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EBOOK
The Universe of Knowledge
Celebrating Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (1892-1972)
The idea of putting together this book stems from the conference entitled The Universe of Knowledge: Celebrating Shiyali Ramamrita Ranganathan (1892- 1972) on the 50th anniversary of his death, organised by the “Luigi Pio Tessitori” Indological Society in collaboration with the Department of Languages and Literatures, Communication, Education and Society of University of Udine, and held at the “Graziadio Isaia Ascoli” Friulian Philological Society in Udine, Palazzo Mantica, on 21st October 2022.
The first part of the book discusses the conceptual tools that Ranganathan used in his approach to knowledge organisation (e.g., facet analysis, “seminal mnemonics”, “absolute syntax”), all of which are inextricably intertwined with essential elements of the Hindu tradition, from the Vedic principle of eka-vākyatā (“syntactic unity”) to the cognitive processes involved in a state of samādhi (deep meditative absorption).
The second part of the book first provides an overview of Ranganathan’s legacy, highlighting in what way his methodological approach still inspires many of today’s researchers working in the area of Digital Humanities. Then it focuses on a relatively new area of scholarly activity that lies at the interface between classical Indological research and the digital cultural ecosystem, with an emphasis on some new perspectives and practical directions that may prove productive in the field of Digital Indology.