Digital library
TIRUMALA TIRUPATI Devasthanam is all set to flag off the Chennai wing of its digital library at its premises on Venkatanarayana Road. The library would enable devotees and the public to download books available at the digital bank, free of cost.
"This feature of the TTD was first undertaken by Sri Venkateswara Digital Library (SVDL) at Tirupati and Bangalore, and 14,000 books have already been digitised there," says M.K. Venkateswara Varma, Assistant Executive Officer, TTD Information Centre, Chennai. "Other centres commissioned by TTD for working on the project are through with 90,000 more books," he informs.
TTD's digitisation effort is under a national project with support from the Ministry of Communication, Information Technology and Ministry of Culture. "Our plan is to put in a million books. When the Chennai chapter begins work, we expect the public to make this Herculean task worthwhile. This is a free service that we want people to benefit," says Varma.
Religion, science, culture, politics, astrology, healthcare, history, sports, literature, medicine... the customer can download his pick in any language on any topic. "Our effort should help people in the long run as old books will soon be away from the scene. How many books can you re-bind and how do you protect them from termites? Going digital is not just of national interest — it is global. It is a way of preserving print for posterity," reiterate the authorities. TTD requests the public to lend books for the extension programme. Books for digitisation could be handed over at the Information Centre on Venkatanarayana Road, which will be returned to the owner, "without damage."
* Books printed prior to 1980 or thereafter could also be digitised and scanned in the latest technology, without being cut or the binding being disturbed.
* SOA copy on CD can also be made available to the contributor.
The digital library will be commissioned in the city by the Executive Officer - TTD, Mr. Ajaya Kallam, on September 14.
For more details call 24346219 / 24343535.
RANJANI GOVIND
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