The Widow Colony

Harpreet Kaur's film The Widow Colony, about the Sikh killings which occurred after the assassination of Indira Gandhi, is being shown in UK cinemas.
Click on the image above for screenings.

SAALG 81st conference, July 2009

SAALG had a successful and enjoyable summer conference at the Ancient India & Iran Trust in Cambridge (you can tell by our smiling faces...!)

Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail (ASHT) events, September

This September (3rd - 26th), join in, discover and enjoy the splendour and substance that underpins the heritage connecting the Sikhs and the British.
The Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail has since 2004 presented an annual series of unique events which highlight both the historical, and present connection between the Sikhs and Britain.

In this sixth year they will be presenting a whole month of unique lectures, workshops and exhibitions serving to inspire, inform and entertain.

This years events include an exclusive performance by Tigerstyle at the Tower of London, a gallery talk with internationally acclaimed artisits 'The Singh Twins', storytelling at the V & A and a unique series of lectures.

NACIRA seminar

The National Committee for Information Resources on Asia (NACIRA) - formerly NCOLR - will be holding a seminar on internet resources for Oriental studies on 16th and 17th September at Cambridge University Library.

Applications to:
John Moffett
Needham Research Institute
8 Sylvester Road
Cambridge
CB3 9AF

Email: nacira@edlis.org or call: 01223311545

EarlyTibet.com

At the 81st SAALG conference Sam van Schaik introduced us to his excellent blog. Sam has used the blog to disseminate his research notes whilst working on the International Dunhuang Project at the British Library.

REMINDER!

Don't forget - the 81st SAALG conference is at the Ancient India & Iran Trust, Cambridge, on Friday 3rd July (see previous blog post for details and map), and it's only £10 for the day with a lovely lunch at the HQ of the AIIT (pictured).

You've still got time to let me know if you're attending, just email me at j.usher@nls.uk

81st SAALG Conference

This will be held on Friday 3rd July 2009 at the Ancient India and Iran Trust at 23 Brooklands Avenue, Cambridge, CB2 2BG (see map above - click on it for larger image).

As usual we have an interesting and varied programme. Registration and coffee is at 10.30, then:

11.00-11.45
Bill Noblett (Cambridge University Library): "Material for the study of Indian history in the Official Publications Collection".

11.45-12.30
Chris Gill (Strathclyde University): "Civil veterinary material in the National Library of Scotland India Papers Collection – a previously neglected resource for research into environmental history and the social history of medicine in a colonial context".

12.30-2.00
Lunch (in the garden, weather permitting)

2.00-2.45
Sam van Schaik (British Library): "The International Dunhuang Project:
Tibetan manuscript research and the cataloguing of manuscripts using Text Encoding Initiative (TEI) guidelines".

2.45-3.30
Keren Mills (Open University): "Digilab – the latest tools and technologies for teaching and learning and their application in libraries and archives".

3.30-3.40
Jan Usher (NLS): Practical session on how to contribute to SAALG’s blog.

A charge of £10 per person will be made for attendance. Please send all notes of interest in attending to: j.usher@nls.uk by 25th June, please.

New wiki guide to libraries and archives in South Asia

The Libraries & Archives in South Asia (LASA) wiki is a collaborative effort to compile a guide to South Asian libraries and archives for academics and researchers in the humanities and social sciences. The LASA wiki contains detailed information about libraries and archives in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It aims to become a full-fledged portal to research in South Asia, for the scholarly community and by the scholarly community.

Every entry in the wiki can be improved upon with new or updated information. A typical entry contains location, contact information, basic access and collection information and a link to the institution's website when it is available. More detailed information, including maps, photographs, links to online catalogs, etc. are provided when available.

URL http://dsal.uchicago.edu/lasa/ Click here to enter wiki.

LASAwiki is a project of the Digital South Asia Library (DSAL) developed by the University of Chicago Library with support from the Division of the Humanities at the University of Chicago. The LASA wiki was created by Samip Mallick, Assistant Bibliographer for Southern Asia, University of Chicago Library.

SAALG Summer Conference

Date for your diary: Our summer conference will be held in Cambridge, at the Ancient India and Iran Trust, on Friday 3rd July 2009. New members are welcome to attend. More details will be posted on this blog in June.

Anglo Sikh Heritage Trail

The ASHT website has details of places around the UK with Sikh connections and collections, including the BL and the NLS. You can sign up to their newsletter on the site so you don't miss out on their tours, events and volunteering opportunities.

SAALG members' photos

As you may have noticed, we now have a Flickr Badge (on the left hand side of the blog page, after the Subscribe information). If you click on it, you'll get a selection of photos from the National Library of Scotland's Tea & Tigers 2007 exhibition launch party, and some from our visit to the Kolkata Book Fair.

If any SAALG members want me to load up relevant photos, please email them to me.

Temporary post at British Museum

Tabor Foundation Research Assistant, Asia
London
£21,807 per annum
Fixed-term for 23 months

As Tabor Foundation Research Assistant you will use your academic expertise to provide information on items in the collection. This role would be suitable for anyone looking to begin a career in the Museum sector. You will also be responsible for creating new data and images of parts of the South and Southeast Asia collections, and uploading these records onto the Museum’s online database, Merlin. Initially, this post will involve a one year extensive training period with the first Tabor Foundation Research Assistant, whereby they will demonstrate and share the skills and techniques necessary for the post.

Additionally, you will have responsibility for some original research on collection objects. You will work on other projects concerned with South and Southeast Asian culture, such as exhibitions, when required. This role involves dealing with a very large and diverse collection that requires the ability and research skills to accurately generate cataloguing information.

Educated to degree level (or equivalent) in a subject relevant to South Asia (archaeology, art history etc.), you will also have the ability to write well. Familiarity with data entry (both written and images) is essential. You will work well as part of a team, but also work alone once your initial training has been completed.

For further information or a full application pack, please visit www.britishmuseum.org/jobs or email bm@peoplemedia.co.uk quoting reference 76032.

Closing date: 1 April 2009.

Wellcome to the Library

At the SAALG 80th conference on Friday 20th February delegates were very privileged to see some fine examples of South Asian manuscripts from the Wellcome Library's collections. Presented by Dr. Nikolai Serikoff, the Asian Collection Librarian, these items demonstrate what a remarkable library the Wellcome is.
It's easy and free to join. Go to the E-registration page to kickstart your membership. You can reserve books from the comfort of your PC before making a visit in person. I have used the Library a few times and the staff are very helpful and friendly. I highly recommend it; the Wellcome Library blog offers a taste of the rich and varied nature of its holdings.

Royal Asiatic Society

Forthcoming lectures relating to South Asia:

Odissi Indian Classical Dance (student series)
Dance and talk by Scheherazaad Cooper
March 18th 2009, 6.30 pm
Scheherazaad Cooper is an Odissi Indian classical dance practioner who has performed in Canada, the USA, India and the UK.

C. H. Philips and the East India Company (main series)
by Prof. Huw Bowen, Swansea University
April 16th 2009, 6.00pm

Tracing tea: Darjeeling to London in Pursuit of the Perfect Cuppa (student series)
by Max Lovell-Hoare
April 22nd 2009, 6.30pm
Max Lovell-Hoare's 10,000 mile journey used two modified Indian auto rickshaws and aimed to achieve two world records: the longest journey in a tuk tuk and the world's highest tea party on Pakistan's Khunjerap Pass.

All events are at the RAS, 14 Stephenson Way, London NW1 2HD. For further details see www.royalasiaticsociety.org.

Kolkata Book Fair

Kevin Halliwell and I are visiting the Kolkata Book Fair (where Scotland has the honour to be the theme country - Scotland pavilion pictured), and rather than duplicate posts, you can read all about it in this blog; the posts also refer to 2 other very good blogs from the British Council and the Sunday Herald. Happy reading!