Kanika Library

Established in 1922 and named after Sri Rajendra Narayan Bhanjadeo, Raja of Kanika, a feudatory state of Colonial Odisha, Kanika Library of Ravenshaw College/ University, is the oldest and largest library of Odisha. Since its inception as a university in 2006, the library has undergone significant transformations in sync with the shifting needs of the times specifically to cater to the needs of an upcoming university students population as well as the civil society in general. The dominant thrust in this regard has been to initiate an integrated library management system based on an automation process by use of computer technology to augment the resource planning system, namely cataloguing and circulation of resource base of the library through an online mode. The other component of this initiative has been a concerted plan and effort to develop a digital library with a focused collection of digital objects like texts, visual materials, audio/ video materials stored and retrieved through electronic media formats. A modest beginning in this direction has been put into place over the last six years. This includes setting up of Ravenshaw Knowledge Center (RKC) providing innovative services like Ravenshaw Knowledge Portal, Internet-cum-Digital Library, On-line Reading Room, UGC INFLIB Network, National Knowledge Network, subscription to subject databases, online journals and e resources. Besides, a music library named after the noted Oriya singer and lyricist, Akshaya Mohanty and a Braille reading system equipped with sophisticated scanner and printer facilities, exclusively devoted to enhance the reading experience of the visually impaired students, have also been set up. The other major focus of library innovation has been the aspect of digitalization of the old and rare texts of the library and other printed resources including century old institutional documents of Ravenshaw. This drive has entailed an elaborate process of preservation, selection and digitalization of the old and brittle printed resources of rare category, bundled up and dumped in gunny bags.