Panjab Digital Library: Revealing the Invisible Heritage of Panjab

By the grace of Guru Nanak Sahib, PDL began operations in 2003 as a small organization tasked with a gigantic mission. Starting with one agenda, one desktop, and one employee, PDL has come a long way since.

The project emerged from the concerns shared by a group of individuals for the fast-disappearing or already-lost heritage of Sikhs and Panjab. In many such cases, valuable material, rare literature, architecture and signs of much celebrated memories were completely destroyed, whether by ageing, accident or human aggression. Despite these losses, it was clear there was still a lot left that worth saving. This vision of preservation was the primary motivation for the project. After much deliberation and brainstorming, the project was established with a focus on archiving the endangered invaluable manuscripts and other literature to conserve and defend the heritage, culture and language of the Panjab state. 

A typical digitization project, even on a small scale, requires a big budget by any conservative estimate. Without any initial infrastructure, expertise or funds to support the project, PDL somehow not only survived, but excelled through sheer motivation and concern for the heritage.

PDL went through rigorous research and ground work initially to establish commonalities and fix mutual priorities. With each passing day the organization grew in skill, talent, experience and number. The budding library acquired equipment, and skills in preservation, digitization, data management and archiving. Projects around the globe were closely studied to build an understanding of what would be needed to establish a successful digitization project. Internationally recognized benchmarks were referred to and complied with. In the process, the organization also created benchmarks and documentation relevant to the realities of South-Asia that conformed to the international standards.

With increased expertise, efficiency and indigenous development of equipment, PDL has marked numerous milestones and seen exponential growth in terms of digitization output and resources. We continue to research ways to reduce operational costs, and increase digitization throughput and work quality while creating successful low cost models to emulate and make digital preservation a viable option for heritage preservation.

PDL seeks to promote a entirely new culture of awareness, where the masses contribute to the safeguarding of old texts. Come and be a part of the growing revolution.

Official Website: Panjab Digital Library: Revealing the Invisible Heritage of Panjab