PRESERVING HISTORY ONE CLICK AT A TIME

Launched as an effort to digitally preserve the accumulated wisdom of Punjab, the land of five rivers, an NGO based in Chandigarh has digitised millions of manuscripts, photographs, maps and books over 16 years, reports Harpreet Bajwa

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A click of a button is now enough to explore centuries of Punjab’s history, thanks to the Panjab Digital Library (PDL), which has digitised millions of manuscripts, maps, books, and photographs over the past 16 years. Since its establishment in 2009, the initiative has aimed to locate, collect, digitise, preserve, and make accessible the accumulated wisdom of the Punjab region.

More than 1.2 million people have reportedly benefitted from free access to PDL's data, both online and offline. Approximately 50,000 users, including scholars, researchers, students, and members of the general public, visit the website each month. A new version of the site is expected to go live next month, further expanding access.

Talking to this newspaper, Davinder Pal Singh, founder of Panjab Digital Library, said: “Approximately 95 million digital files of manuscripts, books, official files, maps, newspapers, magazines, and dairies which relate information regarding the history of Punjab have been digitised to date. The organisation will touch the 100 million pages digitised mark by the end of this year, thus making it the biggest resource on Punjab in the world.”

PDL has digitised collections from 25 major institutional libraries, including the Government Museum and Art Gallery in Chandigarh, Kurukshetra University Library, the Punjab Languages Department, Chief Khalsa Diwan in Amritsar, the Library of Shiromani Gurdwara Parbandhak Committee (SGPC), the Delhi Sikh Gurdwara Management Committee (DSGMC), the Punjab Archives Department, and the Punjab Vidhan Sabha.