GLAM/Newsletter/May 2024/Contents/India report

This Month in GLAM – Volume XIV, Issue V, May 2024

India report

Digitization concludes for Behar Herald and a digitization workshop held for libraries in Maharashtra

Digitization concludes for Behar Herald

A GLAM initiative, which was taken by the West Bengal Wikimedians User Group to digitize the oldest English weekly published from the Indian state of Bihar more than a year ago, has concluded recently. With the help of a successful rapid fund application, the program lead Dr. Bir was able to procure a CZUR Pro 18 digital scanner and assign a Wikimedian-in-residence to be stationed at the headquarters of Bengalee Association Bihar in the city of Patna. This association, which publishes the newspaper since 1938 and is the holder of rights, has released the license of all its issues to be shared freely on Wikimedia sites. Under the digitization project, 26,995 pages were digitized and uploaded to Wikimedia Commons. A final grant report has been submitted recently.

A news about a 21 days political fast by Mahatma Gandhi in 1943.
An article about Jawaharlal Nehru meeting 14th Dalai Lama in 1959
An issue on Indo-China war of 1962
An issue on liberartion of Bangladesh and surrender of Pakistan during 1971 war

Digitisation Workshop for libraries in Maharashtra

CIS-A2K and Pune Nagar Vachan Mandir library jointly organised a 'Digitisation Workshop' for old libraries in Maharashtra state of India on 15 may 2024 at Pune. The workshop aimed to empower libraries in preserving and making rare and public domain books available to society. It was attended by 50 members from 15 centennial libraries and 12 other libraries, along with digitisation partners and Wikisource editors. The objectives included digitizing and preserving valuable materials, coordinating digitization projects, and optimizing resources. Topics covered included library management systems, digitization project planning, copyright issues, metadata preparation, and making digitized content accessible on the internet. Hands-on training on scanning and image processing was also provided. The workshop aimed to demystify the digitization process and facilitate best practices among participants. The sessions were conducted by PNVM coordinators and A2K representatives. The hands-on training of scanning process and image processing was also arranged at the venue in the second half. Through this activity the digitisation concept was demystified. It was the first such exposure for all the participants. A social media group was formed to exchange information and discuss progress. Follow-up activities include preparing lists of public domain authors and works, supporting libraries with Unicode and KOHA experts, and planning visits to potential libraries.