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No money for old books: Surakarta manuscript digitization left in limbo
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Preservation – Two employees of the Radya Pustaka Museum in Surakarta, Central Java, work to digitize an historic manuscript. The program to digitize all manuscripts at the museum has been left in limbo as the city administration has yet to pay out a promised grant of Rp 300 million. (thejakartapost.com/Ganug Nugroho Adi)
T
he digitization of manuscripts at the Radya Pustaka Museum in Surakarta, Central Java, has been halted as a Rp 300 million (US$22,731.60) grant promised by the municipal administration has not yet been disbursed.
So far, just 70 of around 400 manuscripts at the museum have been digitized since the program started in 2015; with limited recording instruments, the process is a slow one.
Radya Pustaka Museum committee chairman Purnomo Subagyo said digitization officers had only one camera able to transfer the analog version of the manuscripts into digital media. To digitize the remaining manuscripts, five such cameras are needed.
“We are still waiting for the grant from the Surakarta administration. According to the latest information we received, there has been a disposition letter [for the disbursement of the fund] from the Surakarta mayor,” Purnomo said on Thursday.
He added that the program was important for preserving old manuscripts. Once the digitization process is complete, visitors will be able to access the content of the manuscripts via an internet network provided by the museum.
“[Visitors] can read [the manuscripts] on computers. We will also provide touch-screens so that visitors don’t have to open the analog manuscripts,” said Purnomo.
Separately, Radya Pustaka manuscript digitization officer Kurnia Heniwati said that the program was prioritizing the most damaged manuscripts.
“This museum has 399 old manuscripts, mostly dating to the 18th century. Almost all of the manuscripts are damaged either on their bindings or their pages. The pages of several manuscripts could easily disintegrate if they're moved recklessly,” said Kurnia.
She added that manuscripts made from European-manufactured paper were very delicate and easily torn. As the digitization process has been halted, she added, museum officers were for now cleaning the manuscripts using a soft brush.
“Apart from the funding shortage, the limited number of translators and the poor condition of several manuscripts, which are heavily damaged, have also hampered the digitization process. The Serat Manikmoyo, an old manuscript consisting of 600 pages, has been so heavily damaged that it cannot be directly digitized,” said Kurnia.
Radya Pustaka has hundreds of manuscripts, with subjects including the history of the Surakarta Kingdom, wayang (leather puppets) and tosan aji (precious weapons) manufacturing techniques, the history of ceramics, a Javanese philosophical song known as macapat and dozens of rituals in the Javanese tradition. The two oldest manuscripts at the museum, which was built in 1890, are the Serat Yusuf (1729) and the Primbon Mangkuprajan (1755). (ebf)
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