Lao Manuscripts go online

(KPL) Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts website www.laomanuscripts.net was officially launched on January 20.
The development of the website, started in October 2007, is jointly implemented by the National Library of Laos and the University of Passau and the State Library of Berlin, Germany.
The three-year project is funded by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the Federal Ministry of Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ), under the programme Research Cooperation with Developing Countries.
The research team of the website project is made up of Director of the National Library of Laos Ms. Kongdeuane Nettavong, and Prof. Rudiger Korff and Prof. Harald Hundius of the University of Passau the latter is also honorary consultant to the Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts Website Project. The project is the direct result of the Lao- German Cooperation Preservation of Lao Manuscripts Programme (PLMP), funded by the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs from 1992 to 2004.
A major output of PLMP project is a collection of about 12,000 microfilmed manuscripts selected from hundreds of Buddhist monasteries and other manuscript holdings throughout the country.
This collection is by far the most extensive to date and can be seen as representative of the national literary heritage. It comprise some 500,000 frames, which on average contain about 6-8 palm-leaf pages, giving a total of some 3-4 million recorded manuscript pages.
The project is made possible by advances in digital and Internet technology, through which such as a massive amount of data can now be safely stored and easily searched and accessed. The server for the inventory database and digitized images is hosted at the Staattsbibliothek Zu Berlin, and managed via Internet by the National Library of Laos.
The project is a milestone in the contemporary development of digital resource within ASEAN and is in keeping with current trends in the archival of national heritage taking place throughout the world. In addition enhancing the international recognition of the important of the Lao manuscript tradition, it may provide an inspiring model for neighbouring countries which share a common literary heritage, particularly in the development of digital libraries.
The press conference on the launch of the Digital Library of Lao Manuscripts was attended by Deputy Minister of Information and Culture, Mr. Bouangeun Saphouvong and relevant officials.

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