State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications

Logo of SIEP

The State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications (SIEP) is a cultural institution founded in 1961^[1] under the Department of Cultural Affairs, Government of Kerala, 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]

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.

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]

SIEP's director is Prof. Thumpamon Thomas who was preceded in the post by K. Pappootty,^[9]

Current Products

• Sarvavijnanakosam, A General Reference encyclopedia in Malayalam.
• Viswasahityavijnanakosam, An encyclopedia on world literature in Malayalam.
• Web edition of Vijnanakosam volumes,Intended to the reach general public, free of cost. The site uses a MediaWiki platform allows public to contribute.

Plans

• 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
• 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.^[11]
  • Jyothisasthra Vijnanakosam, on Astronomy & Space exploration.
  • Parinama Vijnanakosam, on Evolution.
• Varshika Vijnanakosam, Yearbook
• Keralavijnanakosam, web edition of an encyclopaedia dealing with the diverse aspects of Kerala.

References

1. International journal of Dravidian linguistics. University of Kerala. 23-24: 113. 1994. ISSN 0378-2484. Missing or empty |title= (help)
2. Malayalam literary survey. Kerala Sahitya Akademi. 23: 37. 2001. OCLC 4602396. Missing or empty |title= (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. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
6. Proceedings of the All-India Oriental Conference. Bhandarkar Oriental Research Institute. 29: 143. 1980. OCLC 255644496. Missing or empty |title= (help)
7. "Movements that shaped the State". The New Indian Express. The New Indian Express Group. 31 December 2009. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
8. "Software for Malayalam". The Hindu. 8 July 2005. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
9. "Nobel laureate to release two encyclopaedias". Express Buzz. The New Indian Express Group. 2 January 2010. Retrieved 26 February 2010.
10. "Plans". Sarvavijnanakosam.gov.in. Retrieved 2011-11-29.
11. "The State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications". Sarva.gov.in. Retrieved 2011-11-29.

External links

• Official site
• Web edition of Sarvavijnanakosam and Viswasahityavijnanakosam
• Web edition of Keralavijnanakosam