Ulloor Digital Archives: Project Report

Abstract(s)

A Project proposal on establishing Ulloor Digital Archives at Mahakavi Ulloor Memorial Library and Research Institute (UMRI) in Kerala, India. The objectives of the project will be to use ICT to conserve the manuscripts and heritage items related to Mahakavi Ulloor S. Parameswara Iyer, the great scholar who dominated the literary and cultural life of Kerala for nearly half a century. His unique personal collection of rare books, journals and manuscripts which formed the main source of research for works like his magnum opus the monumental history of Malayalam literature (Malayala Sahithya Charitram), comparable to the Cambridge History of English Literature is presently maintained by UMRI. This will form the base of the Ulloor Digital Archives. The report recommends the publication in electronic form selected rare books and journals available in the institute, and digital audio of the recitation of his poems and the establishment of the total collection as an Open Archives accessible through the web. Through this programme UMRI will be able to bring into focus in the hearts of the people the life and work of the scholar saint who has devoted himself to Malayalam language and literature. The goal of the proposed digital archiving program is to offer broad public access to the complete works of Mahakavi Ulloor and a wide range of rare and antique literary historical and cultural documents that came from his personal collection; as a contribution to education and research.