To commemorate the 150th Birth Anniversary

Web Based Tagore Bibliography Launched by Pranab Mukherjee

To commemorate the 150^th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore, the Ministry of Culture, under the guidance of National Implementation Committee, chaired by Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee, has undertaken several projects, schemes and events. One of the projects is compilation of a Web-bibliography of works of, and by, Tagore. Apart from works by Tagore, literary criticism and other works on Tagore published in India or abroad have been included in the bibliography.

The bibliography was launched on the web by the Finance Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee here today. The Minister of Culture and HUPA Kumari Selja was also present on the occasion.

           Speaking on the occasion Shri Pranab Mukherjee said, the National Implementation Committee and Ministry of Culture have undertaken several projects to celebrate the 150th Birth Anniversary of Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore. The projects focus on the multi-faceted genius of Gurudev, through cultural programmes, films, publications, workshops, research works, digitization programmes and seminars.

             He said, Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation has taken up the arduous task of compiling a web-bibliography of works by or on Tagore. The work is a result of the compilation work supervised by Tagore experts and scholars, involving as many as 20 libraries across the country for titles. The result is that more than 9,000 books in 42 languages, both Indian and foreign, have been located   so far. This is, indeed, the most comprehensive attempt   undertaken for compiling the works by, and on, Tagore, or, for that matter, any literary figure. The bibliography is an endeavour to bring a ready reckoner to scholars and readers of Rabindranath Tagore.

The Finance Minister said, accessing the book on this web-biblio has been made easy – a tome can be located by its ‘Title’, ‘Author’, ‘Editor’ or ‘Genre’. A unique feature of the web-portal is its interactive character. Scholars and readers can interact with the site and provide supplementary information about respective publications. More titles will be added in the coming months and the portal is expected to become the most comprehensive web-portal on Tagore, within a short time, attracting viewers from both India and abroad.

            Shri Pranab Mukherjee said, we should not stop here. The effort should involve the Sahitya Akademis of states, attracting their attention to the titles in their languages already enlisted, and seeking their inputs and contributions to expand the database.

Works in the collections of twenty major libraries in the country are included in the bibliography.  In addition, with a view to expand the listing, details of works have been collected from publishers as well as book stores. Scholars who have studied Tagore extensively have also been consulted.

Since it is a web-based bibliography, one can access a book by its title, author, editor, language or keyword, making it user friendly. The availability of a book in a particular library has also been indicated. As a standard practice, the titles in the compilation have been arranged according to subjects i.e. Appreciation, Aesthetics and Art, Anniversaries, Bibliography, Biography, Criticism and Interpretation, Poetry, Fiction, Drama, Dance, Juvenile Literature, Education etc.

The web site (www.rrrlf.gov.in Tagore Bibliography) also provides an interactive platform to enable scholars, experts and the public the opportunity to improve and expand the bibliography by submitting names of works not yet included. This facility will be used to make the collection comprehensive, making the site a ready reference tool for the research scholars, academics as well as the general reader.

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