Building Tomorrow’s Digital Legacy: Archiving, Preservation, and Visualization
Digital humanities: A bridge across time.
About Ayan
Ayan Chatterjee is a Doctoral Fellow at Jadavpur University’s School of Cultural Texts and Records, where he brings history to life through the digitization of manuscripts, paintings, and rare books. With deep expertise in Digital Archiving, Storytelling, and Humanities tech tools, he works at the vibrant intersection of heritage and innovation.
Ayan has contributed to some of the most influential digital humanities initiatives in India and beyond—including the British Library’s Endangered Archives Programme, Wikimedia’s Knowledge Equity Fund Community Archive Programme, and the digitization of archival collections at Victoria Memorial Hall, Kolkata. He is also a key contributor to the Shabdakalpa Project, a pioneering digital historical dictionary initiative.
He serves as the Joint Course Coordinator of the Postgraduate Certificate Course in Digital Humanities and Cultural Informatics and teaches Digital Humanities and New Media at Jadavpur University. Beyond academia, Ayan heads a consulting agency that empowers businesses with smart, future-ready digital strategies.
Digital Transformation and Digital Humanities
Digital Transformation and Digital Humanities represent the convergence of technology and cultural scholarship, reshaping the way we preserve, analyze, and engage with history, literature, and the arts. In today’s rapidly evolving digital landscape, these fields are driving innovation in academia, heritage preservation, and public education.
Preservation and Access
Interdisciplinary Research
Public Engagement and Education
Experience
Teaching Digital Humanities and Digital Media
(SCTR, Jadavpur University)
For the past two years, Ayan has taught Digital Humanities and Digital Media, focusing on Oral History, Digital Archiving, and Digital Communication Strategy. He also covers Web Development, helping students integrate digital tools with humanities research. His teaching emphasizes practical skills for digitizing and preserving cultural heritage. Additionally, Ayan has delivered training and lectures on Community Archives, Digital Humanities, and Digital Archiving at various colleges and institutions.
Digital Archivist
(SCTR, Jadavpur University)
Over the past five years, Ayan has led digital archiving projects at the School of Cultural Texts and Records, Jadavpur University, including the digitization of Bengal Chamber of Commerce trade reports and manuscripts at Victoria Memorial Hall. He employed advanced techniques in image processing, metadata creation, and digital preservation. Ayan also developed resources for digitizing Bengali poetry manuscripts and contributed to the digital archive of hockey legend Gurbux Singh.
Strategic Digital Marketing and Digital Branding Consultancy
(Co-Founder, Kreative Unlock)
As a cofounder of Kreative Unlock, Ayan has played a vital role over the last four years in crafting strategies for numerous brands. His team excels in web marketing, design, business strategy, social media, and copywriting. They provide tailored strategies that give brands a competitive edge, whether it's a website revamp, engaging content, or a comprehensive marketing plan. With a client-focused approach, they ensure that unique goals are met from concept to execution.
Memory, Archive, and Identity: Preserving Indigenous Heritage through Community Engagement
Funded by Wikimedia’s Knowledge Equity Fund, Ayan had the opportunity to travel across various regions of South Bengal and North Bengal during 2024–2025 as part of a capacity-building initiative focused on cultural heritage preservation. The primary aim of this academic engagement was to raise awareness among marginalized communities—including the Santali, Sabar, Birhore, Nepalese, Kurmi, Lepcha, Bhutia, Gorkha, and other indigenous and local groups—about the importance of preserving their unique cultural heritage. Through a series of lectures and hands-on sessions, Ayan introduced participants to budget-friendly archiving techniques, methods for digitizing rare and local materials, and the use of Wikisource to build open-access knowledge repositories. This initiative was designed to empower these communities with practical skills and digital tools to document, safeguard, and share their rich cultural narratives with the world.
International Workshops & Certifications
International Workshop on Collections Care in Libraries and Archives
International Workshop on Audio Preservation
International Workshop on 3D Photogrammetry and Cultural Heritage Object
International workshop on "The Archive as a Knowledge Site: The Experience of Europe and India
International Training Workshop on the Endangered Archives Programme
Music Archiving : Problems and Prospects
Digitisation Projects
The papers of the Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry Kolkata (EAP1525)
The digitization of BCC&I, Indian Tea, and Jute Mills annual reports offers invaluable resources for studying South Asia’s colonial history, politics, and economy, benefiting researchers and history enthusiasts.
Jibanananda Das Papers
The School of Cultural Texts & Records has digitized 100 manuscripts by Jibanananda Das, including his poetry, novels, and diaries, marking a significant advancement in digital humanities.
Victoria Memorial Hall Collections
The School of Cultural Texts & Records is digitizing the Victoria Memorial Hall’s collection, including rare manuscripts and paintings, now accessible online via the ‘JATAN: Virtual Museum Builder’ portal.
Gurbux Singh Collections
The School of Cultural Texts and Records is digitizing Gurbux Singh’s personal collection, including articles, writings, black-and-white photographic films, and artifacts, to preserve and share his field hockey legacy. consectetur adipiscing elit.
Educational Synopsis
Ayan is a Doctoral Fellow at Jadavpur University. His research interests include Digital Humanities, Public Humanities, and Architectural Humanities. Ayan’s academic journey integrates Media Studies with Digital Humanities. He holds a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Journalism and Mass Communication. His undergraduate project on “Censorship and Media” earned him the Academic Excellence Award. During his postgraduate studies, he submitted a significant dissertation titled “Electoral Reforms in India,” contributing to scholarly discussions on democratic processes.
Later, he joined the School of Cultural Texts and Records at Jadavpur University, where he pursued a Postgraduate Diploma in Digital Humanities and Cultural Informatics. As part of this program, he developed a student project titled “Jhulan Goswami: The Changing Face of Indian Women’s Cricket,” reflecting his interdisciplinary approach and interest in cultural narratives.
Certificate Course
Certificate course on Museum Studies,
Digital Transformation,International Business Management Institute (IBMI), Online
Issued: Mar 2023
