All roads for Computer Science enthusiasts will lead to the Indraprastha Institute of Information Technology, Delhi, (IIIT-D) as its library now houses about 95 books, and counting, on Computer Science. What makes this a one-of-a-kind collection is that they are all written by Indian authors and they trace the journey of computer scientists and their contribution to the field.
Pankaj Jalote, the director of the institute was directly involved in compiling this collection, along with contributing books that he has authored like A Concise Introduction to Software Engineering (2008) and Software Engineering: A Precise Approach (2010).
He highlights the aim of this initiative, stating, “It seems appropriate that the collection, curated for the last one-and-a-half years is housed in an IT institution in the capital of the country. The collection would become a unique resource for researchers working on the history of computing in India.”
But another driving force behind it is the in-charge of the library and information centre, Rajendra Singh. He along with four to five members are the team behind this initiative, which has not culminated yet. “It’s an ongoing process. In a few weeks, I am sure we will cross 100 books,” says Singh, who has been a librarian at the institute for almost five years now.
The team went about researching and in some cases requesting authors to provide books which were already sold out or not available anywhere. Naturally, when you sit down to compile books dating back to 1950s, one has to go out of their way.
But in this age of Kindles and iPads, do students visit the library? Yes, reaffirms Singh, pointing out that though the library, which is open from 8 am to midnight, is equipped with computers as well, “We see students coming in till midnight as they can’t sit in front of a monitor for too long,” says the 35-year-old.
Reach Out: www.iiitd.ac.in