Due to high cost of paper and ink most of the manuscripts, in south Asia, were written without spaces between the words where the script allowed such arrangement. This makes the reading of such material quite difficult for a novice. Manuscripts are defined by the inscription technique as explained above, and not by their content, which may variously contain text, graphics, maps, figures, illustrations, etc... Manuscripts may be in the form of loose pages tied together, bound or in codex format. The study of the writing in manuscripts is termed paleography and the study of manuscripts themselves manuscriptology.

Significance
Manuscripts, like any other treasure of literature, are the mirror of that age. More so, as they include pieces of history beyond a plain pattern of printed text. Manuscripts are livelier than any other piece of written literature and art. They give us a wide glimpse into their age of inscription, encompassing the culture, history, art, script, calligraphy, language, social, political and economic states of the time. They are also indirect records of the state of technology, paper quality, ink, embellishment, binding material and techniques popular and available and the time, and give us an inside view of the stages of development and advancements in the thought and literature in their particular epoch. Such a rich repository of the past definitely deserves a well defined policy and practice of handling and preservation in order to prolong their viability as long as possible.

Need for Digitization
Like any materials, manuscripts are prone to ageing and deterioration. Most of the manuscripts are paper based, which has a naturally limited life despite preservation practices. Manuscripts are affected by myriad factors such as time, weather, temperature, humidity, fire, water, insects, bugs and human negligence or destruction.. Although the exact spirit and techniques of the originals cannot be genuinely replicated in physical form, the information contained in the form of text and graphics can be preserved in the digital form. The practice of digitization transforms the physical analog data into a virtual digital equivalent of the same that can be displayed on a computer screen or reproduced on any other physical material through printing. This allows for the information contained in a manuscript to survive long after the original is gone, while also increasing the ways in which anyone can access and utilize that information. This is where the digitization has the most important role to play.