Programs and Projects
Research and Documentation
Document, preserve and digitally archive ethnography and knowledge bases such as dialects, belief systems, myths, rituals, folklore, games, indigenous medicine, law and administrative systems, technologies and arts of mainstream and marginalized communities.
Noolaham Foundation aims to document a wide range of subjects through innovative documentation initiatives and research based approaches. Subjects include religious and cultural memories, traditional architecture and design, traditional science and technologies, law and social orders, home and life style, arts and cultural activities, ethno medicines, social structure and genealogy and kinship, archeology and history, linguistics and literature, ethnography and race relations, villages and communities, organization and institutions, landscape, environment and biodiversity. The main goal and impact of this work is to secure and preserve knowledge for future generations, to ensure the preservation of documents and to enhance access to these documents for worldwide Tamil communities through participatory contribution and collective actions.
Preservation and Digital Archiving
Engage in and support preservation and digital archiving of written, print, multi-media and electronic resources related to Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities.
Digital Archive of Print Publications
The Publications Archive Program digitizes all print documents which are related to Sri Lankan Tamil communities. The printed documents include Books, Magazines, Journals, Newspapers, Newsletters, Booklets, Reports, Souvenirs and Felicitations, Annual Publications, Posters, Flyers and Leaflets, Fact sheets, Invitations, Memorial Publications, Dissertations, Ephemera, Trade and Advertising Publications, and Guides and handbooks. By May 2013, Noolaham has documented 13,277 publications.
See our Completed, Ongoing and Future projects under this program.
Digital Archive of Manuscripts
This program digitizes all kinds of hand written documents such as palm leaves, notebooks, letters, diaries and other hand written manuscripts. Most of these materials are unique and fragile. They need special handling and equipment to be digitized.
See Manuscripts Archive page for more details of this program.
Multimedia Archives
This program collects and archive images, maps, video files and audio files. This program is in its initiation stage and the first pilot project of the Photo archive, is being developed and is expected to be online by December 2014.
See our Completed, Ongoing and Future projects under this program.
Enabling Environment for Research and Development
Provide knowledge and information services to ensure free and open access thereby support educational, research and development endeavors related to Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities
Digital Library
The Digital Library program facilitates information access by users by by maintaining the information architecture of the archived information resources. Please visit www.noolaham.org to use this digital library.
See our Completed, Ongoing and Future projects under this program.
Collection Development
This program focuses on creating critical mass of collections so that they can be used by students, researchers and general public to fulfill their information needs effectively. Currently four special collections and two ongoing collections are being developed by the Foundation.
See our Completed, Ongoing and Future projects under this program.
Reference Collections
Noolaham aims to collect information and create in depth details about people, places, organizations and information sources. This program will be the backbone of the information architecture needed for all other programs and will become a useful reference tool. Currently information about organizations are being collected.
See our Completed, Ongoing and Future projects under this program.
Virtual Learning Environments
This is yet another ambitious program of Noolaham Foundation. This program will create comprehensive virtual learning enviornments for school and university students. This program will be implemented in 5 phases and currently the first phase, creation of a digital library for students, is being carried out.
See Virtual Learning Environments page for more details of this program.
And please visit www.epallikoodam.org site to access the virtual school website.
Building Capacities and Communities of Practice
Build communities of practice, processes, technologies and standards of archival, library information sciences through communication, networking and collaboration.
Conferences and Symposiums
Conferences and Symposiums are organized to encourage inter-disciplinary research that would offer an opportunity to scholars working in the fields of history, archaeology, cultural studies, sociology, anthropology, economics, political science, linguistics and literary studies to draw insights from each other’s discipline in order to enhance their own research. The first project of this program Tamil Documentation Conference 2013 was held in April 2013.
See our Completed, Ongoing and Future projects under this program.
Noolaham Events
Noolaham Events program focus on building volunteer communities and educating wider public on various issues including Information Literacy, Digital Library usage and digital preservation. Lectures, seminars, workshops and exhibitions will be conducted through this program. Since 2010, this program is being implemented.
See our Completed, Ongoing and Future projects under this program.
Publications
Noolaham Foundation publishes books, newsletters, magazine and journal. This program is a part of the outreach strategy of the Foundation and contributes towards awareness raising and documentation as well. We reprint important, rare, out of print books as well. The first issue of Suvadu Journal will be released in January 2015.
See Publications page for more details of this program and to access some of our publications.
