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In this study, a trial has been made to design a website of a clay doll making unit of Ghurni, Krishnanagar. Earthen dolls and toys occupy an important place in clay crafts which can be grouped under several district categories. Dolls of Krishnanagar of Nadia district refer to clay modeling of Krishnanagar, as an art admired by Maharaja Krishna Chandra in the late 18th century. This art form is about three hundred years old and artisans have been awarded for their work exhibited in different national and international exhibitions. The themes for these dolls are borrowed from various societies of India. The social life of the people belonging to different castes and dresses are depicted in a clear and precise manner. Not only Krishnanagar, but also whole Nadia district is basically famous for clay doll products. But this is a completely unorganized sector. Three areas are involved in clay doll making at Krishnanagar: Ghurni, Kumorpara and Sasthitala. Except Ghurni, the other two areas are basically engaged in making clay model of Hindu gods and goddesses and also dolls made on dice. But traditional handicraft of Ghurni is exceptionally and internationally famous for modeling human figures which are not only lifelike but are also endowed with a mood and character of the typical specimens of the particular class. But now-a-days this sector is facing competition as other alternative products of doll making are coming to the market. Another problem to this business is that these clay dolls are easily breakable for which transport cost increases reducing the profit of the doll makers. To overcome such constraints or problems of the system, some solutions are suggested which can be considered as viable alternatives to the problems and in our opinion, if these can be followed, the system will run in a much better way.
1.1 SCOPE AND COVERAGE: The scope of this study is confined to the artists of mrit silpa in Ghurni. Ghurni is a neighborhood of Krishnanagar in Nadia district in the Indian state of West Bengal. It is the centre for the production of clay dolls, often referred to as Krishnanagar clay models. Ghurni is located at 23.25° N 88.34° E on the banks of the Jalangi River. It can be reached from Kolkata by either train (100 km (62 mi)) or bus (118 km (73 mi)). Krishnanagar City is part of Kolkata Suburban Railway on the Sealdah – Naihati – Ranaghat – Krishnanagar line. Journey time is 2½ hours and one can return the same day. Cycle rickshaws are available for travel within the city. Krishnanagar mrit silpa artists spread in three parts hereditarily. First and foremost part is called ‘Ghurni’, another part is Kumorpara Shasthitala and the third is spread Rathtala near Krishnanagar Rajbari. I cover only Ghurni area for my work as most of the artists live here and this area is more famous than the other area. 1.2 LITERATURE SEARCH: Here it particularly refers to the activity of the clay model artists. Before these study Mr. Sudhir Chakraborti, (Prof. of Krishnanagar Govt. College) studied on mritshilpi at Ghurni, after that he wrote Krishnanagar mritshilpi o mritshilpi Samaj in 1985. But I have tried to pick up present condition of clay model artists and design a web site on it. 1.3 OBJECTIVES: The principal objectives of the study are as follows: a) To identify the present condition of the artists. b) To identify the present information seeking behaviours and type of information channels. c) To know how they collect their raw materials and where they sell their product. d) To know their origins, skill and economic condition. e) To know the availability of different kinds of resources for information used by them. f) To suggest new forms, techniques for their improvement. 1.4 HYPOTHESIS: The goal of this study is investigate the artist’s use of information to support their process of inquiry and it increase their efficiency on the clay model. This study is designed to explore the following questions:- 1) How do the artists seek and obtain information and what are the related issues? 2) What factors influences the artist’s information seeking behaviour? 1.5 METHODOLOGY: For designing such an website on this unorganized sector, information was collected following field survey. The survey was mainly based on Ghurni and data was collected through questionnaire method and direct interview method. The type of questions was of open type, as open questions are general questions that establish a person’s view point on the particular subject. A simple questioner is prepared by me and after reaching the place I distributed this questioner among the clay model artists (Most of the model artists were engaged with clay model, but now they are evolved with other model work like bronze model, plaster of paris model, cement model etc. so I distributed questioner to the all clay model artists who are involved with other models now.) and also I asked them some questions. After collecting the answer sheet I analysis it through charts and diagrams. To fulfill this study the population random sampling method is also arranged, which was systematic random sampling method. 1.6 LIMITATION: There are varies limitation of this work. Because the questionnaire based survey is maximum time consuming, expensive, the target population are not always known about the difficult questions prepared for them. Consequently they some time pick up alternative assumedly. There always some gapes existed between the current development and respondents. I could not able to collect all type of information or data because the lack of information accordance with the requirement. Some time artists are not wiling to give proper information. In spite of the narrowness, this present work will be helpful to the topic relevant user(s).
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