Digital libraries: Nehru Memorial Museum and Library to go online

The remarkable collection of manuscripts, historical documents and other archival materials of the Nehru Memorial Museum and Library (NMML) will soon be available at the click of a mouse.

The historical library in Delhi, regarded by scholars as a treasure trove of information, is in the process of a complete digitization. The first section of the collection of manuscripts, newspaper archives, photographs and other documents at the library will in all likelihood start going online in six months time.

The ambitious project that is under preparation for the past one year has kicked off with the establishment of a new digitization centre where a group of 30 to 40 people are working on it.

The initial phase of the digitization project is to run for two years, focusing on the most historically significant and valuable documents in the archive. The priority criteria for the collections is determined by which of them are consulted frequently by scholars, what is the frequency of usage and other parameters such as physical condition of manuscripts, volumes of collection and so on.

The NMML, in October last year, signed a contract with HCL Infosystems for the digitization project, as part of efforts to modernize and preserve its unique collection of historical documents. The project will make the library accessible to people across the country, irrespective of physical accessibility.

The process is part of a Culture Ministry project to digitize and upgrade major libraries across the country.