 - under 3,000 - under 1,000 - under 300 - under 100 - under 30]: under 300