LIRC@SFIT

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How is a physical archive still relevant in today’s hyper-connected world? Published: Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011, 2:27 IST Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA It helps address the digital divide With scarce archiving of women’s perspectives, every effort counts. An outfit such as ours is completely digital and has its own audience. But there is still a vast digital divide; there are voices that still struggle to find a place in cyberspace. So the SPARROW archive plays an important role. At the same time, I relate to their need to be financially independent. When you're trying to build an organisation, you need consistent funding. Sapna Shahani , director, Women Aloud: Videoblogging for Empowerment (WAVE) It rescues and preserves lost voices CS Lakshmi started SPARROW at a time where it was not very common to have things dedicated to women. Instead of just archiving published material, she has rescued creative works by women that would otherwise be languishing in a cupboard somewhere.Despite the...

Preserve ‘her story’ before it’s lost Published: Wednesday, Feb 9, 2011, 1:23 IST By Uttarika Kumaran Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA Why is it we all know that Jawaharlal Nehru was India’s first prime minister, but many would struggle to remember his sister, Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit —the first Indian woman to hold a cabinet post and later became governor of Maharashtra? Or the fact that RK Laxman is considered India’s greatest cartoonist, while the name of Maya Kamath barely registers? And who would’ve thought something as frivolous as rangolis could give one a glimpse into the political and social concerns of the women who drew them? The Sound and Picture Archive for Research On Women (SPARROW) library in a non-descript building in Dahisar (East), doesn’t claim to have the answers. But in an ostensibly pluralist world, where even bringing up the gender issue is increasingly being considered myopic, it definitely raises some interesting questions. Taking flightSet up in 1988 by Dr CS Lakshmi...

Footfalls increase as Mumbai bookstores experiment Published: Friday, Feb 11, 2011, 3:28 IST By Humaira Ansari Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA In the name of live events, one would typically associate bookstores with book launches and reading sessions. The audience — an assorted concoction of society’s high-heeled, the literati and of course the quintessential book lovers. Few book browsers present at the venue would stick along. But that was then. Picture this: It’s a Sunday morning and a bunch of gleeful kids are engrossed in making props — Akbar’s crown or a capseller’s hat, which they will later put to creative use while enacting famous childhood tales. An art-cum-story-telling workshop, only that the venue is not a conventional private art class. Walk into a Crossword Bookstore on a Sunday morning, and you’ll realise it’s a regular feature here. The activity is part of Crossword Children’s Hour, something the bookstore started with its first store at Mahalaxmi, 14 years back. But what...

Soon, watch lectures on your smart phone Published: Thursday, Feb 10, 2011, 18:04 IST By Yogita Rao Place: Mumbai Agency: DNA Attending lectures in the classroom or via videoconferencing will be a thing of the past. Students can now watch lectures ‘live’ on their smart phones. Experts at the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IIT-B) have developed an automated application, which will allow students to watch lectures on their cellphones. What distinguishes the application from other ones is the display. The application will allow students to focus on any part of the video with a clear resolution. Called lec-to-mobile, the application has the potential to reform distance education programmes in the country. The application, developed by a professor and students of the electrical engineering department of the institute, will soon be patented. The project will be officially launched on a public domain in the days to come. “Lec-to-mobile is completely automated. It allows students to ...