opinion

Humankind develops with the past as foundation.

Diverse aspects of human life, valuable scientific and technological achievements, significant political events, national cultural heritage and many others are handed down to posterity through such audiovisual data as documentary heritage elements.

Accordingly, the preservation and management of documentary heritage constitutes a field requiring the deep concern of not only experts but the state and public circles.

UNESCO included the protection of audiovisual heritage, as well as documentary heritage, in the Memory of the World Programme and has conducted a variety of activities to arouse international interest in it.

In the DPRK late last year, experts from relevant sectors held a symposium aimed at acquiring international experience and techniques for the preservation and use of documentary heritage to improve this work, under the sponsorship of the Grand People’s Study House.

The symposium focused on the definition and operation of documentary repositories in the context of the sustainable preservation and use of documentary heritage.

The participants shared their opinions about the concept and purpose of those repositories and their types and functions and had a systematic discussion on the key issues arising in the management of the repositories and management models.

The event was a real help to heightening the participants’ awareness of the protection and use of documentary heritage based on the digitized repositories, which are actively promoted on a global scale.

Today, the preservation of documentary heritage is being carried on by way of taking national legal and administrative measures so that the museums, libraries and archives can be integrated.

In addition, the Digital Strategy for Information Sustainability(PERSIST) has been developed and applied to enable people to access and use documentary heritage and to effectively prevent disasters at any time and in any place on the Internet through the digitization of documentary heritage.

In positive cooperation with UNESCO, the Grand People’s Study House translated and published the UNESCO book “Towards Sustainable Preservation and Accessibility of the Documentary Heritage”. It is part of the efforts of the DPRK paying close attention to the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage to make an in-depth study of them.

On the basis of united efforts, measures ensuring the lasting accessibility of documentary heritage will be taken more quickly and more effectively.

Ri Jong Chol, section chief of the Grand People’s Study House