Rare manuscript, textile from Northeast holed up in museums abroad

Times of India, 25 Sep 2007

GUWAHATI: A number of objects from Northeast India, much more ancient than Mahatma Gandhi's handwritten letter recently recovered from a British auction, are preserved in museums and private possessions in Europe and Southeast Asian countries, researchers have claimed.

Samiran Baruah, a researcher in the Assam State Museum says manuscripts of Brahmabaibhatta Purana belonging to the 18th century is in the British Museum.

" Vrindavani Vastra -- the figured silks from Assam -- from the 16th-18th century are found preserved in the British Museum, Chepstow museum in UK and Gemau Museum in France," he told reporters.

Sachipath Puthi (manuscript book) is occupying a place in British Museum.

Vrindavani Vastra are rare silk textile fragments depicting scenes from the life of Lord Krishna in a floral, naturalistic and preciously elegant style. They were used in the worship of Vishnu in the ancient Assamese monasteries.

Baruah had earlier documented 33 manuscripts including 3,000 paintings scattered in many satras (Vaishnavite monasteries) in Assam.

"Probably during the British rule, researchers found these objects and took them to their country," claims Baruah.

On the Vrindavani Vastra , belonging to the times of Assamese Vaishnavite saint Srimanta Sankaradeva, Baruah cited the findings by Rosemary Crill, author and a curator in the Indian Department at London's Victoria and Albert Museum.

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XXVI All India IASLIC Conference at Jamia Millia, Delhi, 26-29 Dec, 2007. gayas_makhdumi@yahoo.co.in gm@yahoo.co.in

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"Professor Sarla Murgai came to the university from Chattanooga City College in 1969 when it was absorbed into UTC as a result of the UT/UC merger that year. She had been with the City College for a year, and when she came to UTC the library was in Fletcher Hall. Over the years she has worked for four different library deans, and two interim library heads. She notes that every Dean brought a different personality and perspective, view, and vision to the library and the campus, as well as to librarianship and campus goals."

"She once served as Head of Circulation, and was in that position when the university converted its catalog to the online VTLS system in the early 1980s. The biggest changes she’s seen in her thirty-six years at UTC have been the move to the new library building in 1974, the digitization of records, automation of circulation and reference databases, and the acquisition of over one hundred databases. Prior to coming to the United States, Dr. Murgai was teaching Library Science at the Women’s Polytechnic in Delhi, India. She had received her first library science degree from the University of Delhi, and received another from Atlanta University. She also received certification in medical librarianship from Emory University in Atlanta. UTC and Lupton Library has benefited from having Dr. Murgai serve the campus community in Lupton Library!" [ source ]
She completed her Ed.D. degree in Education from UTK in 1987. More about Sarla Murgai is on her Web site and at the Faculty profile

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Library ditches microfilm in favour of RIAs

By: Briony Smith
ComputerWorld Canada (30 Aug 2007)
Nestled up in the northern interior of British Columbia, even the small town of Terrace isn’t untouched by the rich Internet applications trend — the local public library has recently recreated its newspaper archiving system into a digital version that’s getting rave reviews. continue reading

Eleanor Muehle Newspaper Archive

When Willings Multimedia needed help building an interactive web-based library for the Terrace Public Library in British Columbia, Canada, they contacted Integration New Media (INM). The two companies worked together to build the “Eleanor Muehle Newspaper Archive”, a dynamic and interactive web application that allows users of all ages and technical capabilities to search through and read newspapers online.