Dissemination of Digitized and Archived Content

Right from the beginning of the known history, there has been a continual urge among human beings to archive information pertaining to themselves as well as the surrounding world. It is an indispensable exercise that is vital for the preservation of a society’s history and tradition. Moreover, the process of archiving impacts upon the socio-political factors that determine and direct history. In the modern world, governments and other institutions expend large sums of money for the purpose of archiving. The need to bequeath today’s memories and knowledge to the next generation in a durable archived form is strongly felt all around the globe.

The advent of e-archiving has given a new dimension to archival activities. By way of new technologies, documents are digitized and made accessible to all on the internet, intensifying the flow of information in numerous directions. This information era where there are e-universities, e-educational institutions and e-educational activities, digital archiving assumes greater importance.

In this world which has become a globalized village as a result of increasing internet-based communications and international trade, there are communities that share a common language but live in different parts of various continents. The level of archival activities centered around a particular geographical location has decreased as a result of intense globalization. The citizens of the global village who have been connected with each other via internet are keenly studying all the viable options necessary for more effective methods of archiving that would bring closer the different communities. Digitization of documents is an essential component in the construction of integrated information societies.

The minority Tamils of Sri Lanka are living as scattered groups all around the world as a result of the protracted ethnic conflict in the country. The Jaffna library which stood as the knowledge trove of the Tamil community was destroyed by the chauvinist majoritarian rulers nearly 2 ½ years ago. The traditional knowledge, preserved in various forms, of the said minority community was systematically and violently destroyed. In such a context, this paper shares the experience of a groundbreaking effort – namely ‘Project Noolaham’ – that seeks to archive and preserve documents concerning the Tamil minority communities in e-formats. This project has made it possible for the Tamil Diaspora as well as the locals to access several thousands of important documents in digitized format.

Interim listed by  ‘8th European Conference on Digital Archiving, Geneva 2010‘