Archives at NCBS

The Archives at NCBS (archives.ncbs.res.in/) is a public centre for the history of science in contemporary India. Over 250,000 processed objects across 30+ collections are in various forms, ranging from paper-based manuscripts to negatives to photographs, books, fine art, audio recordings, scientific equipment, letters, and field and lab notes. The 2000-square-feet state-of-the-art physical centre at the National Centre for Biological Sciences (a part of the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research) includes space for research, processing, exhibitions, recording, and a leading-edge storage facility with monitors for temperature, light, humidity, air quality, water, fire, pests, and noise. The holdings include the papers of the ornithologist, Ravi Sankaran, and the molecular biologist and co-founder of NCBS, Obaid Siddiqi. They include papers of TSG Sastry, a physicist who worked on the Thumba rocket programme, Leslie Coleman, an early 20th century agricultural scientist in Mysore state, and the renowned agricultural scientist, MS Swaminathan. The Archives has one underlying philosophy—of enabling diverse stories—and operates on four broad verticals. One is to strengthen research collections and access in the history of science in contemporary India. The second is to push the frontiers of research in archival sciences in India, forging intersections with scholarship in law, ethics, information theory and the semantic web, for instance. The third is to build capacity and public awareness through education, training and programming, from high school to professional practice. And the fourth: to reimagine the archives as part of the commons through vibrant public engagement. Much of the work of the Archives at NCBS is supported by TNQ Technologies and Arcadia.