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ndonesia'€™s oldest university, Gadjah Mada University (UGM), in Yogyakarta, hasgathered more than 70,000 documents in its archive collection since the institution'€™sarchive department was established in 2004.

During 10 years, the university has documented 57,784 pieces of text, 20,678photographs, 1,495 audio tapes and around 2,000 videos. Cartography as well asarchitectural and technical blueprints are also included in the vastcollection.

'€œArchived documents serve as the collective memories of a nation that is ableto connect the past and the present. It'€™s just a shame that the importance ofthese documents is not grasped by the government or the public,'€ UGM archivedepartment head Machmoed Effendhie told The Jakarta Post on Friday.

Machmoed mentioned that one of the more interesting documents available in thearchives included a document detailing the civil contributions of UGM'€™s academicsin the past, such as the role of professor Notonagoro in the development of Pancasila.

'€œThe archives act as a bridge from past to present. A generation that abandonsor has no interest in its history is a generation that will never achieve greatness,'€Machmoed added.

Meanwhile, UGM executive secretary Gugup Kismono agreed that the preservationof history through the archives was vital for the future and was something thatshould not be underestimated or looked down upon.

'€œThese archives are so important to us, so we have employed specialists to sortand take care of specific topics,'€ Gugup said.

The UGM archives, along with the archives at the University of Indonesia,are well regarded by the international community as the collections of botheducational institutions are members of the International Council Archives(ICA) international university research archive section. (dyl/dic)