South Asia: Renovating the National Collection

A Guide to Selected Indian and Bangladesh Library and Information Resources


Government Archives and Libraries

Bangladesh Department of Public Libraries
Bangladesh National Archives
Bangladesh National Museum
Central Secretariat Library (CSL)
National Archives of India
National Library of Bangladesh
National Library of India
Parliament Library Reference Research Documentation & Information Service
State Central Library

Bangladesh Department of Public Libraries

Department
10 Kazi Nazrul Islam Ave
Shahbagh
Dhaka 100
BANGLADESH

Central Public Library
3 Liaquat Avenue
Dhaka 1000
BANGLADESH

Telephone: +880 2 500819, 500839
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s: A F M Badiur Rahman
(Director)
Telephone: 283 874, 257 126
Contact Person/s: Mr S A Haddi (Deputy Public Librarian)

Institution

Background / History

This Department grew out of the East Pakistan Central Public Library. The present Department was established in 1983 and covers 64 districts of Bangladesh. There are regional or divisional Libraries in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi and Khulna. In addition there are fifty eight district libraries.

Funding

Funding is received from Ministry of Culture.

Divisional Libraries

Most of the readers are students therefore the collections focus on textbooks. Seventy percent of the collection is in Bengali with the balance of holdings in English. The District libraries have between 3 and 4 staff, all of whom are non professional. Holdings in the divisional libraries range from 5 to 7,000 books up to 15,000. The material is catalogued centrally at the Bangladesh Central Public Library (call numbers are in Bengali script) with author, title and subject catalogues. Newspapers are a major component of the district libraries and the funds for acquiring these are controlled in each district library, as is the choice of which papers to receive. Most Divisional Libraries still do not have loan facilities but do act as centres for literacy and cultural programs especially the mass literacy programs.

There are also private lending libraries in the country which receive some government grants.

Bangladesh Central Public Library

The Central Public Library is responsible for acquiring, processing and distributing the books and other materials for the divisional and district libraries. In addition, they recruit and train staff for the whole network.

Collection

The Central Public Library is a deposit library for all Bangladesh publications under the Copyright Act. The Library receives all Dhaka newspaper dailies and periodicals and hold a small collection of 40 to 50 manuscripts titles.

Services

The Library has reading facilities open to all and provides research and reference services to the public, the government and other organizations. It also has a special collection of juvenile material and provides separate reading facilities for children. It serves as a cultural centre and public auditorium offering lectures, book exhibitions, film shows, and other cultural functions. It has a reprography service, in-house bindery and conservation section. Lending facilities were introduced in 1994.

Automation

Automation has started and a new database is under construction. It will include all the holdings of the central public library and the divisional libraries.

Opening Hours and Access

Contact library for details.

Documents Held by the Project


Bangladesh National Archives

National Library Building
32, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar
Agargaon
Dhaka 1207
BANGLADESH

Telephone: +880 2 326572, 313969, 312733
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s:

Institution

Background / History

The National Library and the National Archives are different institutions, but at present, they are housed in the same building and have the same director. A new building for the National Archives is to be constructed and they hope to begin by the end of 1997. The current building, constructed in 1965, has plenty of space at present. Space may become a problem when archival material from district offices is added to the collection.

Collections

In 1947 there was a successful attempt to divide archival material equitably between East and West Bengal. However, National Archives staff claim that since 1971 similar attempts to claim material from the Pakistani authorities, relevant to East Bengal, has not been possible. Negotiations between Bangladesh and Pakistan are still continuing.

The collection consists of district records, proceedings, secretariat records, Dhaka Divisional Commissioner’s office records, old newspapers, Government Gazettes, press clippings, old maps and other old archival materials. A large amount of the current collection consists of records in print form produced by the British authorities. Large runs of gazettes and printed correspondence files were transferred from Calcutta in 1947 and these have good but not complete coverage.

The Library is attempting to gather large amounts of local records and are expecting the collection to increase enormously in size in the next few years. Under the National Archives Ordinance 1983, material is transferred to the archives after 25 years for 30 year release.

Services

A research and reference service is offered.

Preservation

All original records are stored as large bundles held together between thick wooden boards and tied with string.

Opening Hours and Access

Overseas scholars may use the facilities. There is a form that must be completed which is available on application to the Archives. Copies of this form are held by the project

Publications

The National Archives publishes the following titles: an Annual Report, a Bulletin of Dissertations and theses by Bangladesh scholars on Social Sciences (1947-1973) and The Speeches of Sher-e-Bangla (1918-1937).

Documents Held by the Project

· National Archives Ordinance 1983.
· National Archives Guide Book 1994


Bangladesh National Museum

Shahbagh
GPO Box no. 355
Dhaka 1000
BANGLADESH

Telephone: +880 2 869397, 869398, 865585
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s: Kankan Kanti Barua (Librarian)
A.Z.M. Rafique Bhuiyan (Director General)

Institution

Background / History

The Museum was established in 1983. It is the largest repository of antiquities and art objects in Bangladesh.

Opening Hours and Access

The Museum is open from 10:30 am to 4:30 pm from Saturday until Wednesday and from 3:30 pm to 7:00 pm on Friday. It is closed on Thursday.


Central Secretariat Library (CSL)

Central Secretariat Library
G Wing, Shastri Bhavan,
New Delhi 110 001
INDIA

Telephone: +91 11 338 4846, 338 9684
Facsimile: +91 11 338 4846
E-mail: root%csl@delnet.ren.nic.in
URL:

Contact Person/s:
Ms Kalpana Dasgupta (Director)
Mr Bhale (Assistant Director - Shastri Bhavan)
Mr B. M. Mallappa (Assistant Director - Tulsi Sadan).

Institution

Background / History

The Central Secretariat Library is one of the oldest and largest libraries operated by the Government of India. In terms of collection size, it claims to be the second largest Central government library in India, second only to the National Library of India. Established in Calcutta in 1891 as the Imperial Secretariat Library, it was moved to Delhi when that city became the capital in 1910. Since 1969 the CSL has been housed in a separate wing of the Shastri Bhavan Complex and includes the Tulsi Sadan (Hindi and regional language materials) and the R. K. Puram Branch Library (reading and lending library for government employees).

In its present form the library appears to suffer from a lack of space especially for its periodical and newspaper collections. However, there are plans for the library to undergo a major reorganisation and restructure in the next 1 to 2 years. The library is centrally air-conditioned.

Funding

The Ministry of Human Resource Development (Department of Culture) funds the CSL.

Library

Collection

The Central Secretariat Library collection grew out of the Imperial Secretariat Library (1891), developed under Lord Curzon when India’s capital moved from Calcutta to Delhi. Technically, the Central Secretariat Library is a depository for Indian official documents but the library experiences an irregular supply of these materials which impacts on the currency of the collection. Library acquisitions come from: selections from publisher and booksellers’ catalogues, ministerial requests, government publication suppliers, book review recommendations, etc. There is a Book Selection Committee which meets regularly and it is anticipated that they will also consider adding multi-media materials to the collection in the near future.

The focus of collecting activity is on Central government publications, including government-sponsored works from subsidiary agencies. The collection claims to contain the following Indian Government materials: annual administrative reports; budget and planning documents; civil lists; census materials; gazettes and gazetteers; committee and commission reports; parliamentary legal documents and directories and handbooks. The library also holds some United Nations and Foreign government materials.

The collection is predominantly in English and Hindi. Within the collection are three special collections: the Rare Book Collection; the Indian Official Document Division and the Foreign Official Document Collection. There is a limited card catalogue with a separate section of the catalogue on each level of the library. The collection is arranged under Dewey Decimal Classification system.

Rare Book Collection

The Rare Book Collection contains approximately 7,000 volumes and includes 18th- to early 20th-Century materials from the former Imperial Institute. This material is kept in a locked storage area and is only accessible under supervision.

Indian Official Document Collection

The Indian Official Documents Division includes material from the British as well as post-Independence period. Gazette holdings as well as central and state census records are complete from 1947 to the present. Pre-1947 census material is available from the National Archives. The remainder of the collection within this division is arranged by publication type (eg annual reports, civil lists, budget and finance documents, gazettes etc.).

Foreign Official Documents Collection

Publications of some Indian Government Organisations and foreign government publications are held in the Foreign Official Documents Division, including material from the United Nations, UNESCO, America, Canada, United States [on microfiche], the United Kingdom and Australia.

Staff

The director of the Library is Kalpana Das Gupta a former head of the National Library of India.. Kalpana Dasgupta, who has also acted as head of the Delhi Public Library, has been involved in libraries for 31 years and is due to retire at the end of 1999.

The assistant director with responsibility for English language publications and advice to the Indian government on policy and planning for government libraries is Mr S. C. Bhale. TheAssistant Director responsible for Indian language publications is is Mr B. M. Mallappa. Most senior staff have undertaken some technical training programmes in the United Kingdom.

Services

The Library’s Reprographic and Computing Centre provides reprographic services to users on a fee-for-service basis. A microfilming project is currently underway in an effort to preserve existing Indian government publications and rare materials. This service is available for research and preservation purposes. There are plans to market this service in the future. The library supplies some limited microfiche and microfilm copies of materials. Contact the library for more information.

Automation

CSL has introduced some automated library functions. For example, accessioning, document processing, serial control and the construction of bibliographic databases are undertaken using computer technology. In addition, an automated acquisitions process is under development and a Document Image Management System has recently been purchased for the storage of official Indian documents. The library is also introducing a computer catalogue utilising LibSys software operating on a UNIX server with ten terminals. Graphic and Intelligence based Script Technology (GIST) is used for the processing of Indian language scripts. The computer based catalogue is not complete but a retrospective conversion is under way with assistance from the Indian National Scientific Documentation Centre (INSDOC) (see entry p. ?). There are also plans to use this technology for the publication of rare documents on CD-ROM. CSL is a member of Delnet (see entry) and Research and Education Network of National Informatics Centre (RENNIC).

Opening Hours and Access

Opening times are from 10:00 am to 5:00 pm, Monday to Friday. There is free access at present to both the main collection and reference materials for visiting researchers. Supervised reading areas provided on each floor.

Documents Held by the Project:


National Archives of India

Janpath
New Delhi 110 001
INDIA

Telephone: +91 11 3383436, 3385941
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s:
P. S. M. Moideen (Assistant Director) Jayanti Dass (Librarian)
Mr S. Sen Gupta (Library school)

Institution

Background / History

The National Archives of India was established in 1891 as the Imperial Record Department. It was setup in Calcutta and intended as a permanent solution to the management, storage and preservation of government records. The first archivist was Sir G.W. Forrest a noted scholar and administrator. Forrest was succeeded by a series of British archivists such as Samuel Hill, Denison Ross and Alwyn Scholfield. The Imperial Record Department was transferred to Delhi with the completion of the present building in 1926 although the transfer of records was not completed until 1937. The Imperial Record Department was renamed the National Archives of India with independence in 1947. Since 1947 the National Archives of India has established three regional offices at Bhopal, Jaipur and Pondicherry.

According to the National Archives, there is a public perception that government institutions may not be the most appropriate organisations to preserve archives or provide appropriate levels of access to archival material. Consequently, the National Archives have experienced difficulty in securing materials that would normally be stored in a government operated archival facility. However, new legislation (Public Record Act) has given the National Archives of India new authority to enforce the transfer of government files to the Archives. This Act also applies to autonomous bodies, commissions and committees of the Government of India as well as individuals.

Funding

The National Archives is funded by the Department of Culture

Archives

Collection

The collection consists mainly of the official records of the central government as well as some private and institutional archives of India. Some files up to 1947 are still closed due to political sensitivities. Otherwise, the 30 year rule applies and it is up to the originating agency to declassify records.

Holdings include files, volumes, manuscripts, maps, charts, etc and occupy over thirty kilometres of shelf space. There is a range of reference materials such as guides, catalogues, indexes and hand lists available to assist with accessing materials. However, it should be noted that the existence of these finding aids for government records does not necessarily indicate that the records are available. Up to 40 per cent of requests for records (especially those for the pre-1947 period) can be returned as ‘NT or Not Traceable’.

Private collections include the papers of some ministers of state, and key figures in Indian government and politics, including M. K. Gandhi, G. B. Pant, Jayakar, Rajendra Prasad, Sardar Patel, G. K. Gokhale and Dadabhai Naoroji. There is also a collection of Persian records including the Inayat Jang collection.

Some of the 19th Century and pre-1860 material has been microfilmed and is held at the National Archives with master negatives stored off-site for security at Bhopal. During the British period, duplicate files were created and most are held, however, there are some gaps in these series. Claims were made in 1975 for the former India Office and India Office Library materials and there was an exchange of records with United Kingdom. However, the microfilming project has been discontinued.

Library

Collection

This closed access collection supplements the record series and collections held in the National Archives of India and has been developed separately to the archives. There are many rare publications from the pre-1947 period, as well as published government reports and manuals, state settlement reports and gazettes. Some material in the collection is thought to be the only source available in India. For example, English translations of some Indian language newspapers, newspapers from the pre-independence period and Sanskrit material from the Fort William College. However, it should be noted that due to a paucity of funds this large and potentially useful collection suffers from a lack of control and preservation with many materials deteriorating. A card catalogue provides limited access to the collection by author and title only. The collection is classified by the Dewey Decimal System (DDC).

Staff

The National Archives employs over 500 staff. Many of whom have scientific qualifications as well as records management skills. Approximately 50 per cent of the staff hold a relevant qualification and many have worked in the institution for over 15 years.

Services

Services include photocopying, preservation, exhibitions and training. Up to 30 per cent of a document may be photocopied on request (carried out by NAI staff) and orders may be placed for transcriptions. However, visitors are not allowed to bring computer equipment such as laptop computers and scanners into the Archive.

The National Archive has its own preservation laboratory and file maintenance area which deals with the routine lamination and treatment of records. Efforts are made to make the collection dust and insect free as these have been recognised as the collection’s worst enemy. Fumigation chambers, presses and other assorted equipment is, in most cases, very old but still functional. Damage is treated and lamination (using acetone and cellulose acetate in a reversible process) and a strengthening procedure undertaken to protect records.

Regular thematic exhibitions are mounted by the Archives to promote various aspects of the collection. There is a designated Exhibitions Unit responsible for the organisation of exhibits and there are plans underway for an Archives Museum.

The National Archives conducts several training courses for archivists including: Masters and Diploma courses in Archival Studies, Certificate of Archives Administration, Records Management, Reprography, Care and Conservation of Books, Manuscripts and Archives and a course in the Servicing and Repair of Books.

Automation

Very few functions at the National Archives of India are automated.

Opening Hours and Access

Opening hours are from 9:00 am to 8:00 pm, Monday to Saturday. The NAI is closed Sundays and gazetted national holidays. All material in the archive which is open to Indian scholars is also open to foreign scholars. Access for scholars requires a letter of introduction from their agency and also a letter from their country’s diplomatic mission in Delhi. This must be supplied before arrival (at least 24 hours notice) along with a completed application form.

Publications

With the assistance of the UNESCO project, ‘Guide to the Sources of the History of Nations’ which began in 1959, the National Archives has published in six volumes, Guides to the Sources of Asian History and National Archives of India. The six volumes are: Guide to Records in the National Archives of India, vol. 1-2;

Guide to the Records in State and Union Territory Archives of India, vol. 3-5 and Directory of Custodial Institutions in India having Records and Manuscripts, vol. 6.

Documents Held by the Project


National Library of Bangladesh

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar
(Agargaon)
Dhaka 1207
BANGLADESH

Telephone: +880 2 313969, 326572
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s: Md. Shahabuddin Khan (Director)

Institution

Background / History

This institution is relatively new and is very small by some standards of a National Library. It was a relatively recently established branch of the National Library of Pakistan when independence saw it become a National Library. It has good relationships with a number of national Libraries including the Lenin Library in Moscow. It is also a member of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA).

Collections

The collection comprises 200,000 books and 200,000 bound volumes of serials. The budget for acquisitions is Tk. 2.5 million per year. The Library is a deposit library for all important Bangladeshi publications. There are collections in four languages, Bengali, English, Persian and Arabic.

Funding

The National Library funding comes entirely from the government.

Staff

There are 56 staff in the Library.

Services

There is no lending service. Post-graduate degree students must register to use the collection.

Automation

They hope to begin computerisation by March 1997 and a room has been prepared for this.

Opening Hours and Access

Contact library for details.

Publications

Regulation for the deposit of books has lead to the creation of the Bangladesh National Bibliography. The list for 1991 was published in 1994, but there does not appear to be any later edition.

Documents Held by the Project


National Library of India

Belvedere,

Alipore

Calcutta 700 027

India

Telephone: +91 4791381

Facsimile: +91 4791462

E-mail:

URL:

Contact Person/s: Dwarika N. Banerjee (Director)

Institution

Background / History

The National Library of India is the direct successor of the Imperial Library, founded in Calcutta when the city was the capital of British India.

The Library is housed in the residence of the British Viceroy and in an annex in the same grounds. Unfortunately the general condition of the building is poor as maintenance is difficult. A new building is due to be built and the Director believes it will be ready by the year 2000. The main building houses the huge humanities and social sciences reading room, together with the stacks. The annex contains a science reading room, the special collections and the rare books and manuscripts. Preservation is carried out in a separate building.

Funding

The National Library is funded by the Ministry of Culture. There is a perception amongst staff that it is inadequately funded and that it should, perhaps, come under the Human Resource Development Department.

Collection

The library is, in origin, very much a humanities/social science library. However, the Director stated that it now has a good collection in science and technology. It has a total of two million volumes, 78,000 maps, 97,000 microform and 15,500 periodicals. Under the Delivery of books act, the library is designated to receive a copy of every book published in India. In addition to the material acquired under the act, there is also an acquisitions program for foreign publications.

The rare books and manuscripts in the collection are kept in an air-conditioned strong room. The large Sir Asutosh Collection which covers law and many other subjects including literature and religion is treated as ‘a library within a library’ and has a separate catalogue.

Services

Loans are available for a deposit of the value of the book plus a premium of thirty percent. The deposit is refundable. Microfilms of some materials are available and there are microfilm readers in the rare book collection.

Automation

The Library has an automation program using software developed in-house. The program will begin with automating the circulation system and after that the catalogue will be computerized. While there did not appear to be any evidence of computerization in the present building, the Director believes that computerization would progress more quickly when the library had its new building.

Preservation

There is a preservation program, using the same methods used throughout India; fumigation, de-acidification by washing, lamination and binding. The staff is not large and the preservation efforts concentrate on the rare books and manuscript collection.

Opening Hours and Access

Access is available to all potential users who provide a letter of introduction from an approved officer of the Public Service. Overseas scholars should have a letter of introduction from their institution and contact their diplomatic mission in Delhi for a letter of support.

Publications

Indian national bibliography (INB). This is produced by a special bibliography division of the library. Note: the INB is dependent on the receipt of books under the Delivery of Books Act. The Director and Deputy Director estimated that they actually received between forty and sixty percent of the books published. Therefore, the recording of Indian books in the National Bibliography is not complete.

Documents Held by the Project


Parliament Library Reference Research Documentation & Information Service

108 Parliament House

New Delhi 110001

Telephone: +91 11 3034738

Facsimile: +91 11 3016495

E-mail:josephj@parlis.nic.in

URL: http://alfa.nic.in/

Contact Person/s: Mr John Joseph (Director)

Institution

Background / History

The Indian Parliament is comprised of the President and the two Houses, Lok Sabha (House of the People) and Rajya Sabha (Council of States). The Constitution of India came into force on January 26, 1950. The first general elections under the new Constitution were held during the year 1951 to 52 and the first elected Parliament first sat in April, 1952.

Members of the Lok Sabha are directly elected by the eligible voters. Members of the Rajya Sabha are elected by the elected members of State Assemblies in accordance with a system of proportional representation. The normal life of every Lok Sabha is five years but the Rajya Sabha is a permanent body.

Library

The Library service, administration and collection is spread across the main Parliamentary building and includes reading rooms, stacks and reference services. Library functions are also carried out in the Lok Sabha Secretariat annex and bungalows including administration, technical and processing operations and low use collection storage. (A new library building opposite the Parliamentary Annex is under construction and is due for occupation in 1999.)

Although the main building is pleasing to look at, it is very short of space with bookcases placed wherever than can be fitted, including island shelving arrangements. The main reading room is located on the ground floor of the main Parliament building immediately opposite the House. The library serves only the members of Indian Parliament and their staff.

Collection

The collection uses the Dewey Decimal classification (DDC) and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH) with a supplementary list of subject headings which have been devised in-house to accommodate local Parliamentary terms. The collection totals approximately 100,000 items with a heavy emphasis on reports of the Central and various Indian state governments. The library is also a repository for United Nations and allied agency publications and operates a number of exchanges with other Parliamentary and national libraries throughout the world. It is estimated that half of the collection is in English.

The collection consists of: over 200 newspaper titles which are predominantly Indian; large holdings of Indian government publications in both English and Hindi; press clippings from English language and Hindi newspapers and approximately 800 periodical titles of mostly Indian origin. Also included in the collection are extensive archival materials which include: photographs; audio visual material; personal objects of important political figures; the original Indian constitution and models of various parliaments of the world and state legislatures.

Staff

The Director is not a librarian but there are over 80 qualified library staff employed in the library. In total, there are over 160 library staff in the Library and Research Documentation Service.

Services

Services include loans to Members of Parliament and a reference and research service. The reference and research service is highly regarded and heavily utilized by members. An Inter-Library-Loan (ILL) service is available when an item cannot be located in the Lok Sabha collection however, the library does not make its collection available via Inter Library Loan.

Automation

Since 1991, LibSys has been used for collection control of English language materials and GIST technology is under consideration. The Lok Sabha has its own WWW site at http://alfa.nic.in/ which is maintained by three Library staff. The website is mounted on a UNIX platform using BASIS and dBase applications for databases and searching. Parliamentary debates are loaded onto the server within 3 to 4 days but the website can be somewhat unreliable in terms of the accuracy of its contents.

The Library co-ordinates computerisation for the whole Lok Sabha Secretariat. There are over 100 personal computers and three hundred terminals within the Secretariat as well as a laptop computer for every Member of Parliament. In addition, each Member is provided with remote access to databases, Internet, and ‘other important networks’.

The main information network within the parliament complex is the Parliament Library Information Service (PARLIS). The service is essentially a database containing various categories of information. It includes information on Parliamentary Proceedings, Bills, Debates, biographical data of the Members of the Lok Sabha from 1985; biographical data of Members of Rajya Sabha from 1986, Presidential Elections from 1952, library management functions, current awareness services, the library catalogue from 1992; a catalogue of books and periodicals received in the Parliament Library since 1992 and staff of the Lok Sabha Secretariat.

Opening Hours and Access

The Library is open between 10:00 am to 6:00 pm Monday to Friday. Access is restricted to Members of the Houses of Parliament and their staff. Bona fide scholars and researchers may apply for special permission to use the collection. However, this appears to be discretionary and cannot be guaranteed. Overseas scholars should obtain a letter of recommendation from their diplomatic mission in India and include a letter of introduction from their institution. Contact the library directly for further details.


State Central Library

Town Hall Building, Mumbai/Bombay 400 023
INDIA

Telephone:
Facsimile:
E-mail:
URL:

Contact Person/s: Mr Meshram

Institution

Background / History

The State Central Library is the Maharashtra state library.

Funding

Government of Maharashtra funds the State Central Library.

Library

The Library is located in the Town Hall, next to the Asiatic Society.

Collection

They have a large newspaper collection and display two hundred Indian newspapers each day. They also have a small reference collection but very few books.

Services

The library’s main service is the provision of newspapers for local consumption.

Automation

There are plans to automate in the future.

Opening Hours and Access

Open to the public Monday to Friday 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.


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Last updated 23 December 1998
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