Panjab Digital Library

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By the grace of Guru Nanak Sahib, Panjab Digital Library (PDL) began operations in 2003 as a small organization tasked with a gigantic mission. Starting with one agenda, one desktop, and one employee; it has come a long way since.

The project emerged from the concerns shared by a group of individuals for the fast-disappearing or already-lost heritage of Sikhs and Panjab. In many such cases, valuable material, rare literature, architecture and signs of much celebrated memories were completely destroyed, whether by ageing, accident or human aggression.

Despite these losses, it was clear there was still a lot left that worth saving. This vision of preservation was the primary motivation for the project. After much deliberation and brainstorming, the project was established with a focus on archiving the endangered invaluable manuscripts and other literature to conserve and preserve the heritage, culture and language of the Panjab state and the Sikh culture.

Background

A typical digitization project, even on a small scale, requires a big budget by any conservative estimate. Without any initial infrastructure, expertise or funds to support the project, PDL somehow not only survived, but excelled through sheer motivation and concern for the heritage.

PDL went through rigorous research and ground work initially to establish commonalities and fix mutual priorities. With each passing day the organization grew in skill, talent, experience and number. The budding library acquired equipment, and skills in preservation, digitization, data management and archiving. Projects around the globe were closely studied to build an understanding of what would be needed to establish a successful digitization project. Internationally recognized benchmarks were referred to and complied with. In the process, the organization also created benchmarks and documentation relevant to the realities of South-Asia that conformed to the international standards.

Tremendous Growth

With increased expertise, efficiency and indigenous development of equipment, PDL has marked numerous milestones and seen exponential growth in terms of digitization output and resources. We continue to research ways to reduce operational costs, and increase digitization throughput and work quality while creating successful low cost models to emulate and make digital preservation a viable option for heritage preservation.

PDL seeks to promote a entirely new culture of awareness, where the masses contribute to the safeguarding of old texts. Come and be a part of the growing revolution.

Adopt-a-Book

Books are a source of constant knowledge and motivation. Some readers prefer a particular book for its aesthetic appeal, others for the message of the text. Whatever their tastes or reasons, here is an opportunity for book lovers to have a say in the selection and digitization of the books that PDL selects for online public access.

Click here to access a list of books that are available and ready for digitization. You can adopt any book from the list provided that you wish to promote and are ready to sponsor the costs associated with digitization and accessibility. The costs are detailed for each book on the list.

An optional bookplate will accompany the selected text in order to credit the details of its sponsor, who has adopted it and helped to promote it through online public access.

Books have taught us so much already, and have much more to show the world. Are you ready to take that one step in helping those books reach their intended audience?

Adopt-a-Book: An opportunity!

Our Adopt-a-Book section is getting a good response. We have added 20 more books/manuscripts for adoption. This is an opportunity for book lovers to have a say in the selection and digitization of the books that PDL selects for online public access. Some of the selected books, manuscripts for the next two months are:

  • 1 Granth Gur Girarath Kosh $ 160.00 Adopt
  • 2 Punjab Da Itihasik Sarvekhan $ 72.00 Adopt
  • 3 The Ramayana (Ramavtar) $ 116.00 Adopt
  • 4 The Educational Philosophy Of The Sikhs $ 56.00 Adopt
  • 5 Panj Granthi $ 84.00 Adopted


In the last 2 months a few of the books adopted were Bhav Panchasika, Srimad Bhagwat Gita and Jap Teeka

See also

External links