National Library, SOAS ink pact on Nusantara manuscripts database

2 days ago

The National Library (Perpusnas) and the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) at the University of London have reached an agreement to work together on developing a comprehensive database of Nusantara manuscripts.

"The acting head of Perpusnas, E. Aminudin Aziz, stated in an official release from Jakarta on Monday that numerous Nusantara manuscripts are spread across the globe and need care to ensure their preservation."

During the contract signing event at the SOAS Building in England on Friday, Aminudin mentioned that the partnership focused on promoting Nusantara manuscripts is one of the top three initiatives for Perpusnas this year, alongside SOAS Dean of Humanities Graeme Earl.

In this partnership, Perpusnas aims to work with philologists to identify which manuscripts should be prioritized for digitization. Currently, there are 82 Nusantara manuscripts at SOAS that have yet to be digitized.

He went on to mention that the National Library is prioritizing three key initiatives: promoting a passion for reading, developing consistent reading habits, and enhancing literacy rates. Additionally, they are working on integrating Nusantara manuscripts and establishing library standards.

Separately, Ilana Webster-Kogen, who leads the Department at the SOAS School of Language, Culture, and Linguistics, mentioned that this partnership aims to facilitate the publication of numerous manuscripts that have been kept in storage for a long time.

"We need to establish a more detailed agreement regarding the process of digitizing manuscripts," stated Webster-Kogen.

She mentioned that the partnership between the two organizations focuses on libraries and the management of information.

The partnership will focus on enhancing expertise in philology and the examination of Indonesian manuscripts. This includes collaborative research and publishing efforts, as well as the identification and organization of Indonesian manuscripts located in England.

The team from the National Library that visited SOAS was headed by Aziz. He was joined by the chief secretary, Joko Santoso; the leader of the legal, organizational, cooperation, and public relations department, Sri Marganingsih; the head of general affairs, Chaerul Umam; and librarian Anastasia Linawati.

The group received a warm welcome from Webster-Kogen, the head of the SOAS Library, along with Rookaya Bawa and a number of other librarians from SOAS.

Related news: Perpusnas is working towards creating a unified database of Nusantara manuscripts. In other news: Indonesia's National Library has successfully preserved a total of 19,726 ancient texts.