Aim of the Workshop

This National Workshop is organized jointly by the Indian Institute of Astrophysics (IIA), the Indian Institute of Science (IISc) and the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (TIFR) in order to focus on ways of preserving our historical and scientific heritage through the creation of institutional archives.

Institutions of modern science were established in India during the colonial period. Many of these institutions have survived and flourished for more than 100 years. As such institutions grow older and reach new milestones, they are faced with the responsibility of preserving their unique legacies through their historical archives. The archival material that science institutions have is of special interest as they record ways of doing science in India. This workshop with its panel of experts will emphasize the ways in which the historical records of an institution can be preserved and made available for dissemination and scholarly use. Through the exchange of best work practices and insights, the workshop will provide the librarians and archivists with a framework and a list of guidelines, which can help them to plan and execute the process of setting up of an archive within their organization. This workshop also hopes to draw the attention of policy makers to the need for setting up science archives in India.

Topics:


Collection of heritage material
Conservation procedures
Factors causing deterioration
Preventive and curative conservation
Acidity management
Storage specifications
Environmental factors
Disaster management
Preservation of hand-written manuscripts
Copyright issues