UNESCO is implementing 'Memory of the World' Programme to preserve and use documentary heritage which is in danger of being damaged or disappeared forever, though the documentary heritage is important to carry over the culture of mankind. For the aims...
UNESCO is implementing 'Memory of the World' Programme to preserve and use documentary heritage which is in danger of being damaged or disappeared forever, though the documentary heritage is important to carry over the culture of mankind. For the aims of the Programme, the list of documentary heritage all over the world is being made and effective methods of preservation are being arranged. In keeping pace with the effort, the Republic of Korea listed six heritages on the World Documentary Heritage : The Hunmin Chongum Manuscript, The Annuals of the Choson Dynasty, Baegun hwasang chorok buljo jikji simche yojeol in woodblocks, Seungjeongwon Ilgi(the Diaries of the Royal Secretariat), Uigwe(The Royal Protocols of the Joseon Dynasty), Printing woodblocks of the Tripitaka Koreana and miscellaneous Buddhist Scriptures. However, there have been many difficulties in applying for registration due to ambiguity in criteria for registration and assessment criteria favorable for the Western countries, though the interest for the of the Memory of the World Programme is becoming high as time passes.
This study aims to suggest recommendations for improvement by finding out the problems shown in the selection criteria for Memory of the World through analyzing to which degree current listed Memory of the World are in accordance with the criteria for registration on the guideline by UNESCO. The scope of analyzation includes the criteria like time, form and style, theme, original form and original copy, international influence etc. among selection criteria for the Memory of the World. These criteria leads to objective judgement. But some criteria with which objective judgement might be difficult were excluded. The location of documentary heritage is limited to Europe and North America.
It is shown through the analysis that some of the current listed Memory of the World is not old in time, which is against our general thinking of Memory of the World is all old ones. The form of many documentary heritage is manuscript, but considerable quantity of them are in the form of audiovisual materials which are modern media. Besides, documentary heritage in the form of various media have been registered. The analysis on theme of documentary heritage was limited only to historical and geographical aspects, though the themes of documentary heritage are various without any limitation. In the criteria of original form and original copy, many documentary heritage maintain their original form and are original copy, but there are documentary heritage which do not maintain their original form or are copies, not original. Though, In principle, It is required to influence internationally, there are some documentary heritage which influence regionally or nationally. Especially private documentary heritage has international influence.
Based on the analysis, the problems, such as the ambiguity of terms on selection criteria, the absence of registration scope and judgement criteria and the subjective involvement in the assesment process were pointed out.
Recommendations for improvement are to clarify the boundary between documentary heritage and cultural heritage like tangible heritage crystallizing terms and concepts, to specify that selection criteria does not require only old documentary heritage, and to arrange substantive supporting clauses suggesting 'scope of media of documentary heritage(plan)', 'detailed clauses on influence as one of selection criteria(plan)' and 'detailed clauses for examination on original form(plan)'. Finally, to minimize the subjective factor in selection criteria, establishment of tentative list and activation of regional committee were suggested.