Calcutta University makes its archive with century-old records available online

Kolkata, Apr 30 () The Calcutta University onThursday made its archive, including rare records dating backto the 19th century, available online for the public.

Vice-chancellor Sonali Chakraborty Bandyopadhyay told that the archive can be accessed by anyone through theCalcutta University's official website.

There are two major reasons behind the decision, shesaid.

"The first is our responsibility to the students andfaculty, whose education and research are getting hampered asthey cannot physically access the library collections due tothe restrictions.

"The second is our responsibility as a publicinstitution to the citizens as well as the world at large.Necessity and value of academic research should be felt by thesociety," she said.

The university's library resources, including thedigital collections, were accessible so far to users withinthe campuses.

"As a public university, we feel that it is ourresponsibility to make CU's digital collections part of theglobal academic commons, to facilitate the pursuit ofknowledge beyond borders," the vice-chancellor said.

The list of digital resources include convocationaddresses (1861-2018), Tagore Law Lectures (1870-1986),University Commission reports (1917-1919), minutes of thesenate, provisional committee, syndicate & and council (1857-1988), The Calcutta Review (1844-1966).

Besides, the university's old question papers (1891-1980), old syllabi (1955-1977), full text of theses(PhD/DLitt/DSc) (1960-2018) and medical dissertations (1956-2005) have also been made available.

The vice-chancellor said teachers of the universityhave initiated online teaching as regular classes aresuspended due to the lockdown and they have also beenregularly uploading study materials on the website. SUSSOM SOM