This paper aims to examine how archival and cultural institutions in India organize the preservation of literary materials within emerging digital infrastructures. Drawing on insights from memory studies, archival theory and digital media studies, the study conceptualizes these institutions as mnemonic infrastructures that shape how literary memory becomes visible, legitimate and retrievable within digitally mediated environments. The research investigates how institutional mandates influence the preservation of print heritage, electronic literature and other forms of literary expression within digital repositories.
The study adopts a qualitative and comparative research design combining thematic analysis and qualitative content analysis. Data were collected between 2024 and 2025 through three phases of semi-structured interviews and institutional document analysis involving stakeholders from the National Archives of India, Sahitya Akademi, the Indira Gandhi National Center for the Arts, the Central Institute of Indian Languages and related digital initiatives. Institutional mission statements, policy documents and repository frameworks were analyzed to examine how archival vocabularies, mandates and technological infrastructures shape digital preservation practices.
The findings indicate that institutional approaches to digital preservation remain strongly influenced by print-based archival traditions. Most initiatives prioritize the digitization of print literary materials, while born-digital literary forms such as electronic literature remain underrepresented in institutional repositories. Institutional mandates also shape how literary memory is framed, with archival agencies emphasizing historical documentation and cultural identity.
The paper contributes to digital library research by offering a comparative institutional framework for understanding how literary memory is organized within digital preservation initiatives.
