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 The National Library and The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, at the SOAS Building, England. (Photo : Perpusnas) - 

VOInews, London : To realize one international data on Indonesian manuscripts, the National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (Perpusnas) has established partnerships with parties, both from within and outside the country.

This was done by signing a collaboration between the National Library and The School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) University of London, at the SOAS Building, England, on Friday (22/11/2024). The cooperation text was signed by Plt. Director of National Library E. Aminudin Aziz and Dean of Humanities SOAS Graeme Earl.

This collaboration is one of three National Library priority programs in 2024, namely mainstreaming Indonesian manuscripts. "Nusantara manuscripts are widely spread throughout the world and require attention for their sustainability," explained Plt. Head of National Library.

He added that there were 82 Nusantara manuscripts at SOAS that had not been digitized. "We will discuss with our philologists to determine which manuscripts should be digitized first," he continued.

It was stated that this year, the National Library is focusing on three priority programs, namely increasing the love of reading, building reading habits and increasing literacy, mainstreaming Indonesian manuscripts, and library standardization.

According to a release received by Voice of Indonesia on Monday November 25th 2024 in Jakarta, the National Library delegation to SOAS was led by Plt. The National Library was accompanied by Principal Secretary Joko Santoso, Head of Legal, Organization, Cooperation and Public Relations Bureau Sri Marganingsih, Head of General Affairs Chaerul Umam, and librarian Anastasia Linawati.

The group was welcomed by the Head of Department of the SOAS School of Languages, Culture and Linguistics, University of London Ilana Webster-Kogen, Head of SOAS Libraries Rookaya Bawa, as well as several SOAS librarians.

Meanwhile, Webster-Kogen expressed his delight at the collaboration that had been established. That way, saved manuscripts can be published widely. "We have to follow up on a more technical agreement, related to the process of digitizing manuscripts," he explained.

Collaboration between two agencies regarding the field of libraries and information management. The scope of cooperation includes increasing capacity in the field of philology and the study of Indonesian manuscripts; joint publications and research; and identification and cataloging of Indonesian manuscripts in England. Both parties agreed to continue collaborating in efforts to preserve manuscripts, especially Indonesian manuscripts//VOI