Chiang Mai University Digital Collections CMU Library

History and Founding

Chiang Mai University (CMU), established by Royal Charter in January 1964, was the first university in northern Thailand and the first provincial university in the country. The CMU Library has developed extensive digital collections to preserve and provide open access to the unique cultural and scholarly heritage of the Lanna region and Northern Thailand. The digital preservation program expanded significantly in the late 1980s and 1990s, including participation in the Preservation of Northern Thai Manuscripts Project (PNTMP) from 1987 to 1991.

Collections and Holdings

The Chiang Mai University Digital Collections portal offers access to several major categories of digitized materials. The Lanna collection covers topics including Lanna dance, food, lacquerware, music, pottery, and traditional practices, with over 1,150 items. The Rare and Manuscript section includes over 1,160 heritage manuscripts, 853 maps, rare journals, Thai notated music, and rare newspapers. CMU Archives documents the institutional history of the university, including faculty archives, council records, and commencement programs. The library also provides access to electronic theses, dissertations, and open access journal articles.

Notable Materials

The digital collections include rare newspapers, historical maps of northern Thailand, heritage manuscripts in Lanna script and Pali (some dating to the 15th century), and unique audio and visual records related to the cultural traditions of the Lanna kingdom. The CMU Library also collaborated with international projects to digitize Northern Thai manuscripts and make them available through platforms such as the Digital Library of Northern Thai Manuscripts.

Access and Usage

The collections are freely accessible online at cmudc.library.cmu.ac.th. Materials are available in Thai and English. Physical consultation of originals may be arranged through the CMU Library.