Focus I: Documentation and Collection Development

Noolaham Foundation aims to document a wide range of subjects through innovative collection development strategies, documentation initiatives and research based approaches. Noolaham Foundation collects, arranges and describes the knowledge resources objectively, within a social-justice and an ethical framework. Subjects include, science and technologies, trades and crafts, education, public health, human rights, arts and culture, rituals and beliefs, language and literature, landscapes and environment, biodiversity, ethnography and race relations, social structures, genealogy, kinship patterns, archeology and history etc. The main goal and impact of this work is to ensure the preservation of records for future generations, and to enhance access to these records for worldwide Tamil speaking communities through participatory contribution and collective actions. Textual, oral, visual and artifact knowledge resources are documented and digitally preserved. This includes both published and archival records. There is a huge volume of materials, including monographs (books), periodicals, newspapers, booklets, reports, souvenirs, felicitations, mementoes, posters, leaflets, invitations, factsheets, dissertations, abstracts, olaisuvadi (ola manuscripts), diaries, letters and other hand written materials, audio, video, photo and images, maps, drawings, web sites and electronic resources. Digitization, multimedia documentation and dataset development are three main methodologies used to digitally capture knowledge resources.

Noolaham Foundation gives specific resources and consideration towards the following collections:

• Muslim Archive
• Upcountry Archive
• Women Archive
• Dalit Archive / Anti-Caste Struggle
• Vedar Archive
• LGBTQ+ Archive
• Minorities of North East