ARCHIVES
Planned and designed by Ms. Gita Balachandran, former librarian and first Archivist of the College, Stellarchives is a state-of-the-art archive and has been fully operational since June 2012. The project, initiated in 2008, had the support of Dr. Sr. Helen Vincent fmm, former Principal and Sr. Susan Matheikal fmm, Superior of the convent at the time, and Dr. Sr. Jasintha Quadras fmm, the then Principal. The pioneers in this undertaking included Dr. Agnes Fernando, Associate Professor, Department of English and Dr. Sr. Francisco Nirmala fmm, Assistant Professor, Department of Physics. In 2018 Sr. Jabamalai Eruthayaraj fmm took over the establishment as the Archivist.
Located on the mezzanine floor of the Stella Maris College Library, the Stellarchives collects, stores and preserves information and knowledge pertaining to the College from its inception to the present day. It also houses artefacts of antiquity in the form of coins, and fairly old stamps from different con- tinents. Information is preserved in different formats: books, magazines, journals, newspapers, record- ings, paintings, drawings, digital databases and many more.
The archive area comprises a wood and glass paneled room, with shelves and cupboards for storage and an adjoining office space. The room has a distinctive appearance and ambience, with dark teak and rosewood racks and shelves, and the perfumes of oils and herbs imbuing the space with a sense of the grandeur of a civilization through the ages. The temperature and humidity are controlled by means of air conditioners, dehumidifiers and monitored by digital hygro thermometers. The shelves are brushed with lemon grass oil, and special herbs packed in pouches are tucked into corners all measures to preserve the contents of the room and keep the artefacts safe from decay.
