| dc.description.abstract |
This article looks into the unique nature of challenges and opportunities facing the Free and
Opensource (F/OSS) based software localizers’ community when it comes to enabling
support for Unicode-based Indic Scripts in the domain of Library and Information Science
(LIS). It describes the early background of Indian language support in LIS domain in terms
of technology used, and moves into the present-day scenario of Unicode and Open standard
based method of universal archival and access to information repositories that modern
libraries represent with their multi-media capabilities. Unicode addresses many of the
problems that had plagued earlier systems which had little or no capabilities in terms of
universal accessibility, it also brings its own set of problems that demand solutions – e.g.
the issue of collation sequences which assume significance when looked at from the
perspective of indexed search capabilities in library software. While Opensource provides
an open, pro-active, collaborative platform for rapid development, it still has to answer for
issues like availability of extensive Opentype fonts, collation sequences, less-than desired
quality of rendering by Indic script layout engines, as well as varying levels of maturity of
software components that make up the technology stack on which Indic Support enabled
Library Information Systems can and are being developed. The authors will try to seek
answers to these practical questions by looking into their localization experiences with
Koha – the world’s first Opensource library software into Bengali (this work is being followed
by Hindi localization). Inputs will also include the experiences of the team from ISI, Kolkata
which is working on localizing Greenstone Digital Library (GSDL) into Bengali. The article
will draw upon the experiences of F/OSS Indic Localizers’ community to see whether cross-pollination
of ideas can lead us towards the goal of bridging the Digital Divide. |
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