National Mission for Manuscripts director Dipti S Tripathi speaks at the workshop in Gaya on Friday. Picture by Suman

Librarians and persons working in the field of manuscript conservation, or wishing to, brushed up their knowledge about the different aspects of the work at Gaya Museum on Friday.

National Mission for Manuscripts director Dipti S. Tripathi inaugurated a five-day workshop on the preventive conservation of manuscripts at the museum on Friday.

It has been organised by National Mission for Manuscripts, the ministry of culture, and manuscript resource centres and manuscript conservation centres at Patna and Gaya working under the department of art, culture and youth affairs.

Manuscripts can be preserved in two ways — preventive and curative.

In preventive conservation, 90 per cent treatment is done on the surroundings of a manuscript (where it is kept), while 10 per cent work is done on the manuscript. This is only done when the manuscripts are in good condition. Otherwise curative conservation — chemicals used to stop the deterioration rate of a manuscript and maintain its originality — is done.

Around 35 people working in the field of manuscript conservation or willing to work in the field are taking part in the workshop.

Tripathi said work on manuscript conservation has been started at 16 centres across the state, including Mannu Lal Library of Magadh University, Bodhgaya.

Tripathi said: “Documentation of around 9,000 manuscripts has been completed in Bihar, including at Mannu Lal Library. Of the 9,000 manuscripts, preventive conservation of around 2,600 folios is complete. However, several manuscripts are yet to come to the notice. Those participating in the workshop will also work in their respective areas to find unrecorded manuscripts.”