CURATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CULTURAL HERITAGE THROUGH LIBRARIES

Libraries, museums and archives hold valuable collections in a variety of media, presenting a vast body of knowledge rooted in the history of human civilisation. These form the repository of the wisdom of great works by thinkers of past and the present. The holdings of these institutions are priceless heritage of the mankind as they preserve documents, ideas, and the oral and written records. To value the cultural heritage and to care for it as a treasure bequeathed to us by our ancestors is the major responsibility of libraries. The past records constitute a natural resource and are indispensable to the present generation as well as to the generations to come. Libraries preserve the documentary heritage resources for which they are primarily responsible. Any loss of such materials is simply irreplaceable. Therefore, preserving this intellectual, cultural heritage becomes not only the academic commitment but also the moral responsibility of the librarians/information scientists, who are in charge of these repositories. The high quality of the papers and the discussion represent the thinking and experience of experts in their particular fields. The contributed papers also relate to the methodology used in libraries in Asia to provide access to manuscripts and cultural heritage. The volume discusses best practices in Knowledge preservation and how to collaborate and preserve the culture. The book also deals with manuscript and archives issues in the digital era. The approach of this book is concise, comprehensively, covering all major aspects of preservation and conservation through libraries. The readership of the book is not just limited to library and information science professionals, but also for those involved in conservation, preservation, restoration or other related disciplines. The book will be useful for librarians, archivists and conservators. We thank the Sunan Kalijaga University, Special Libraries Association- Asian Chapter for their trust and their constant support, all the contributors for their submissions, the members of the Local and International Committee for their reviewing effort for making this publication possible

Opening Access to Digital Collections: The State of Cultural Materials in Indonesian Higher Education Institutions

This paper discusses the issue of opening access to digitized cultural heritage materials by examining the current state of their digital collections at the Indonesian higher education (HE) institutions in terms of their accessibility to the users. The accessibility is based on the online presence of the university libraries and the ability of the websites to provide sufficient information about the cultural heritage collections from the perspectives of the users. Eight Indonesian HE institutions with cultural heritage collections were identified. However, they have not been able to provide sufficient or explicit information on the cultural heritage collections online, including information on what collections are available, the basic descriptions of the items, and what users can do with the material. Therefore, raising awareness among Indonesian HE institutions, particularly the libraries, on the importance of opening access to cultural heritage collections is required

Restorasi Arsip di KHP Widyabudaya Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat

Kawedanan Hageng Punakawan (KHP) Widyabudaya sebagai salah satu unit yang bertugas untuk mengelola arsip statis di wilayah Kraton Ngayogyakarta Hadiningrat, menyimpan setidaknya 1,8 juta manuskrip kertas. Unit tersebut mengelola manuskrip dari era Sri Sultan Hamengku Buwana VII hingga IX. Sebagian besar manuskrip tersebut telah mengalami sejumlah deteriorasi berat dan memiliki kerusakan baik secara fisik maupun kimiawi. Akan tetapi, unit tersebut tidak memiliki arsiparis ataupun konservator tetap untuk secara rutin mengelola manuskrip-manuskrip tersebut. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk mengidentifikasi dan menganalisis jenis kertas yang mengalami deteriorasi dan diberikan tindakan laminasi, pengaruh karakter kertas dalam menentukan metode restorasi, serta sejumlah dinamika dan tantangan pemberian tindakan laminasi pada proses restorasi arsip di KHP Widyabudaya. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan melakukan pengambilan data via observasi partisipatif, wawancara, dan kajian pustaka. Data yang terkumpul dari observasi lapangan dan wawancara diseleksi, dianalisis, dan selanjutnya dikategorikan dalam sejumlah pola tertentu dengan pendekatan deskriptif analitis. Identifikasi selama proses restorasi menunjukkan setidaknya terdapat 5 jenis kertas yang mengalami kerusakan. Teknik restorasi yang digunakan seperti aplikasi tisu Jepang pada pemberian tindakan laminasi disesuaikan dengan variasi karakter kertas. Tantangan klasik ada dalam bentuk keterbatasan jumlah konservator sekaligus infrastruktur. Sebagai akibatnya, modifikasi SOP nasional dilakukan untuk menyesuaikan dinamika organisasi meskipun belum tertulis secara formal. Selain itu, target restorasi pertahun jarang tercapai. Membuat prosedur tertulis di tingkat institusi, merekrut sukarelawan, dan memberikan pelatihan pada Abdi Dalem dapat menjadi alternatif dukungan untuk mengatasi tantangan. Dukungan tersebut penting untuk segera diberikan mengingat KHP Widyabudaya menyimpan jutaan arsip bersejarah dari Keraton Ngayogyakarta