All set to digitise Punjab’s rare historical archives

Records will include undisclosed documents such as manifesto and death sentence order of Bhagat Singh

LAHORE: Digitising historical archives of Punjab will open up a treasure trove of historical records for academia and historians worldwide for research.

This was said by Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB) Chairperson Dr Umar Saif on Monday. He was addressing a seminar titled “Knowledge of Architectures and Archives.” PITB and ITU are collaborating with the Punjab Archives and Libraries Department and Columbia University's Group for Experimental Methods in Humanities for digitising paper-based archives.

Umar Saif said, “We are opening up our centuries old archives to the world, which were limited in accessibility because those were being saved using traditional ways. Now, through the use of technology and recommendations of the participating experts and analysts such rare and precious asset will preserve our shining art, culture and history.”



Punjab Additional Chief Secretary Umar Rasool said that the digitisation of archives would bring them on the radar of the government for research. He said, “The precious historical material from Ranjeet Singh’s era to the present times will be made available to everyone to get knowledge about social evolution in the region.”

He added the archive will also include undisclosed documents such as manifesto, death sentence order of Bhagat Singh and will be displayed on March 23, at the tomb of Anarkali.



Punjab Archives and Libraries Secretary Tahir Yusuf informed the participants that the documents being digitised had been shortlisted, which would preserve the historical documents for generations to come and save them from getting damaged due to weather conditions.

ITU’s Centre for Governance and Policy Director Dr Yaqoob Khan Bangash said that the outcome of the seminar would help in digitalisation of archives being initiated from April and the first phase would be completed in over a year. “It is our endeavor to bring technology and archives together to engage and interact with the world and to create better understanding of our culture and history,” he added.

Meanwhile, Dr Dennis Y Tenen of Columbia University and Dr Durba Mitra of Harvard University also shared their experiences during the seminar.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 13^th, 2018.