Preservation and Conservation of Palm Leaf Manuscript Libraries in Mahasarakham Province, Thailand: A Survey

Sujin Butdisuwan; B. Ramesh Babu

doi:10.51983/ajist-2014.4.1.88

Authors

Sujin Butdisuwan Dean, School of ICMT, Faculty of Informatics, Mahasarakham University, Mahasarakham 44150, Thailand
B. Ramesh Babu Former Professor, Dept. of Library and Information Science, University of Madras, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India & Former Visiting Professor, Faculty of Informatics, Mahasarakham University, Thailand

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.51983/ajist-2014.4.1.88

Keywords:

Preservation and Conservation, Palm Leaf Manuscripts, Mahasarakham Province, North-East Thailand

Abstract

Palm leaf manuscripts are one of the earliest forms of written media and were used in Southeast Asia to store early written knowledge about subjects such as medicine,Buddhist doctrine and astrology. Palm leaf manuscripts are available in most of the Buddhist temples in Mahasarakham province. They have very rich and oldest palm leaf and paper manuscripts amongst its collection representing ISAN region(north-east Thailand) and depicts information on Buddhism,cultural, social, political and economic history of people in Isan regions. This paper presents the comprehensive survey of Palm Leaf Manuscript libraries located at Buddhist Temples in Mahasarakham province of Thailand. The specific objectives of the survey are;To survey the selected manuscript libraries with regard to the nature of collection,organization and management; To examine the manpower and other infrastructure facilities available with the manuscript libraries (Buddhist temples) under study; To elicit monks’(who are in charge of the collection) opinions about the causes of deterioration of palm leaf manuscripts; To survey the extent of digitization carried out in those collection; and To identify the issues involved in the management of those collection. The authors proposed solutions for the better management of palm leaf manuscripts and greater sustainability to preserve the cultural heritage of Mahasarakham province representing the Isan region of Thailand.

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