Punajb University. PHOTO: http://pu.edu.pk/
LAHORE: The Punjab Information Technology Board, Information Technology University and the Punjab Archives and Libraries Department, in collaboration with Columbia University's Group for Experimental Methods in the Humanities, will hold a two-day seminar on Knowledge Architectures and Archives starting Monday.
A press release by PITB and ITU stated that the seminar will be held at the Arfa Software Technology Park and will be opened by Chairman PITB Dr Umar Saif along with Punjab Additional Chief Secretary Umar Rasool. It will feature prominent scholars and historians such as Dennis Tenen from Columbia University, Durba Mitra from Harvard University and Ryan Perkins from Stanford University among others.
For the past one year, efforts are being made to completely digitize the Punjab archives. This will open up a treasure trove of information regarding the history of our region, enabling historians worldwide to conduct research.
The press release added that the seminar will bring together scholars from the world's leading universities for two days of discussion, deliberation and action on the nature and role of knowledge in the modern world, the importance and use of archives, and the application of technology in bringing together different strands of knowledge and information.
It will be the curtain raiser for the Digitization of the Punjab Archives project which aims to open this great repository for greater public use, stated the press release. This project will enhance knowledge of our past, enabling scholars to engage with more local sources, and boasting research in Pakistan.
The Punjab Archives are one of the largest archives in South Asia, and span a period of over three hundred years with documents ranging from the British India, to Princely India, Afghanistan, the Persian Gulf, Nepal, Central Asia and China.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2018.
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