Program Focus Areas

Noolaham Foundation works in four intervention areas which align with its four objectives. The four areas are Research and Collections Development, Documentation and Digital Preservation, Digital Library and Digital Archive, and Building Communities of Practice. Together, they provide a knowledge infrastructure for Sri Lankan Tamil speaking communities with varying needs, capacities and aspirations.

• Documentation and Collections Development
• Digital Processing and Preservation
• Digital Library, Archive and Information Services
• Building Communities of Practice

Focus I: Documentation and Collection Development

Noolaham Foundation aims to document a wide range of subjects through innovative collection development strategies, documentation initiatives and research based approaches. Noolaham Foundation collects, arranges and describes the knowledge resources objectively, within a social-justice and an ethical framework. Subjects include, science and technologies, trades and crafts, education, public health, human rights, arts and culture, rituals and beliefs, language and literature, landscapes and environment, biodiversity, ethnography and race relations, social structures, genealogy, kinship patterns, archeology and history etc. The main goal and impact of this work is to ensure the preservation of records for future generations, and to enhance access to these records for worldwide Tamil speaking communities through participatory contribution and collective actions. Textual, oral, visual and artifact knowledge resources are documented and digitally preserved. This includes both published and archival records. There is a huge volume of materials, including monographs (books), periodicals, newspapers, booklets, reports, souvenirs, felicitations, mementoes, posters, leaflets, invitations, factsheets, dissertations, abstracts, olaisuvadi (ola manuscripts), diaries, letters and other hand written materials, audio, video, photo and images, maps, drawings, web sites and electronic resources. Digitization, multimedia documentation and dataset development are three main methodologies used to digitally capture knowledge resources.

Noolaham Foundation gives specific resources and consideration towards the following collections:

• Muslim Archive
• Upcountry Archive
• Women Archive
• Dalit Archive / Anti-Caste Struggle
• Vedar Archive
• LGBTQ+ Archive
• Minorities of North East

Focus II: Digital Processing and Preservation

The second focus area is digitization, digital conversion, digital processing and long term digital preservation according to international standards. Noolaham Foundation uses manual, sheet-feed scanning and camera scanning as appropriate for digitization of textual material. We have developed the capacity to edit and produce quality media outputs such as oral histories and documentaries. We are currently developing digital conversion capacity to convert analog audio/video cassette into digital files.

Digital preservation is much more than scanning. It requires advanced digital technological infrastructure to develop, store, preserve and make accessible high quality resources for a wide range of uses from reading/using online to machine learning. Investing and building the digital processing and preservation capacity will enable Noolaham Foundation to establish itself as a leader in this area in South Asia.

Focus III: Digital Library, Archive and Information Services

The third focus area is related to open access, knowledge discovery and knowledge mobilization. Noolaham Foundation aims to support maximum online open access to all of its resources via an easy to use multilingual (default Tamil) platform. Currently, Noolaham Foundation is working on migrating the content from its various platforms into Islandora 8 powered next generation platform. Any authorized user from anywhere will be able to contribute in building the content. Further, the platform is envisioned as a research information system to help researchers/students/activists etc and function as an entry-point for interactions between intellectuals. Describing, classifying and organizing knowledge/information is critical for its discovery and use. Noolaham Foundation seeks to apply emerging library and archival science principles in its digital libraries and archives. The key idea behind knowledge mobilization is taking archives to the people. Taking the knowledge resources to the users and enabling its active use. Reference services, research support and online/offline knowledge outreach services are key knowledge mobilization oriented services.

Focus IV: Building Communities of Practice

There is a need to decentralize and democratize libraries, archives and museums - the memory institutions to serve the needs of diverse communities. There are many community libraries and archives involved in the Sri Lankan and Tamil speaking communities context. Noolaham Foundation seeks to engage and collaborate with these organizations at the grassroots and global levels. Collaborations include knowledge/skill/equipment sharing, capacities building and depositing/hosting materials. As a self-archiving endeavor, Noolaham Foundation considers the institution and its organizational knowledge as a key output to the community. Further, we seek to engage with professional fields such as library science, archival studies, museology as well as traditional institutions.