Leaving aside issues with microfilmed material for the moment, I'd find
such a collection of digital half-finished work extremely valuable. Why
not set up a github repository and let everybody interested upload their
material to a separate folder?

Best, Oliver

On 05/11/2024 12:18, Jonathan Silk via INDOLOGY wrote:
I'm sure others will jump in, but just as is also the case with outdated
and subsequently difficult to access computer encodings, microfilm
degrades and thereafter...  scanning of such precious materials is an
urgent desideratum.

Jonathan

On Tue, Nov 5, 2024 at 11:41 AM Rosane Rocher via INDOLOGY
<[email protected] <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

    __
    This is a concern that keeps me awake at night, that and partially
    collated unpublished texts preserved in microfilms and photocopies
    of scattered and poorly known, hard to access manuscripts.

    Rosane Rocher
    Profesor Emerita of South Asia Studies
    University of Pennsylvania

    On 11/4/24 8:12 PM, Madhav Deshpande via INDOLOGY wrote:
    Excellent suggestion, Jan. Including me, lots of scholars have
    several unfinished projects which may never be completed or
    published, but lie in an incomplete form. There should be a
    repository for such materials.

    Madhav

    Madhav M. Deshpande
    Professor Emeritus, Sanskrit and Linguistics
    University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA
    Senior Fellow, Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
    Adjunct Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies,
    Bangalore, India

    [Residence: Campbell, California, USA]


    On Mon, Nov 4, 2024 at 3:58 PM Jan Kučera <[email protected]
    <mailto:[email protected]>> wrote:

        Dear all,

        I am sure I am not alone with the experience of finding
        treasures in archives, in personal papers and other
        collections of various people from the past, often pioneers in
        the field.

        Some of us even had the sad privilege to take over libraries
        and collections of our departed colleagues and teachers. And
        from my experience, there is one significant difference from
        the past: people don’t write on paper anymore. The work is
        increasingly done on computers, and this data is almost never
        available or accessible to anyone else.

        I would like to make an appeal to everyone who feels like they
        have significant notes, drafts, or work-to-come they have
        spent decades on, if you don’t want these to suddenly
        disappear, please make provisions for someone to be able to
        pick it up or turn into a treasure to be found by future
        generations.

        Thank you and best regards,

        Jan


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--
Prof. dr. J.A. Silk
Leiden University
Leiden University Institute for Area Studies, LIAS
Herta Mohr building 2.142
Witte Singel 27A
2311 BG Leiden
The Netherlands



website: www.OpenPhilology.eu <http://www.OpenPhilology.eu>
copies of my publications may be found at
https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/JASilk <https://leidenuniv.academia.edu/
JASilk>


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