Buddhist Digital Resource Center

Joining digital technology with scholarship, BDRC ensures that the ancient wisdom and cultural treasures of the Buddhist literary tradition are not lost, but are made available for future generations.

BDRC also has international offices in New Delhi, India and Kathmandu, Nepal, and is linked to the E. Gene Smith Library at Southwest University for Nationalities in Chengdu, China.

[3] In 1968 the U.S. Library of Congress hired Smith as a field director in New Delhi where he worked on the Food for Peace humanitarian effort Public Law 480.

[3] In 1997 Smith retired from the Library of Congress and began working to implement his vision of making the preserved texts accessible using the new scanning and digitization technologies that were, at that time, just beginning to become available.

[6] BDRC's work was recognized by the 17th Karmapa Ogyen Trinley Dorje in a letter offering his support, gratitude, and prayers.

[10] Gene Smith's life and TBRC were the subject of the 2012 documentary Digital Dharma, directed by Dafna Yachin of Lunchbox Communications.

"[11] In summer 2012 BDRC relocated back to Harvard Square in Cambridge, Massachusetts, where the staff hand-picked by Smith continues its ongoing mission to preserve and provide access to Tibetan literature.