State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications
Encyclopedia
The State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications (SIEP) is a cultural institution founded in 1961 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.
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. These include the Sarvavijnanakosam
, a Malayalam Encyclopaedia, volume 12 of which won the Dravidian Linguists' Association award for the best educational volume of 2003, and An Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Culture. 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 and publishing software to promote the use of Malayalam in information technology
.
SIEP's director is K. Pappootty, who was preceded in the post by Vellayani Arjunan.
Government of Kerala
The Government of Kerala is a democratically elected body that governs the State of Kerala, India for a period of 5 years. The state government is headed by the Governor of Kerala as the nominal head of state, with a democratically elected Chief Minister as real head of the executive. The state...
, with the objective of disseminating knowledge to the people of Kerala
Kerala
or Keralam is an Indian state located on the Malabar coast of south-west India. It was created on 1 November 1956 by the States Reorganisation Act by combining various Malayalam speaking regions....
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.
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. These include the Sarvavijnanakosam
Sarvavijnanakosam
Sarvavijnanakosam, known in English as the Malayalam Encyclopaedia, is a general encyclopedia in the Malayalam language. It is intended to be a "a compendium of world knowledge", covering over 32,000 topics. The first volume was published in 1972, and currently 15 of the 20 volumes have been...
, a Malayalam Encyclopaedia, volume 12 of which won the Dravidian Linguists' Association award for the best educational volume of 2003, and An Encyclopaedia of Dravidian Culture. 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 and publishing software to promote the use of Malayalam in information technology
Information technology
Information technology is the acquisition, processing, storage and dissemination of vocal, pictorial, textual and numerical information by a microelectronics-based combination of computing and telecommunications...
.
SIEP's director is K. Pappootty, who was preceded in the post by Vellayani Arjunan.
Current Products
- SarvavijnanakosamSarvavijnanakosamSarvavijnanakosam, known in English as the Malayalam Encyclopaedia, is a general encyclopedia in the Malayalam language. It is intended to be a "a compendium of world knowledge", covering over 32,000 topics. The first volume was published in 1972, and currently 15 of the 20 volumes have been...
, A General ReferenceReferenceReference is derived from Middle English referren, from Middle French rèférer, from Latin referre, "to carry back", formed from the prefix re- and ferre, "to bear"...
encyclopediaEncyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
in MalayalamMalayalam languageMalayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
. - ViswasahityavijnanakosamViswasahityavijnanakosamViswasahityavijnanakosam is an encyclopedia of world literature in the Malayalam language. It is intended "to give an up-to-date picture of world literature." Currently 7 of the 10 volumes have been published. It is published by the State Institute of Encyclopaedic Publications ....
, An encyclopediaEncyclopediaAn encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
on world literatureWorld literatureWorld literature refers to literature from all over the world, including African literature, American literature, Arabic literature, Asian literature, Australasian literature, Caribbean Literature, English literature, European literature, Indian literature, Latin American literature, Persian...
in MalayalamMalayalam languageMalayalam , is one of the four major Dravidian languages of southern India. It is one of the 22 scheduled languages of India with official language status in the state of Kerala and the union territories of Lakshadweep and Pondicherry. It is spoken by 35.9 million people...
. - Web edition of Vijnanakosam volumes,Intended to the reach general public, free of cost. The site uses a MediawikiMediaWikiMediaWiki is a popular free web-based wiki software application. Developed by the Wikimedia Foundation, it is used to run all of its projects, including Wikipedia, Wiktionary and Wikinews. Numerous other wikis around the world also use it to power their websites...
platform allows public to contribute.
Future 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.
- 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.
- 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.