GLAM/Newsletter/September 2024/Contents/India report

This Month in GLAM – Volume XIV, Issue IX, September 2024

India report

Digitization at the Museum of Santal Culture, Federation Hall Society Library and Cultural Heritage and Literature in Meghalaya

Museum of Santal Culture

The Museum of Santal Culture, located in the Santal village of Bishnubati, was inaugurated in 2007 with the financial help of the Indian Museum. Managed by the Bishnubati Adibasi Marshal Sangha, the museum preserves 150 items under six categories.

The West Bengal Wikimedians User Group is collaborating with the trust to digitize the museum collections through a GLAM partnership. Apart from photographing the collections, we are video recording the description of each item in Bangla and Santali, narrated by the museum curator and experts related to the items.

Museum of Santal Culture
The curator Bimal Baski explaining Chador Badoni to the West Bengal Wikimedians User Group representatives.

Federation Hall Society Library

Founded in 1905, the Federation Hall is a heritage building and nationalist institution of British India. It is also known as Milan Mandir, a name proposed by Sister Nivedita.

The century-old library of the Federation Hall Society houses many rare books and magazines. The West Bengal Wikimedians User Group have started the digitization process of the out-of-copyright books in this library.

Digitisation & Documentation of Cultural Heritage and Literature in Meghalaya

The Digitisation & Documentation of Cultural Heritage and Literature in Meghalaya project is a collaborative initiative funded by NECTAR and implemented by the Centre for Internet and Society (CIS) in partnership with Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Sohra and the West Bengal Wikimedians User Group (WBG). Launched in January 2023, this initiative aims to digitize and make accessible the rich cultural heritage of Meghalaya's Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo communities. By collaborating with local organizations like the Ramakrishna Mission Ashrama Sohra, Jeebon Roy Memorial Trust Library in Shillong and Vintage Museum in Sohra, the project seeks to ensure that valuable cultural resources—such as manuscripts, books, and audio files—are freely available on Wikimedia platforms.

In an era characterized by rampant misinformation, this project becomes particularly relevant. It aims to produce verifiable and reliable reference materials that enhance the quality of online content. The Wikimedia movement envisions a world where everyone has free access to the sum of all human knowledge. Through projects like Wikipedia, Wikisource, and Wikimedia Commons, it has fostered a global community of volunteers dedicated to this vision. This initiative not only aligns with that mission but also strengthens partnerships with local institutions to document tribal culture accurately.

As of September 2024, approximately 20,000 pages have been digitized, with 5,426 pages (41 books) uploaded onto Wikimedia Commons. Out of these 28 rare books are in Khasi language. A total of 337 photos and 25 videos have been documented and shared online. Skill training has been provided to 24 volunteers, enhancing local capacity for ongoing cultural documentation.

By training local volunteers in digital skills and engaging them in knowledge creation, the project empowers communities to contribute actively to the global knowledge ecosystem. This approach not only preserves cultural heritage but also enriches the collective understanding of diverse cultures worldwide, reinforcing the principles of openness and accessibility central to the open knowledge movement.