Preservation and conservation of indigenous manuscripts

Abstract

This study is an endeavour to investigate the preservation and conservation status of the heritage of indigenous manuscripts in the Central Library at the Jain Vishva Bharati Institute (Deemed University), Rajasthan, India, that are unknown to the scholarly world. A survey of the manuscripts was carried out to investigate their physical status. A structured interview with nine staff members from the manuscripts section was conducted to obtain information regarding the manuscript collections and current preservation and conservation techniques employed. The findings reveal that the overall preservation and conservation techniques used in the library were found to be satisfactory according to the standard operating procedures of the National Mission for Manuscripts. The study also provides an understanding of the nature of the manuscript collections and the preservation and conservation techniques employed with the manuscripts.