Blending New with Old – A Heritage library re-lived

Christina Birdie

International conference on Library space and content management for networked society,(IC.LISCOM- 2014) 18-20 oct.2014 DVK central library, Dharmaram Vidya Kshetram, Bangalore

Indian Institute of Astrophysics traces its origin to Madras Observatory (1786) which was shifted to Kodaikanal (1899) and subsequently established in Bangalore (1975).

A glance of history

An early manuscript confirming the establishment in 1786

IIA celebrated Bi-centennial in 1986

Madras Observatory

•Beginning of Madras observatory- private building

•Regular Observatory @ Madras

•Existence of Library catalog

•Library Collections @ Madras Observatory

Kodaikanal Observatory•Shifting from Madras to Kodaikanal- Library When it was decided to shift the observatory @ Madras to Kodaikanal in 1899, the shifting operation was carefully planned as it was a difficult task those days to carry out the operation by road, especially in the ghat roads all the equipments and essential items including the library collection. According to Michie-smith, then director of Kodiakanal, As it was necessary that the books and instruments which had to be transferred from Madras, should be sent up the ghat in the dry weather, packing was begun in December, and by the end of March most of the cases- more than 1000 coolie loads- had reached Kodaikanal. All the cases of books were received before the rain began, and on the whole the removal has been effected with remarkably little damage considering the difficulties that had to be overcome.’

•Beginning of Kodaikanal Observatory – Library Collection in the library include books & journals bought, received on gratis and those publications received on exchange. Which were housed in Director’s house until the library building was ready to be used.

•Observatory publications – an important library collection

Spectro building @ Kodaikanal 1911

Painting of Kodaikanal observatory ( 1909) by unknown artist – IIA archives

A Potential Heritage Library @ Kodaikanal

This library building at Kodaikanal is a single floor built to accommodate the library collection as well as the reading space.

The stack room consists of shelves reaching to the floor from the bottom

This library also housed the glass plates containing the recorded observations of Sun and other important celestial objects for more than 100 years. They are carefully stacked in wooden cupboards, with acid-free envelopes as protecting covers.

Frontview of Kodaikanal library building

Old binding section @ Kodaikanal

In 1901, a binding section was attached to the library and a ‘book-binder’ and a ‘book-binder’s boy’ were appointed. The bound volumes of books and journals which are stacked on the shelves in the above image stand a testimony to the existence of a binding section attached to the library those days.

Better utility

•Library with a difference

•Library for meetings and discussions

•Library housing inherited antiquities

•Many important discoveries and findings are recorded using these instruments, both from Madras and Kodaikanal observatories. The library is a host to this inherited collection along with the observational records in the form of catalogs and calibrated charts. There are continuous volumes of hand-written observational data sheets bound together for more than 30 years are available in the library, which are unpublished. Some old antique Maps are part of the collection, which are published under the supervision of the Society for the diffusion of Useful knowledge (SDUK)

The old astronomical instruments used for astronomical observations and technical work acquired and indigenously built by the observatory from 18th century are important collection stored in the library and archives space at Kodaikanal

Kodaikanal observatory library- extension as museum & archives

The Library catalogue prepared in the year 1893, and the subsequent one list, more than 300 rare books published in the 18th century, and some of them are already out of print. This catalogue also lists 60 manuscripts written by hand which are in good condition. Until recently, most of these volumes and manuscripts were maintained in the Kodaikanal library, as the climate at the hill station was conducive to the old items in natural environment. Very limited intervention was required to conserve these books and manuscripts, like minimum repair and re-binding which was essential, so that those volumes could be re-used. Many of the old astronomical instruments and photographs are kept at Kodaikanal in the astronomy museum , closer to the library . This museum also serves as a science center with activity experiments in astronomy.

Old Transit circles @ Kodiakanal Museum

Major shift to Bangalore – Technology embraced

When the decision was taken to shift the institute to Bangalore in the year 1975, the library was the first to be transferred with books and journals packed neatly with organized labeling as finding aids, for re-shelving in the Bangalore library in many installments.

The collection which was sent in the year 1976, initially was stacked in a large room in the administrative building as the main library was getting ready. In the year 1978, the library was established in the present location at Bangalore.

Library Collection, Library Furniture, Library staff

Front view of the library building @Bangalore

IIA main library hall reading space & compact shelves

Moving from card catalog to on-line catalog

Around 1980s it was decided to automate the library, its contents and activities. Initially library data base( app. 7600 books) was created using CDS/ISIS which was a free integrated library software distributed by UNESCO. Later, when LIBSYS was acquired for the library, the already existing database was exported into LIBSYS by retrospective conversion. Efforts were made to have a complete catalog of all the books available in the library and the Libsys software facilitated this to build up an on-line library catalog in place in the year 1991. IIA library acquired different versions of Libsys software over the years and the present client version running in Linux is used extensively. The journal holding database was created and integrated into Libsys as another database for search & retrieval. In the same way, the research output of the faculty & students , in the form of papers published in refereed journals were accumulated to make another data base and integrated into Libsys.

Main library & Branch libraries of IIA

These branch libraries posses some of the important astronomy books, catalogs and star charts along with important journals which are the additional copies subscribed for those observatory libraries. The library buildings at different locations are designed very simple and serve the purpose for storing the collection meant for observatories mainly. All these branch libraries are controlled remotely from Bangalore main library. Around 1980s it was decided to automate the library, its contents and activities. Initially library data base( app. 7600 books) was created using CDS/ISIS which was a free integrated software.

From Print to Online – contents in different format

• Print journals to Electronic journals• Print catalogs to online catalogs• Print Books to Electronic Books

- Print library to Online library

- Bound Volumes to Articles Online - Pre-prints to IR repositories - ISBN/ISSN to IP numbers - Data centric library - bibliographic data to VO data - tables of data in microforms to online -digital files - overlay charts and plates to digital sky survey - Collaborative library - individual library to consortium partners - individual bargaining to collective bargaining

Connecting with the past

In the last 5 years concerted efforts are made to review the main collection at Bangalore library and Kodaikanal library and it was decided to segregate the historical collection from the main collection, which gave birth to setting up an archive at Bangalore. This archive contain special collection of IIA, in different formats, such as manuscripts, photographs, maps, films, awards, framed materials, hand-drawn sketches, pictures and instruments. Most of these items are of historical importance and environmentally sensitive. IIA library has taken the responsibility of arranging these items systematically contents wise taking appropriate care to meet the storage specifications. The preservation process involves cleaning, fumigation, repair and rebinding. Some of the old hand-written manuscripts and scientific data sheets required photo-laming and an encapsulation process to retain the originality and at the same time to give reinforcement, thus adopting the principle of reversible process. A reference library of the archival material has been created in digital form, accessible from the IIA Open Access repository (http://prints.iiap.res.in). This OA repository is one of its kind to accommodate the historical contents, which are used by the astronomers for current research, thus connecting with the past. This repository has drawn the attention of many researchers and historians in the country and out side the country to explore the rare historical contents which are uploaded regularly. It is considered as an invaluable resource which has enhanced the heritage nature of the observatory and its contents.

Swalpa Adjust Maadi- Space Planning?????

-Because of space crunch?

-Because of changed content?

-Because of clientele/users?

-Because of diminishing funds?

What are we looking for in Library Space Planning & content management in networked society