The Internet in Mission and Ecumenism ... - Reformiert online

g. Banking the Knowledge
Another way of engaging in mission is to provide space for knowledge banks where archives,
hypertexts of information sources, and research materials in any language are made available. For
example, in many of our seminaries the documents are decaying with time. Some of them are
made into microfiche whereas other books or material cannot be opened because of their
deteriorating condition. The archives in Pope’s college Sawyerpuram contain all the G U Pope’s
writings. He was the first missionary to translate Hindu Texts into a foreign language. Such
material can be copied, with the help of a scanner or digital camera, and can be preserved using
Word or Acrobat (PDF) or zip files. These can be compressed in such a way that even a compact
disc (CD) can contain the whole library archives. If all the archive material in India can be made
into CDs, the books can be preserved and also copyright can be sold to different universities
around the world. Even the theses of the Senate of Serampore College can be made into a CD so
that this could be available for others who are doing research in related areas.
A large volume of knowledge is preserved in text form in India. Unfortunately our systems in India
have not come to understand the way to preserve this knowledge and share it with others. Some
are considering this work which of course involves an investment. In our library we are trying to
provide our catalogue online so that people across the world can have access to our library. It
would be good if the theological libraries and colleges can be networked together sharing similar
information 34 . The Net helps one to create a knowledge bank. Preservation and sharing of the
knowledge bank for their own income also becomes an attractive possibility. There is a need to
protect certain cultural traditions of the people such as oral and written history and medical
knowledge. The net can be a channel of preserving such traditions. Thus the voice of the voiceless
– not often heard in the mainstream media can be projected to the outside world.
h. Preserving the traditions and culture
I would like to highlight the fact that not only texts but also audio and visual material can be
preserved through such technology and made available to people. Some people have lost their
identities because they have lost their history. It is often argued that some people’s history was
intentionally eliminated by destroying their written historical documents and by taking away their
traditions. The remaining element is the oral culture of a people. This, too, can be preserved
through the net and be made available on the websites. In many places the Backward, Dalit and
Tribal Communities have oral traditions – stories, songs and music. Of course some of them are
recorded on audio cassettes. These can be preserved and shared by making them available to
other people. The way some of the communities solve their own problems can also be narrated
and recorded in the net. Particularly the traditional medical, agricultural knowledge, information
about animals and other traditional wisdom can be brought together and preserved without
exploiting the people. This knowledge could be sold and the income shared with the people who
provided such wisdom to others. In this way our mission will be genuine in the sense that we are
engaged in the liberative process of the people. The process of development is also enhanced due
to the enormous quantity of information that is available in the net, exposure of the authentic issues
to the public, people’s participation in their own developmental process and a liberative experience
in accessing the net.
34 We need to follow some of the examples already set before us – such as Reformed Online where virtual
library of Reformed Protestantism…. Question of understanding of community… Bibliography, Libraries, Full
Text Resources, Original Documents/Texts from the 16 th Century, Links… Making it free for those who are
not able to access this at the cost of those who can access these pages… http://www.reformiertonline.net:8080/t/eng/bibliothek/inedx.jsp
Reformed Online Library Homepage… English. I appreciate the
team that worked on this very useful website.
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