Reviving History: WILMA Engages Youth in Ancient Manuscript Transcription in Yogyakarta

The Center for the Study of Islam and Society (PPIM) at UIN Jakarta, in collaboration with the Wikimedia Foundation, and Wikimedia Indonesia organized a training event on the Transcription of Nusantara Manuscripts as part of the Wikisource Loves Manuscripts (WILMA) project on July 25, 2024 as a follow up of the previous initiatives held in Jakarta. The event, held at the Balai Bahasa Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta, involved 25 student participants from various universities such as UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta, Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta State University (UNY), Semarang State University (UNNES), and Ahmad Dahlan University (UAD) Yogyakarta. This event was also fully supported by the Jangkah (Jagongan Naskah) Nusantara Community and the Balai Bahasa Daerah Istimewa Yogyakarta.

As a city with a rich literary and cultural heritage, many ancient manuscripts are still preserved by the community in Yogyakarta. In 2023, the WILMA pilot project successfully digitized 34 manuscripts, equivalent to 9,479 pages in Yogyakarta. These manuscripts are now accessible to the public through the Wikisource and WILMA website.

Digitization is not the end of the preservation effort. It is merely the first step in making these ancient manuscripts useful for the public and advancing knowledge in the present, accessible to anyone, anywhere, at any time, therefore, we initiated a movement involving the younger generation who care about local scripts as part of their cultural identity to make use of the digitized ancient manuscripts, especially here in Yogyakarta – Abdullah Maulani, Community Coordinator for WILMA Pilot in Indonesia & Researcher from PPIM UIN Jakarta.

As part of the cultural community in Yogyakarta, this event fosters a new spirit in our efforts to preserve manuscripts and culture in our birthplace, this activity demonstrates a synergistic continuity between manuscript owners, conservators, and the younger generation after the digitization and preservation activities are completed – Muhammad Bagus Febriyanto, Chairman of the Jangkah Nusantara Community & Lecturer at UIN Sunan Kalijaga Yogyakarta.

We appreciated the involvement of the younger generation in the preservation of ancient Nusantara manuscripts and hoped that Wikisource could be a useful platform for studying these manuscripts while making them accessible to everyone worldwide – Sakti Pramudya, Senior Partnerships Manager of the Wikimedia Foundation for the ESEAP region.

The event was facilitated by Benny Lin, an activist from the Indonesian Wikisource Community. The training covered introductions to Wikisource programs, setting up computer keyboards with Javanese scripts, transcribing ancient manuscripts, and proofreading the transcriptions. The event successfully transcribed 48 pages of ancient Javanese language and script manuscripts digitized by WILMA in Yogyakarta. The Babad Diponegoro manuscript, recognized as a Memory of the World collection, was utilized for this training.

In line with the spirit of the WILMA Learning Partners Network, we hope the event demonstrates how Wikisource can be an excellent platform to preserve heritage and culture. If you are interested in being a part of the WILMA Learning Partners Network, sign up here to join the network and contribute to the next cohort.