Frequently Asked Questions

What is the Rigsum Sherig Collection?

The Rigsum Sherig Collection is a suite of digital educational resources that do not require an Internet connection. The suite includes Wikipedia (the online encyclopedia), thousands of Khan Academy’s instructional videos, ebooks and audio books, exam banks, educational games, English and Dzongkha dictionaries and more.

Who can benefit from the Collection?

Any educational institution with computers, including schools (primary and secondary), colleges, training institutes and libraries, can benefit enormously from the Collection.

We do not have Internet in our school. Can we still use the Rigsum Sherig Collection?

Many schools have computers but do not have Internet, due to unavailability, high cost, or policy. Even in schools with Internet, the speed might be too slow. The Rigsum Sherig Collection is designed to be used offline. No Internet connection is required.

How much does it cost?

The Rigsum Sherig Collection is completely free. The resources are available for free on the Internet. They are also 100% legal. However, given the Internet connectivity and cost issues in Bhutan, it would be impossible for most organizations to avail of these resources by downloading from the Internet. The Collection makes it easy to obtain and install these resources on any computer.

Why does the Rigsum Institute provide this Collection for free?

The Rigsum Sherig Collection is a social responsibility project by the Rigsum Institute. Social responsibility is the idea that organizations and individuals have an obligation to act to benefit society at large. 

What are the computer requirements?

Most computers manufactured after 2006 can run the Sherig Collection. Here are the requirements:

Which resources are included in the collection?

The two main resources are Wikipedia and Khan Academy. Wikipedia is a free encyclopedia. We offer three collections of Wikipedia articles:

The Collection also includes Khan Academy, comprising of nearly 3,000 short videos (around 10 minutes each) in all areas of Math and Science. Using the videos requires a headset.

What other resources are included?

In addition to Wikipedia and Khan Academy, the Collection also includes:

See the complete list.

How can I avail of the Collection?

You are welcome to visit the Rigsum Research Lab or any of the locations listed on the Sherig Collection map, and copy the Collection to your external disk or pen drive, or to a laptop. You will need approximately 28 GB to copy the collection. You can then take the disk to your institute and install the resources on any Windows-based computer.

Can you send me the Collection by email? How can I download it?

The Collection size is approximately 28 GB, which is about 1000 times the size of the maximum email attachment allowed. It is thus impossible to attach the Collection by email. Downloading from the Internet can also take days and is thus impractical in many places. Copying the Collection using an external hard drive or pen drive is currently the only practical way to obtain the Collection.

Will the Collection run on a Mac computer?

Most of the resources in the Collection will only run on Windows. Mac users who run Windows on their machine (for example, using Parallels), should be able to use the Collection resources.