ALLIANCE FRANCAISE

With some of the finest books in French in the city, the library at the Alliance Francaise has books for beginners and also for teachers of French. An interesting collection is the storybook section for children. For those intending to go to France, either for a business trip or as a tourist, the travel guides here are very handy. There is also plenty of information on higher studies in France. Apart from the books, there is a collection of interactive CD- ROM 's, an audio and video library.

The access to the library is limited to the members and students of Alliance Francaise.

Visitors should meet the librarian.

Timings: 9.00 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and 3.30 p.m. to 6.30 p.m. On Saturdays - 9.00 a.m. to 6.30 p.m. Closed on Wednesdays.

Address: 40, College Road Chennai 600 006
Phone: 827 98 03 / 14 77
Fax : 825 11 65
E-mail: afm@af-madras.org

ROJA MUTHIAH RESEARCH LIBRARY

Named after Roja Muthiah Chettiar an unconventional bibliophile, Roja Muthiah Research Library (RMRL) is developing into a major centre for studies on South India. It is moving inch by inch towards becoming a full-fledged digital library. Established in 1994, RMRL has the largest printed Tamil collection in the world.

RMRL was started to preserve the rich print heritage that Roja Muthiah Chettiar collected in his lifetime. Muthiah hailed from Kottaiyur, a tiny village in Tamilnadu. The most unique feature of Roja Muthiah's collection was that he was in search of print documents which normally do not find place in a library. Drama Notices and wedding invitations are some such examples. Starting from the Kandhar Andhathi, published in1804, Muthiah managed to collect items for a period spanning 150 years. His collection can be classified into three categories, - devotional, indigenous medicine and popular culture. He had even collected complete writings attributed to Sage Agastiyar. At the time of his death in 1992, Muthiah's collection stood at 1,00,000 items.

It was after his death that the RMRL came into existence. The University of Chicago bought this collection and entrusted it to Mozhi, a centre for language and resources, based in Chennai. Mozhi is assisted by The Ford Foundation, Wellcome Institute for History of Medicine and the University of Chicago, to microfilm the collection for future use. Innovative technologies are utilised in RMRL. C-DAC, Poona has devised a machine-readable catalogue for the library. The system currently in use can display and print a catalogue in Tamil with an automatic facility for transliteration of data into Roman script.

RMRL today has diversified into a research centre and also includes some of the best collections of Tamil writer A. K. Ramanujam and renowned anthropologist Milton Singer. It has added the war collections (1939-45) of Meyyappa Chettiar. But for all its wonderful collection, RMRL is not yet officially opened to the public, though researchers can avail its services.

Address: Roja Muthiah Research Library, Dr. Jayalalitha Nagar,(Mogappair East) Annanagar, Chennai.
Phone 2656 0549.
Fax 2656 0024.

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