Proceedings of the National Conference on

Innovative Library Services in Digital Era

SALIS 2012

19 - 21, January 2012

Editors

Dr. S. SuriyanarayananMs.A.Chitra Dhavaputhalvi

Dr. S. MuralidharDr. J. Dominic

Editorial Assistance

Dr. M.TamizhchelvanDr.A. M.VenkatachalamMr.K. Karunai Raghavan

Dr.A.L. Bathrinarayan.

Organized by

Central Library

Dr. Mahalingam College of Engineering and Technology

(An Autonomous Institution)Udumalai Road, Pollachi - 642 003, Tamil Nadu.

Jointly with

Society for the Advancement of Library and Information Science(SALIS)

2012

T'he Digitization of Palmleaf ManuscriptsNarenthiran. R

Librarian, French histitute of Pondicherry, # 11 Saint Louis Street, Pondicherty - 605 001

Saravanan G

Librarian, French histitute of Pondlcherry, # 11 Saint Louis Street" Pondicheriy - 605 001

, ' ' Ramanujam K ,

Librarian, French histitute ofPondicherry, # 11 Saint Louis Street; Pondicherry -,605001

Abstract

Manuscripts are the primary sources for oriental language research. This paper presents digitization as ameans of preservation of manuscripts. It discusses the digital processing and various methods and formatsof preservation of Manuscripts, A complete overview of digitization process has also been explained,

Keywords: Digitization. Digital process, Digital Preservation, Preservation of Manuscripts

Introduction

Recent advances in the information world have transformed the role of libraries in disseminating informationto their users. Increase in the number of users and their different needs have made the manuscripts librariesapply new technology. Asa result of this there is a worldwide need and trend to plan, collect, organize,manage, protect and distribute information in digital form.Generally digitization refers to the conversion of an item-be it printed text, manuscript, image or sound,film and video recording-from one format (usually print or analogue) into digital. The process basicallyinvolves taking a physical object and essentially making an "electronic photograph" of it. An image of thephysical object is captured-using a scanner or digital camera -and converted to digital format that can bestored electronically and accessed via computer. Digitization is the "process of transforming analog materialinto binary electronic (digital) form, especially for storage and use in a computer" (Pearce-Moses, 2005).Numerous terms are used by authors to denote the concept of digital libraries such as Electronic library,online library, Polyglot library, Desktop library, library without walls, Virtual library, etc. Of the numerousterms digital library is very popular among scholars. Digital Library is heterogeneous in nature and coverswork related to information and how to digitize, link, store, visualize, frod,.use, and management of sharinginformation. With the help of information technology digital library provides instant access to digitizedinformation. Electronic library based on digitized data is text replacing the paper based records and that iswhy with the help of networking, one can have access to resources round the clock The advantages include

'resource sharing arid data 'transmissionin minimalduration. ' -

Manuscripts: Anything written by hand in some specific langriage.

Palm Leaf ManuscriptsBefore the advent of paper, palm leaf was by far the most important writing material in almost all of Southand Southeast Asian countries.

Fig. 1$outh and South EasfAsi~m'Couhtries Map

National Conference on Innovative Library Services in Digital Era, 2012, Dr.MCET, Pollachi.

Palm-leaves were dried, boiled in water for a few hours, and then dried again. The leaves were cut to size,according to need. This was the general method but slightly different processes for preparing the leaveswere undoubtedly developed in different parts of the region.

Palm-leaves are long but narrow. Sometimes tWo or more leaves were stitched together to give a broaderwriting surface. (See Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Bundle of Manuscripts stitched together

For writing on palm-leaves, either a pointed metal stylus was employed to incise letters and illustrations onthe leaves or pen and ink were used to write on the leaves, as is done on paper. To bind leaves of amanuscript, holes were punched in the centre of the leaves or on either side of them, and cords passedthrough them to keep the -leavestogether. The manuscripts were placed betWeen stiff boards, generally ofwood, sometimes decorated by a carving or painting.

As time passed, palm leaf became brittle and got easily broken even when bent only slightly this happensespecially when the atmospheric conditions are very dry. Insects inflict heavy damage on palm leaves (SeeFig. 3), probably much more than on paper Fumigation with vapor type of insecticides and application ofinsecticides solutions are efficacious remedies.

Fig. 3 various insects inflicting damage to palm leaves

Brittle palm leaf manuscripts should be stored in small boxes so that their handling is minimized. If theleaf is too weak and has lost all its strength, a laboratory must be consulted for its treatment. Flexibility ofpalm leaf is restored to a certain extent by the application of citronella oiVlemon gross oil.

The most delicate part of the palm leaf is the edge. In most cases, it is damaged by handling (Fig. 4).

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The Digitization of Palmleaf Manuscripts

Fig. 4 Broken Edges of Palm Leaf Manuscripts

It is therefore, necessary that the leaves be always stored between two stifIboards, slightly larger in sizethan the leaves, as was the custom in ancient times. In order to avoid frequent handling, it is wise to havemicrofilms or digitization of the manuscripts.

Need for Digitization

Digitization provides a solution to palm leaf manuscripts problems such as conservation, preservation,accessibility, space. The first and most vital reason for being that the stored materials and documentsstarted deteriorating after a certain period of time at a rapid rate. In spite of our best efforts it is not possibleto preserve them in natural and original form.

Techniques

The basic process of digitization is fairly simple through a wide range of sophisticated techniques andtools. Essentially, a digital image is composed of a grid of pixels (picture elements) arranged according toa set ratio of rows and columns. Each pixel, represents a very small portion of the image, and is allocateda tonal value; namely, black, white or a particular colour or shade of gray. These total values are digitallyrepresented in binary code (zeros or ones). So a digital image is actually a grid made up of zeros and ones.The binary digits for each pixel are called bits and are stored in a sequence. When the digital image isdisplayed on a computer screen or sent to a printer, the bits are interpreted and read by the computer toproduce a physical representation of the original material.

Scanning

Capturing a digital image is known as scanning. Image resolution i.e. the number of pixels in a row andcolour depths determine the quality of the scanning. Flatbed scanners are the most familiar means ofdigitization. This type of scanners is comparatively inexpensive but it will not useful for palm leaf.manuscripts as of various sizes of folio and many are not flat against the glass, finally and most importantaspect is use of harsh white light, possibly damaging to delicate palmleaf manuscripts.

Digital Cameras

Digital cameras are designed specifically for the making of computer images as a result digital camerasretain the strengths of scanners, and can work without damaging manuscripts and can work with differentshape and size of manuscripts under various required lights. In addition we can make. images of very highresolution and improve colour qualities of images. However comparatively expensive to setup a fullsophisticated image capture station

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Nathm!.l Ccerfelleiiceon Innovative Library Sellilices bl Digital Era, 2012, Dr.MCET, Pollachi.

["Heformat

A related issue with reference to images is the file format for storing image data. Images are represented hya set of numerical values specifying the colours ('f individual pixels.

The number of possible values that may be assigned to pixels varies with the format selected for imagerepresentation and data storage. There are hundreds of image file formats. Table I summarizes the qualitiesof the common formats, which are portable across various platforms.

Table-I - Various types of File Formats

Pixels

Often referred to as dot, as in dots per inch, 'Pixels' is short for picture elements, which make up an image,similar to grains in photography. The range of values each dot (or pixels) can have is called the pixel depth,or the image depth.

Accordingly, a computer image can be varied in two ways

OJ One can increase or decrease the number of dots, or pixels, in the image.

One can increase or decrease the pixel depth that is the range of values each pixel can have.Q

dpi

The term 'dpi' or dots per inch is used to measure the number of pixels in the computer image relative toeach linear inch, horizontally or vertically, of the original object will be represented by 100 pixels. Everysquare inch of the object is represented.by 100 pixels vertically, have making a square containing to, 000pixels in the computer image:

Optical Character Recognition

Another technology involved in digitization is optical Character Recognition of OCR. The usual process bywhich a page image is transformed into a text file is OCR. The purpose of the whole OCR process is torecognize the letters, words, and symbols printed on a paged. Presently, there is a wide range of commercialOCR software in use. There is no proven OCR software to handle Indian language texts. Today, if Indianlanguage materials have to be digitized there are two options- maintain the files as digital images ormanually key in the material.

Markup

To make it possible to send and receive digital documents across various networks, independent of anyspecial hardware or software platfom1, and to take full advantage of the format, conformance to somestandards is required.

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Format Encoding Compression Quality Portability Origin

GIF (Graphic Inter Binary LZW 8 bitsMac/PC/

CompuServeChange Format) UNIXJPEG/JFIF Joint Mac/PC/

C-Cube

Photographic Binary RLE & JPEG 24 bitsUNIX

Micro-Expert Group svstems

TIFF BinaryCCITT Gr. 3 &4 24 bits

Mac/PC/ ALDUS &LZW.RLE, JPEG UNIX Microsoft

PDFASCII & None recently 32 bits

Platform AdobeBinary added JPEG Independent system

The Digitization of Palmleaf Manuscripts

An electronic document has no inherent structure other than that of linear character/byte string. Thereforeif parts of the document have to be made identifiable, conventions must be established. For example,tagging may be used to designate special parts of the text. Tagging consists of inserting into electronicdocuments short character strings called tags; which indicates the start or end of a part of the documentThe tags foUndin an electronicdocunientare collectivelyreferredto as Markup .

The three most commonly known markup languag~s are: .

. SGML ~Standard Generalised Markup Language.. . HTML-HypertextMarkupLanguage. .. XML-Extensible Markup Language.Md~ata . . .

A digitized product that is to be put up on the Web needs information that makes it possible to be located.One of the principal challenges is to determine what information is essential for describing an electronicproduct .'

The Dublin Core (see http://purl.oclc.org/metadata/dublin_corel) and other special initiatives for structuringand standardizing descriptive data propose to combine information about the technical characteristics ofdigital files (how they were' created), their location, and a summary of their contents. The resultinginformation is known as "Metadata" and is located in the header of a tagged document Their function is toprovide users with a standardized means for intellectual access to digitized materials.

PDF

Another alternative to tagging is the use of a proprietary format such as Adobe Portable Document Format(PDF) which is the open de-facto standard for electronic document distribution worldwide. Consisting of apackage of software, PDF can handle scanning and structuring both of text and images. Adobe PDF is auniversal file format that preserves all of the fonts, formatting, colours, and graphics of any source document,regardless of the application and platform used to create it PDF files are compact and can be shared,viewed, navigated and printed exactly as intended by anyone with a free Adobe Acrobat Reader.

Factors Relating to Digitization Palmleaf Manuscripts. . Needs expertise in digitization and knowledge of manuscriptology. Difficulty in ~ccessibility of rare and valuable manuscripts. Funds ".. Ownership' .. Coordination in work. Protecting the IPR

Disadvantages of Digitization of Palmleaf Manuscripts. Storage of files this size is expensive. . Method of handling manuscripts skill is need.. Time

. Manipulations of images of this files is difficult. Lack of Standards

. There are many different graphics files formats and compression schemes

. Indologists always prefer to use original manuscripts

Advantages of Digitization of Palm leaf Manuscripts. Digital images will not decay in storage, if properly refreshed.

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National Conference on Innovative Library Services in Digital Era, 2012, Dr.MCET, Pollachi.

. Digital images will not decay in copying

Digital images will not decay in use.

.Digital images may be located and download almost instantly

Digital images can be distrIbuted far more inexpensively

.Conclusion

Taken together, these advantages are. felt so keenly by scholars that that there is likely to be continuingpressure for the making of digital images of palmleaf manuscripts. Palmleaf manuscripts are spread indifferent libraries, Museums, Temples and Mutts, Monasteries, academic institutions and private collection.This rich wealth ofIndia today faces a threat of survival. However with the advent of UNESCO Memory ofthe World Program, NMM National Mission Manuscripts (2003) and many foundations trying to save thisinvaluable cultural heritage of India

References

1. Agrawal, O.P. (1997). Conservation of books, manuscripts and paper documents. Lucknow: lNTACH,ICC!.

2. CALIBER (2009). E-content Management: Challenges and strategies. Editors Jagadish Arora.Ahmedabad: INFLffiNET.

3. Chowdhury, GG & Chowdhury Sudatta. (2003). Introduction to digital libraries.

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