UNESCO Regional Workshop on the Creation of Southeast Asia Web, CDNLAO Newsletter 38

No. 38, June 2000

(News from the National Library of Malaysia)

Memory of the World:
UNESCO Regional Workshop
on the Creation of Southeast Asia Web

The Memory of the World Programme was established by UNESCO in 1992 to protect and promote the world's documentary heritage. It defined the Programme as a new approach to the safeguarding of endangered documentary heritage, the demonstration of access and wider dissemination. With the realisation that countries of Southeast Asia have tremendous collections of cultural heritage which need to be preserved in digitized form to enable global access to the information, a UNESCO Regional workshop on the creation of the Memory of the World - Southeast Asia Web was held in Kuala Lumpur on 4th - 9th October 1999. The workshop was launched by The Hon. Deputy Minister of Education Dato'Dr. Fong Chan Onn representing The Hon. Minister of Education Malaysia, Dato'Sri Mohd. Najib Tun Haji Abdul Razak on 4th October 1999 at the Auditorium, National Library of Malaysia. The move will hopefully ensure wide dissemination of the Southeast Asian heritage whilst complementing the Memory of the World website.

The objectives of the workshop are as follows:
(a) To document and preserve the region's cultural heritage using new technologies.
(b) To create a website on documentary heritage according to standards.
(c) To provide global access to documentary heritage of Southeast Asia region.
(d) To support Memory of the World Programme for the region.

For the year 1999, Perpustakaan Negara Malaysia (National Library of Malaysia) had hosted 21 participants in a workshop under this programme. Participants from Southeast Asian countries namely Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, Vietnam and Malaysia had benefited from this workshop. Ms. Delia Torrijos, a UNESCO Consultant who was instrumental in the activities of the Memory of the World Programme in the Asia/Pacific Region and Mrs. Lilly Suriani Affandey, a lecture with the Faculty of Computer Science and Information Technology, Universiti Putra Malaysia had facilitated throughout the workshop.

At the end of workshop a prototype website on documentary heritage for each of the country participated was successfully created and developed. Participants were encourage and expected to improve, enhance the website with added relevant information, graphics and music. The improved websites will eventually be linked to the website of Asia/Pacific Regional Committee for Memory of the World Programme. The task of creating and developing it will be taken by the Secretariat of the Malaysian National Committee of the Memory of the World which is designated to National Archives of Malaysia.

The workshop was a success. Apart from working hard learning and acquiring skills in creating website the participants were entertained with sight seeing, dinners and cultural performance.