Bibliography History

The need of a Bibliography of Translation Database was felt long back. Anukriti.net, a translation service and information site, was developed by three premier institutions of India- Central Institute of Indian Languages, Sahitya Akademi and National Book Trust in 2002. Information on around 20000 titles was collected and a searchable database was developed under Anukriti. However, the data needed authentication and further filtration.

In June 2008, NTM was launched and Anukriti was merged with NTM. The work on preparing the Bibliography of Translation Database continued in NTM. The project was renewed with fresh efforts in early 2011. A roadmap was prepared and data were collected from various sources. Contacts were established with various Indian universities, publication houses, libraries, translation agencies, literary societies and institutions to ensure the continuous flow of data. We have collected information on about 70,000 titles that need to be filtered and digitized. At this point in mid-2011, Prof. G N Devy, Bhasha Sanshodhan Kendra, Vadodara, Gujarat, who has been working on the compilation of data on translated texts in Indian languages for many years, offered to donate his valuable collection of about 20,000 titles to NTM.

In September 2011, Prof Devy and the NTM team met in a one-day workshop conducted by NTM in Mysore, to discuss the future course regarding digitization of the available titles for the Bibliography of Translation Database. During the workshop, Prof. Devy initiated the idea of generating a Unique ID for every translated title and suggested the method for the same. In November 2011, another workshop was conducted in Vadodara to fine-tune the technical aspects of the database. A template was designed with an aim to provide maximum information about the ‘Original’ text as well as the ‘Translation’. NTM is in the process of refining it further. At present, this website has 20,000 filtered titles covering over 25 languages.