An artist’s impression of Varnaparichay which will house an e-library

Varnaparichay, the book mall coming up in the new-look College Street market, may still be in the nascent stage, but digitisation of rare books and manuscripts for the e-library is on in full swing.

Called Granthagar, the electronic database occupying 10,000 sq ft will be housed on the seventh floor of Varnaparichay.

With a click of the mouse, readers will be able to access a staggering collection of books, journals, manuscripts and vital government records on history, sociology, anthropology, linguistics, Indology and sports. Around five million pages are being digitised.

“We will set up several computer terminals at Varnaparichay for people to access the e-library,” said Samar Nag, the managing director of Bengal Shelter Housing Development, which has commissioned the Rs 12 crore-plus project along with the South Asia Research Foundation (SARF).

The SARF committee, formed specially for the Varnaparichay e-library, has some of the top names from the academic world — Gowher Rizvi, former head of Ford Foundation’s South Asia operations, Gillian Evison, librarian of the Indian Institute Library at Oxford University, and Ashis Nandy of the Centre for the Study of Developing Societies, New Delhi, among others.

The SARF team has gathered most of the rare books from the personal collections of people across the country.

“We have got books from the Burdwan Rajbati and Harish Mukherjee’s family, for instance,” said Boria Majumdar, one of the SARF trustees.

Other valuable documents are the Asiatic Society Journals of Bengal dating back to the early 19th century and journals published during the Bengal Renaissance, like Prabasi, Manasi and Bharatbarsha. Some rare government documents will be made available too. “All 11 volumes of the British government’s report on the 1946 riots in Calcutta are being digitised. The collection is rare,” added Majumdar.

In order to preserve the age-old documents, the SARF team is steering clear of “destructive scanning”, a common method in the digitisation process.

The Granthagar will benefit research facilities in India and also abroad.

Students, teachers and researchers associated with the foundation’s listed institutions will be able to access the e-library from any corner of the world. Others will have to drop into Varnaparichay. By 2010, if all goes well.

Expertspeak

Prasanta Ray, former professor of sociology, Presidency College

The initiative is commendable. The problem with old books is that they become brittle. The newspapers of the 1940s, which are available in the newspaper section of National Library, are very difficult to read because they crumble if you turn the pages. But this problem will be solved if the matter is digitised. The initiative will help preserve old magazines too.

Abhijit Bhattacharya, documentation officer, Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

The quality of paper in South Asia is very fragile because of its high acid content. So, its shelf life is small. Every time you photocopy a page, there is some kind of wear and tear. But you can make multiple copies of a digitised document without risking damage. And it is easily transferable too.

Alok Das, assistant secretary, Bangiya Sahitya Parishad

This is a commendable job. We are willing to help if the South Asian Research Foundation needs anything from the Parishad.