State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications

The State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications (SIEP) is a cultural institution founded in 1961[1] under the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala, India with the objective of disseminating knowledge to the people of Kerala in their pursuit of learning. It was constituted as part of the government policy that Malayalam should be used as the medium of education, administration and judiciary.[2]

The Kerala State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications
Formation1961; 63 years ago (1961)
TypeAutonomous Institution
HeadquartersThiruvananthapuram, Kerala, India
Chairman
Pinarayi Vijayan
Vice Chairman
Saji Cheriyan
Secretary
Mini Antony, IAS
Director
Dr. Muse Mary George
WebsiteOfficial website

SIEP has engaged in the publication of encyclopaedias contributing to the needs of the lay people and also to the professional interests of the specialists.[3] These include the Sarvavijnanakosam, a Malayalam Encyclopaedia,[4] volume 12 of which won the Dravidian Linguists' Association award for the best educational volume of 2003,[5] and An Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Culture.[6] It is the only body in India functioning as a separate institute for the publication of such encyclopaedias.[citation needed]

Other activities of the institute include organising exhibitions about Malayalam culture[7] and publishing software to promote the use of Malayalam in information technology.[8]

Current products

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Following are the current books published by SIEP.[9]

  • Sarvavijnanakosam, a general reference encyclopedia in Malayalam.
  • Viswasahityavijnanakosam, an encyclopedia on world literature in Malayalam.
  • A Frontier of Science Series in several volumes covering the developments in Physics, Chemistry, Life Sciences, Computer Science & IT, Astronomy & Space exploration, Geography & Geology, Meteorology, etc.
    • Paristhithivijnanakosam, on life sciences and Environment.
    • Jyothisasthra Vijnanakosam, on Astronomy & Space exploration.
    • Parinama Vijnanakosam, on Evolution.
  • Samskarikam, articles on cultural institutions controlled by Government of Kerala.

Plans

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  • Vijnanakosam on Kerala in one or two volumes which will contain all relevant information about the state - its land, people, history, places of cultural and tourist importance, prominent institutions, etc.[10]
  • Vijnanakosam (in single volume) about the folklore, folk games and festivals of Kerala
  • Varshika Vijnanakosam, Yearbook
  • Keralavijnanakosam, web edition of an encyclopaedia dealing with the diverse aspects of Kerala.

References

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  1. ^ Subramoniom, V. I. (1994). "International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics". International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics. 23–24. University of Kerala - Dept. of Linguistics, Dravidian Linguistics Association: 113. ISSN 0378-2484.
  2. ^ "Malayalam Literary Survey". 23. Kerala Sahitya Akademi. 2001: 37. OCLC 4602396. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  3. ^ Menon, A. Sreedhara (1979). Social and cultural history of Kerala. New Delhi: Sterling. p. 361. OCLC 6629548.
  4. ^ Sadasivan, S. N. (2000). A social history of India. New Delhi: APH Publishing. p. 650. ISBN 978-81-7648-170-0.
  5. ^ "Award for encyclopaedia". The Hindu. 24 June 2004. Archived from the original on 16 August 2004. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  6. ^ "Proceedings of the All-India Oriental Conference". 29. Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 1980: 143. OCLC 255644496. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  7. ^ "Movements that shaped the State". The New Indian Express. The New Indian Express Group. 31 December 2009. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  8. ^ "Software for Malayalam". The Hindu. 8 July 2005. Archived from the original on 22 July 2005. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
  9. ^ "SIEP Publications". SIEP - C-DIT.
  10. ^ "Future plans". Sarvavijnanakosam.gov.in. Archived from the original on 6 September 2018.
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