Monday, November 19, 2012

South Asia Archive Launch


Taj Ambassador Hotel, New Delhi
7th November 2012
 Highlights
  • The entire event ran smoothly thanks to the efforts of Shafina, Neeti and their teams on the day and in the build-up
  • Approximately 45 journalists attended the event, resulting in coverage in a variety of media publications (see below for updated list) in spite of competition with the US election results
  • Approximately 135 guests attended (including 33 T&F employees), and all will be signed up to receive the South Asia Archive newsletter
  • Shri Kapil Sibal whole-heartedly endorsed the Archive in front of gathered media and delegates, reassuring those present that access would be provided across India through cooperation with the UGC and INFLIBNET
  • The test site performed well, and the advanced search keyword highlighting and preview features were working during the live demonstrations
  • Questions were directed both to the Minister (on the whole related to access, and government national heritage archiving policies), and to SARF regarding content selection criteria. There was much excitement among those present about the content, and some people also offered more archival material.
  • The Cabinet Secretary offered to facilitate future content sourcing via the Ministry of Culture, cutting through what he called ‘layers of bureaucratic committees’.

On the Day

The event ran very smoothly, with Shafina’s team ensuring delegates were registered and received their welcome packs (comprising a South Asia Archive gift calendar and branded folder containing printed testimonials, a printed running order, branded pen, notepad, catalogue, promotional postcard and newsletter sign-up form). All media were given a copy of the press release.
Guests of honour on the day:
  • Shri Kapil Sibal, Minister of Communications and Information Technology
  • Shri Ashok Thakur, Secretary, Department of Higher Education, Ministry of Human Resource Development
  • Professor Ved Prakash, Chairman of the University Grants Commission
Guests of honour were seated on a raised dais alongside Boria Majumdar and David Green, in front of a large South Asia Archive banner. Two large screens flanked the dais, showing powerpoint slides during presentations and live video feeds when the guests of honour were speaking. They also showed Shri Sibal undertaking the ‘first’ search on the Archive.

All the speeches were well received, although particular interest was reserved for Shri Kapil Sibal and Boria and Sharmistha’s section, where there was a real buzz from the audience and media.

The test site performed well during the live part of the demo, giving the audience an idea of how quick and easy the finished product will be to use.

After the presentations there was a tour of the physical exhibitions, and delegates were also able to look at the site close-up on the iPads provided.

Heads of Institutes/Universities Who Attended

  • Jawaharlal Nehru University
  • Jamia Millia Islamia
  •  Centre for the Study of Developing Societies
  •  Centre for Women's Development Studies
  • Indian Council of Historical Research
  • Society for Participatory Research in Asia
  • Indian Institute of Technology
  • Institute for Studies in Industrial Development
  • British Council
  • South Asia Research Foundation
  • National Institute of Science Technology and Development
  • Amity University
  • National University of Educational Planning and Administration
  • Indian Institute of Public Administration
  • South Asian University

Press/ Online Coverage

Here are highlights of some of the press/online coverage so far:
Coverage on Twitter also increased as a result of the launch, with an increase in the number of ‘mentions’ the archive received.
Rob Lynes (@RobLynes), Director of British Council India, tweeted: 

Leads on Key Institutions
Feedback from Neeti and Ashleigh is that we received particularly positive responses from the following:
  • Director of South Asian University
  • The Faculty of JNU (Jawaharlal Nehru University)
  • Librarian of Delhi University – he had heard good reviews of the product from our agents who attended too
The key lead for us was that the UGC Chairman and Shri Sibal committed publicly to making the Archive available for researchers throughout India.

Q&A Session

In spite of concern beforehand, questions mainly focused on how academics would get access, with most people directing their queries to the Minister. There were no awkward questions regarding pricing or the business more broadly.

Some delegates had heard of other archives that would benefit from digitization.

As David mentioned, there was also private assurance from Cabinet Secretary to facilitate our approaches to state-held archive material.

The overwhelming feeling in the room was one of anticipation.

Selected Photos









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