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Economically Easy Method to Digitize Oversized Documents with Special Reference to Ola Leaf Manuscripts in Sri Lanka

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Economically Easy Method to Digitize Oversized Documents with Special Reference to Ola Leaf Manuscripts in Sri Lanka Economically Easy Method to Digitize Oversized Documents with Special Reference to Ola Leaf Manuscripts in Sri Lanka L.M. Udaya Prasad Cabral Head, Conservation & Preservation Division, National Library and Documentation Services Board, Sri Lanka, [email protected] Abstract Ola leaf manuscripts are the native writing medium of Sri Lanka. It had been prepared from the leaves of a tree commonly found in the country. Due to its location, Sri Lanka has a tropical climate. High humidity and temperature have badly damaged many Ola leaf manuscripts still deposited at ancient temples in the country. Preserving, obtaining information of and disseminating the knowledge contained in Ola leaf manuscripts are some key duties of the National Library. The National Library has adopted a procedure to digitize these oversized, uneven and brittle manuscripts for studying, as well as other digitization methods. Digitizing using a camera with 50mm with copy table is very economical when comparing with other methods. Sharpness of the pictures and three-dimensional views provide natural attraction of digital files, which take readers as close as possible to the originals. Specially prepared database offers a reader friendly environment for those interested to gather knowledge from these native writings. Author Mr. L.M. Udaya Prasad Cabral is a Postgraduate Scholar. He is carrying out research on protecting the archival materials from harmful environmental parameters of the tropical region, for his higher studies. Study on preservation aspects of ancient library materials of Sri Lanka, Ola leaf manuscripts is one of his fields of keen interest. Last year he was able to test a herbal extraction that can be used to preserve wooden objects as well as Ola leaf manuscripts. The National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage of Korea assisted him last year in his research through the Asian Cooperation Programme on Conservation Science. Presently he is working as Document Conservator and is the Head of the Conservation and Preservation Division of the National Library of Sri Lanka. The National Library of Sri Lanka acts as a convenor of the MOW programme in Sri Lanka. He provides his full cooperation to promote the MOW projects in the country, as the MOW programme is handled by his division. 1. Introduction Sri Lanka is a country with glorious history and enriched with precious documentary heritage. Since the National Library a guardian of the rich documentary heritage of the country, it has a keen responsibility to protect them as in original format as well as disseminate knowledge inscribed in the documentary heritage among the younger generations in the country. Ola lea f manuscripts are one of the native writing medium that our ancestors had used to communicate their thoughts and keep records in Sri Lanka’s ancient society. These are basically prepared by pre-treating leaves of the Corypha umbraculifera tree, which was commonly found in Sri Lanka at that time. Ola leaf manuscripts have been a very popular writing medium since the 12th century A.D. It continued to be the main medium till paper was introduced by the Dutch Colonialists during the 17th Century. The 3rd century B.C. to 12 century A.D. was the golden period of Sri Lankan history, according the historians. Our ancestors constructed huge pagodas, irrigation systems, storied buildings, reservoirs as big as the seas, etc. especially during that period. Modern technology couldn’t complete such constructions even today. Not only in the field of construction, but various other fields such as medicine, religious philosophy, etc. were in a highly developed stage at that time. Ola leaf manuscripts had been the only writing medium at that time. Hence, knowledge on science, technology, religion, philosophy, astrology, medicine and other areas of knowledge had been inscribed on Ola leaf manuscripts by our ancestors. Ancient temples became the guardians of these documents when foreign invaders attacked our country on several occasions. Our ancient society had a close connection with temples. They were also education centres. These temples generated, disseminated and deposited the knowledge. These were one of key duties of the temples, in addition to religious activities. Scholars gathered around the temples and these temples automatically became knowledge depository centres. Ola leaves had been the only writing medium that had been passing indigenous knowledge from generation to generation. Considerable numbers of Ola leaf manuscripts have been protected in ancient temples until now. Ola leaf manuscripts contain invaluable information. Some Ola leaf manuscripts, especially on Buddhist religious teachings and practices, have been printed as books, but there are many manuscripts locked in almirahs at ancient temples that have not been read by anybody. Since monks believe these manuscripts reveal the route to treasures hidden by past kings, nobody gets permission to unlock the almirahs to read manuscripts for any purpose. Sri Lanka is a tropical island located in the Indian Ocean just below the Indian peninsula. Its situation has created the high humidity and temperature climatic conditions in the country throughout the year. Ola leaf manuscripts deposited in the temples and libraries have been affected by these climatic conditions. Environmental parameters and unsuitable storage conditions have created conservation problems and accelerated the deterioration process of the Ola leaf manuscripts. It is obvious that almost all the Ola leaf manuscripts, which are considered as treasures of the documentary heritage of this country are in danger, unless the National Library takes comprehensive steps, immediately, to rectify this problem. The following conservation problems have been identified in the Ola leaf Manuscripts Collection Program, in substance. Leaves sticking together - Some leaves of the Ola books tend to stick together. Excess oil on the leave is one reason of this. In addition, the oil, at high temperature conditions, results in this sticky condition. Fading letters - The writings inscribed on Ola leaf manuscripts became faded due to environmental conditions Loss of flexibility - This is due to loss of oil on the Ola leaves. At the very low RH levels and the high humidity conditions, the leaves dry and become hard. Such dry leaves can easily be broken into pieces. Pest attacks - Ola leaves are easily damaged by insects. They make holes through the leaves and make them unreadable as well as deteriorate. 2 Microbial attacks - Fungi and bacteria have been found and isolated on the manuscripts. Favourable humidity and temperature for the microbes and nutrias substrate provided by the Ola leaf itself create this condition. Discoloration - Ola leaves have a tendency to get stained because of bio-deterioration. Several collections of Ola leaf manuscripts are deposited at Depository Libraries in the country. The National Library, as the major depository library in Sri Lanka, has a huge collection of ancient Ola leaves. The Conservation and Preservation Division of NLDSB focuses its attention on preserving them, as it is a valuable collection of the library. 2. Preserving Ola leaf manuscripts in two ways The inimitable knowledge on medicine, science, technology and etc. contained in the ancient Ola leaf manuscripts of Sri Lanka might be lost to the world forever if a comprehensive program for preserving Ola leaf manuscripts in not commenced soon. The National Library is planning the preservation process to achieve the two goals; they understand the value of the Ola leaf manuscripts preserved in their original form, and make arrangement to preserve them using chemical and traditional treatment. On the other hand, they understand the value of the knowledge itself contained in the manuscripts, which is useful for development of society, and satisfy the thirst for knowledge in our society. In order to achieve this goal, a newly defined digitization process has been introduced. It is expected this method would fulfil readers’ and researchers’ willingness for easy access to the manuscripts and save the readers valuable time and popularize these native manuscripts in the society much more than at present. Because physically handling and reading was harmful to the Ola leaves as they are brittle, the digitization process was proposed as a suitable preservation method. One of the long-term expectations is develop the scientific, medical, technological, etc. knowledge contained in these manuscripts using the facts on the manuscripts through comprehensive research. 3. Preserving the manuscripts in original forms Two traditional herbal extractions were tested to preserve the Ola leaf manuscripts in its original form. 3.1 Experimental Method This study investigated microbial and insecticidal activation against the two herbal extractions named as NL and DNA believed to have been used by our ancestors. 3.2 Extracted samples NL and DNA herbal emulsions were extracted. 3 3.3 Strains and insects 1 The fungi strains (mould) Cladosporium cladosporioides (H1), Aspergillus sydowii (H2), Penicillum citreonigrum (H3), Penicillum toxicarium (H4), penicillum corylophilu (H5) and Alternaria spp (H7) commonly found in paper materials were obtained from the micro lab of the National Research Institute of Cultural Heritage (NIRCH) in South Korea. Bacteria strains that were isolated from the ancient Ola leaf and fresh untreated Ola leaf used this experiment. For the analysis of insecticidal activities, Lasioderma serricorne (Cigarette
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