China Steps Up Digitization to Preserve Cultural Relics

China Steps Up Digitization to Preserve Cultural Relics China is increasing the use of digital methods to preserve its cultural relics and make them available to the general public.

Digitization seems to be the ideal solution when it comes to preserving cultural heritage. There are reports every day of organizations across the world taking the digital path to safeguard their country’s heritage through digitization and make the collection available online for present and future generations.

Museums, libraries, archives, photo and film archives, and centers for regional history are facilitating online access to their vast digital archives. Now, China has stepped up the use of digital methods to preserve its cultural relics. China’s cultural relics in its museums include valuable ancient art works, handicrafts, historical documents, books and much more.

Public Access to a National Database of Chinese Cultural Relics

According to a recent report, China is planning to create a national database of moveable cultural relics for online access and also involve the public in the preservation process. In 2013, China launched a nationwide census on its moveable cultural relics, covering more than 1.5 million public institutions. This investigation is expected to be completed in 2016. The initial stage of the pilot project which involved a survey of moveable cultural relics with government agencies, military and public institutions, has been completed. This year the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, the agency responsible for the www.managedoutsource.com

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development and management of museums and also the protection of cultural relics of national importance, will focus on identification and registration of items.

The challenge posed by such a project is immense. Xinhua reports that the number of cultural relics owned by China’s Palace Museum alone has surpassed 1.8 million. However, the museum curator says that a great deal of the collection has deteriorated and that proper restoration and preservation practices are necessary.

Digitizing and Preserving Cultural Relics

Historical documents in paper format or as photographs are subject to scanning and indexing. Digital image capture with digital cameras/scanners (non­touch) for still images would involve the creation of master files, image parameters, and digitization. Advanced scanning systems take high­quality images of books and perform various manipulations to convert them in optical character recognition (OCR) and compress them. The result is attractive printable versions of books that are also searchable. The cultural relic digitization drive in China will offer many benefits •

Make the material broadly accessible to a large segment of the population

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Make China’s diverse heritage clearly visible to the public

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Speed up search methods

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Preserve the collection for future generations

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Lessen the manual handling of fragile manuscripts

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Save storage space

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Electronically enhanced images can be viewed with greater legibility

The project is not without challenges. A local cultural relics surveyor reported that many institutions were not willing to declare what they have, although the government has said that the survey will not affect the ownership of the items. In addition to this, the lack of proper technology, professional personnel and funds are a problem. This is probably the reason why many institutions rely on professional document scanning services. Companies offering such services are well­equipped with the necessary technology and manpower to provide their clients with cost­effective solutions.

Preserving cultural heritage is essential to protect a sense of identity in this culturally diverse world. A virtual visit to a library or museum offers real­time online access to objects of cultural heritage. Archive, museums, libraries and cultural institutions in many countries are going digital to preserve their precious materials.

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