A Study on Historically Valuable Ceylon Blue Book Collection in the Library, University of Ruhuna.

Abstract

The Ceylon blue book was published in the 19th and 20th centuries when Sri Lanka was under British rule. It is a government publication and was published to showcase the colonial progress during the said period. The book is called the blue book for its cover is blue in color. This study analyzed the content of blue books in the Ceylon Blue books collection in the library of the University of Ruhuna. There are 80 books published from 1876 to 1937 under government regulations. This report was produced annually to the British Government by the governor of Ceylon through the secretary for the crown colony. The content is contributed by the Department of Registrar General, Department of census and statistics, Department of commerce and industries etc. The publication covers social, political, economic, and historical data and statistics relevant to different events happened in the country within a particular year. It also includes data related to Agriculture, Manufacture, transportation, education, population & statistics, military expenditure, government railway, irrigation work, shipping, currency & banking, export & import. The data are arranged by the province. The content is in English and includes diagrams where necessary. These have a history running back to 150 years and include a beneficial collection of information for scholars. The preservation of blue books is currently challenged and digitalization of contents can be a possible solution.