NEW DELHI: The complete bibliography of Rabindranath Tagore's works and everything written on him will soon be just a click away.

On Monday, finance minister Pranab Mukherjee launched a project that will compile a web bibliography of works of, and by, Tagore. Apart from works by Tagore, literary criticism and other works on Tagore published in India and abroad will be included in the bibliography.

Mukherjee said Raja Rammohun Roy Library Foundation has taken up the task of compiling a web bibliography of works by or on Tagore. The work is a result of the compilation work supervised by Tagore experts and scholars, involving as many as 20 libraries across the country for titles. More than 9,000 books in 42 languages, both Indian and foreign, have been located so far.

"It is the most comprehensive attempt undertaken for compiling the works by, and on, Tagore, or, for that matter, any literary figure. The bibliography is an endeavour to bring a ready reckoner to scholars and readers of Tagore," the culture ministry said.

Mukherjee said accessing the book on this web bibliography has been made easy: a tome can be located by its 'Title', 'Author', 'Editor' or 'Genre'. A unique feature of the web portal is its interactive character. Scholars and readers can interact with the site and provide supplementary information about respective publications. More titles will be added in the coming months and the portal is expected to become the most comprehensive web portal on Tagore, attracting viewers from both India and abroad.

Mukherjee said, "We should not stop here. The effort should involve the Sahitya Akademis of states, attracting their attention to the titles in their languages already enlisted, and seeking their inputs and contributions to expand the database."

Works in the collections of 20 major libraries in the country are included in the bibliography. In addition, with a view to expand the listing, details of works have been collected from publishers as well as book stores. Scholars who have studied Tagore extensively have also been consulted.

Since it is a web-based bibliography, one can access a book by its title, author, editor, language or keyword, making it user friendly. The availability of a book in a particular library has also been indicated. As a standard practice, the titles in the compilation have been arranged according to subjects ie Appreciation, Aesthetics and Art, Anniversaries, Bibliography, Biography, Criticism and Interpretation, Poetry, Fiction, Drama, Dance, Juvenile Literature, Education etc.


Source | Times of India | 10 January 2012