Daily Times

LAHORE: The Punjab government will display for public on March 23 historical documents on the lives of sub-continent freedom fighter Bhagat Singh and renowned Sikh ruler Ranjeet Singh.

The initiative will be part of collaboration between the Punjab Information Technology Board (PITB), Information Technology University (ITU), Punjab Archives and Libraries Department and Columbia University’s Group for Experimental Methods in the Humanities. The collaboration will start digitising archival material to open up a treasure trove of historical records for academia and historians worldwide for research by involving international experts.

In this regard, a seminar titled ‘Knowledge Architectures and Archives’ was held at ITU on Monday. PITB Chairman Dr Umar Saif, Punjab Additional Chief Secretary Umar Rasool, Punjab Archives and Libraries Secretary Tahir Yusuf, Dr Yaqoob Khan Bangash, director Center for Governance and Policy, ITU were among those who attended the seminar.

Speaking on the occasion, Umar Saif said, “We are opening up our centuries-old archives to the world, which had limited access earlier and were being saved in traditional manner. Now, through the use of technology and recommendations of the participating experts and analysts rare and precious asset would also preserve our shining art, culture and history.”

The project is aimed at opening this great repository for greater public use, he said, adding that the project would enable scholars to engage with more local sources, and give a fillip to research on Pakistan.

Published in Daily Times, March 13^th 2018.