RBI to digitise its old records

To preserve delicate and brittle documents, the Reserve Bank will digitise old records running into 1.5 lakh pages and make them available online.

The archival records of the Reserve Bank of India publications are in the form of books, bound volumes and accession registers.

The objective is "digitising the documents using state-of -the-art scanning and meta-tagging methodologies and subsequent archival of the same with robust online search and query facilities," according to the central bank.

There are approximately 150,000 pages to be scanned, RBI said, while inviting bids for digitisation of documents.

It said the documents identified for scanning are "old, delicate, fragile and brittle" and need sophisticated handling techniques.

"Generally, binding is not allowed to be taken out as it may damage the documents. However, in some cases where it is absolutely necessary, due care should be taken to remove the binding with prior permission of the designated officer," the tender document said.

The central bank is undertaking the work of digitisation of old documents for the purpose of conservation and restoration of records available on paper.