A Comparative Study of the Understanding of Undergraduates in the Knowledgebase on the Palm Leaf Manuscripts in Sri Lanka

Abstract

The recent advances in the information and technology world, have transformed the role of local and foreign education sectors. When considering the local education system, it is clear that the indigenous qualities we have inherited from our ancestors should be preserved in an era of decay. Indigenous knowledge is far more spoken of and holds higher value than just knowledge itself. Across the world, special attention is focused not just on knowledge, but on indigenous knowledge. Therefore, it must be acknowledged that the words and the ideas of the indigene are of great importance. Indigenous knowledge, rather than traditional knowledge, is a cultural heritage of every human society. Thus, indigenous knowledge is specific to a particular geographical area. That indicates that, the knowledge possessed by the people living within a certain geographical area or region is their traditional knowledge or indigenous knowledge. Sri Lanka: a country which has an ancient history in writing traditions preserves its uniqueness through palm leaf manuscripts. It can be considered that palm leaf manuscripts have vastly contributed in the process of presenting the local historical knowledge from generation to generation. The Palm Leaf Manuscripts contain a wealth of knowledge related to various subject areas. The research asked whether Sri Lankan university students were aware of Palm Leaf Manuscripts. It examined the students' understanding on why Palm Leaf Manuscripts are a locally valued heritage that should be preserved. A sample of undergraduates from the Department of Library and Information Science, History and Archeology from the University of Kelaniya was obtained for this purpose. The main data collection instrument used was the questionnaire method, and primary data was collected through distributing the questionnaire to the undergraduates of each department using the random sampling method. Secondary data was collected through the printed sources which were considered relevant to the research. Data analysis showed that they had a general understanding of Palm Leaf Manuscripts.