This page highlights current projects underway and will include project summaries and updates.  Completed projects may be listed in SAMP's Guides to Collections page.

Amir Khusraw's selected works

Amir Khusraw is one of the most important figures in the cultural history of the South Asian subcontinent. Many of the printed editions of his works are extremely rare and in need of preservation. This project will both preserve the editions carefully selected by senior scholars and improve access to those editions.

Asiatic Society publications

SAMP is currently filming gaps of holdings from the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bombay. Coverage includes 1966-1979 (v. 41-72). Also being filmed are gaps in microfilm holdings of the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Bangladesh, the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Calcutta, the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Pakistan, and the Journal of the Asiatic Society of Sri Lanka.

Centre for Studies in Social Sciences, Calcutta

The CSSSC possesses some of the most distinctive Bengali literary and historical journals in existence in its Hitesranjan Sanyal Memorial Collection. This material was preserved in Calcutta, though positive copies of film were never made. SAMP has entered into an agreement with the CSSSC to duplicate the important holdings of 19th century Bengali periodicals, monographs, and reports filmed from the Bangiya Sahitya Parishat and other collections. The 576 reels of film produced will come to SAMP, while digital copies will be made available to the CSSSC for local use. For information on this collection, see: http://www.cssscal.org/.

Ceylon Times

SAMP will acquire the microfilm for 1863-Nov 25, 1870; June 10-Dec 17, 1874; 1901-July 21, 1919; Nov 5, 1920-May 1940 of the Ceylon Times. There are currently no paper or microform holdings of this title in North America for the colonial period.
The Ceylon Times was founded in the 1800's and was read by British officials and merchants as well as the elite of Ceylon. Following independence, it became a major vehicle for information on the nation of Ceylon, now Sri Lanka, and a source of information for the business community.

Dastan-i Amir Hamza

This important collection of classical tales has been filmed in part by the Library of Congress and SAMP. SAMP's collection is imperfect, and missing pages are being investigated in order to create a better reproduction.

India Land Settlement Reports

SAMP continues to attempt to acquire all land settlement reports. The British Library has additional reports on film that were not previously available. For details, see the original proposal.

Maru'i

SAMP will film CRL's holdings (1967-1983), with additional issues supplied by the University of Texas at Austin and Columbia University. This is one of few Sindhi periodicals with substantive run from India from this time period.

Microfilming of Indian Publications Project

To date, approximately 24,000 of the 55,000 projected titles have been filmed under the auspices of this grant (originally supported by the United States-India Fund (USIF) and the U.S. National Endowment for the Humanities) and its follow-on activities.  The Government of India has decided to withdraw its financial commitment to this project.  SAMP will continue to urge the continuation of the bilateral commitment and ongoing participation in the project.

Nepali Newspapers (Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya, Kathmandu)

SAMP has approved a proposal to acquire newspapers filmed by the Madan Puraskar Pustakalaya (MPP).  These papers were filmed but never duplicated.  SAMP will fund duplication of the material in exchange for film copies, and will provide additional funding for the MPP to continue filming materials. Titles available to date include:

Official Publications of India

SAMP will receive a duplicate copy of up to 17,000 volumes of the Official Publications of India. This material will be sent to Chennai for processing, cataloging and/or microfilming.

Rahbar-i Dakan

SAMP will film this Urdu daily published in Hyderabad (1920-1948). This was considered one of the most influential Urdu papers and was noted for its quality journalism and scholarly content. In 1949, the title changed to Rahnumayi Dakan. SAMP will use one of its portable cameras (see below) to film this at the Urdu Research Centre in Hyderabad.

Regional microfilming efforts

SAMP has purchased two portable cameras for use in regional filming efforts in South Asia. One camera is currently stationed at the Roja Muthia Research Library in Chennai, the second in New Delhi.

South Asian publications on microfiche

Since 1981, SAMP has been cooperating with CRL in purchasing the complete set of South Asia publications in microfiche produced by the Library of Congress field office in New Delhi.  CRL purchases all serial titles, while SAMP purchases monographs.  The collection is shelved by microfiche number - titles can be accessed through CRL's catalog (incomplete), the Library of Congress publications "Accessions List: South Asia" (  -1996) and "The South Asian Bibliographer" (1998-present). See this link for more information.

Sunday Observer

The Sunday Observer (Madras) is one of the most important English periodicals associated with the Self Respect Movement, founded by E.V. Ramasamy Naicker. The newspaper was published from 1930 to 1957 and contained articles written by important leaders of the period. The activities of the Justice Party and the Self Respect Movement, both of which laid the ground for the later Dravidian Movement, are well documented in the newspaper. No copies have been traced in any library, including the British Library. This project covers about twelve years of this publication.

For questions or updates, please contact James Simon.

Pending Proposals.

Nehru Memorial Museum film exchange

SAMP is exploring relationships with institutions in South Asia to exchange film. Contact SAMP for details.

Sri Lankan Newspapers

Professor Patrick Peebles at the University of Missouri-Kansas City has in his possession a number of microfilmed newspapers in Sinhalese that could possibly be donated to SAMP. Irene Joshi will contact him and pass his information to James Simon.
Primary Contact:  James Simon
Proposed: March 2000