Exploring the current state of digitisation and factors contributing to the establishment of a National Digital Cultural Heritage Repository (NDCHR) in Malaysia

Abstract

In today information society, users expect services that allow them to retrieve information by subject. Their main concern is to obtain access to the sources and to make use of them, regardless of the different institutions involved. This could be achieved with the establishment of a central repository for digital cultural heritage information. The establishment of the repository allow users to search and retrieve information from one dedicated source. The development of a central repository for local cultural heritage information would enhance global community’s understanding about the nation’s culture and become a reference point for the world to access information and knowledge about the country. The establishment of the central repository requires full cooperation and collaboration between the different types of cultural institutions. In Malaysia, such central repository for digital cultural heritage information is not yet available or be in existence. Thus, this study attempts to explore the current state of digitisation initiatives in Malaysia and to investigate the feasibility of establishing a national digital cultural heritage repository (NDCHR) in Malaysia. The major concern of this study is to identify the factors that contribute towards the establishment of the repository. There are two phases involved in this study. In the first phase, an exploratory survey was conducted to examine the current state of cultural heritage information digitisation initiatives by cultural institutions in Malaysia. Sixty public cultural institutions as listed in the Ministry of Cultural, Art and Heritage directory involved in this phase. The second phase of this study intends to identify the needs to establish a national digital central repository for cultural heritage information and factors that contribute towards the establishment of the repository. For this purpose, the study employed the Delphi technique to elicit the experts’ opinions with regards to the subject matter. Finally, based on the conclusive outcomes of the experts’ deliberations, the study attempts to construct and propose a workable model for the establishment of a national digital cultural heritage repository centre for the nation.