Dear LIS professionals, Some of you may find the report interesting... Regards, Anand General Secretary, Karnataka State Library Association _____________________________________________________________ Monthly meetings of library professionals to meet, engage in discussions with colleagues and others in related fields, have been a feature of KALA in its illustrious past, especially so when it was known as MYLA. So there could not have been a more appropriate theme to start off the monthly meeting series of KALA in 2009 than a talk by Dr. Indira Chowdhury , a Consultant Archivist and Historian, who spoke on "Institutional Archives and the Writing of Contemporary History' at the Institute of Information Studies on Saturday April 25th at 6 p.m. Dr. Chowdhury has a PhD in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies in London. She has published two books and been involved in compiling the Supplement of Indian English words published in the Oxford Advanced Learners' Dictionary. More recently she has been a Consultant Archivist for many institutions throughout India, including IIT, Kanpur, Naandi, Hyderabad and Reddy's laboratory, Hyderabad Memories of the past are usually the prerogative of the older generation. But such memories are prone to lapses and even embellishment with the passage of time. At the same time the value and significance of information from the past cannot be ignored. Therefore archiving as an art and science has come into the forefront and many institutions, communities and families see the critical need to preserve, document, and disseminate an accurate account of the past. In Bangalore, a number of institutions are approaching or have attained a wise old age. Many of them have already put into place an archiving programme. Last year, the Institute of Astrophysics held a Seminar on the various facets of archiving. Dr. Chowdhury has been responsible for setting up the Archives of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Science in Mumbai. In her well-thought out and excellently presented talk she traced the process and progress of this venture and raised several key questions. What are the resources that contemporary history can draw upon to recapture the environment in which a particular institution was born? How crucial are the social, political and economic factors prevalent at the time? What is the role of an individual or a group of individuals who bring about the establishment of an institution? In creating an archival history, how much is shaped by the narcissism of the institution? In uncovering the past, many unknown facts emerge , some of which may run counter to popular knowledge. There are also issues of how deep to dig! Dissemination of archival information to the public is an important part of archiving. Frequent exhibitions and displays bring up more memories and possible additions to the archival collection. We were also treated to vintage photographs and oral clips from the TIFR Archives. Dr. Chowdhury mentioned that she found herself at a disadvantage by not being a librarian. However it was clear from her presentation that she had brought in the best practices a librarian is capable of. In fact, there was much for us to learn and take back to our institutions at the end of the talk. We are fortunate that she now resides in Bangalore and is accessible to us as a consultant. Prof. Neelameghan graced the occasion and had pertinent questions for the speaker. He also shared his experience of working on the S.R. Ranganathan Archives. The evening ended with a vote of thanks proposed by Mrs. Gayatri Sen. _____________________________________ Report Prepared by: Mrs. Usha Mukunda -----Original Message----- From: Byrappa, Ananda (GE, Research) Sent: Wednesday, April 22, 2009 11:18 AM To: 'lis-forum@ncsi.iisc.ernet.in' Subject: Lecture on "Institutional Archives and the Writing of Contemporary History" at SRELS, Bangalore on 25 th April at 6.00 p.m Dear All, You are cordially invited to attend the following lecture organized by Karnataka State Library Association and SRELS. TOPIC: Institutional Archives and the Writing of Contemporary History SPEAKER: Mrs. Indira Chowdhury PLACE: Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science (SRELS) 702, 'Upstairs', 42nd Cross, III Block Rajajinagar, Bangalore - 560 010 DATE & TIME: Saturday April 25, 2009 at 6.00 p.m. ABOUT THE LECTURE: In this presentation, Speaker shall be drawing on her recent experience in setting up the Archives of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Science in Mumbai and focus on the factors that shape the writing of contemporary history. What are the resources that contemporary history can draw on to rediscover and document the environment in which particular events took place in the not too distant past? While setting up the Archives of the Institute Homi Bhabha built, it soon became clear that examining just the annual reports and technical papers were insufficient to understand the historical circumstances that gave birth to the Institute two years before Indian independence. What resources could then be used in understanding, accessing and assessing the influence of the environment on this particular formation? What kind of institution did Homi Bhabha, whose centenary year this is, aim to create when he set up TIFR? And finally, how does a historian tap into other kinds of resources to face the challenges that any institutional archives presents? These are some of the questions that this presentation will address. ABOUT THE SPEAKER: Indira Chowdhury was formerly Professor of English at Jadavpur University, Kolkata. A PhD in History from the School of Oriental and African Studies, London, her book The Frail Hero and Virile History (OUP, 1998) was awarded the Tagore Prize (Rabindra Puraskar) in 2000. Also interested in lexicography she also compiled the Supplement of Indian English words published in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary in 1995. In 2004, she published The First Promise - a translation of a major Bengali novel into English. She is based in Bangalore where she has set up Archival Resources for Contemporary History a Consultancy service for Institutions, families and communities. She is a Consultant Archivist for several institutions among them, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, IIT Kanpur, Naandi, Hyderabad and Dr Reddy's Laboratory, Hyderabad. Thanks, Anand Ananda T.Byrappa General Secretary Karnataka State Library Association -- This message has been scanned for viruses and dangerous content by MailScanner, and is believed to be clean.