Cultural Entropy on Digitizing Balinese Lontar Manuscripts: Overcoming Challenges and Seizing Opportunities

Abstract

The lontar manuscript as a documentation medium is highly vulnerable to rodent insects and high humidity levels. While on the other hand, the development of digital technology provides benefits in the preservation of manuscripts through digitization. Digitalization of manuscripts can preserve information and knowledge in the lontar palm leaf into digital form. However, much later emerged obstacles and other challenges in the process of managing the digital manuscript, in addition to technical matters such as the availability of supporting tools are also included lack of human resources. The biggest problem is that people can not use the digital manuscript because of the limitations in mastery the language and aksara (script) used in the palm leaf manuscript. Decreasing the knowledge and ability of the communities to read the manuscript can be caused by the process of modernization. The influence of globalization and modernization on the cultural life of the Balinese peoples led to the cultural entropy on the effort to preserve the lontar manuscript. Meanwhile, the main objective on the preservation activities is that the information contained in the manuscript can be used for a long time. But what would happen if the manuscript has been preserved in digital form, while people are not able to use it? Then we realized that preservation activities are not only dealing about preserving the information in the manuscript, the other things regarding the usefulness of the manuscript is also important to note. The conservation and preservation is no longer the work which only done by the library, but involves the community as the owners, together to preserve the lontar. Through these activities we are trying to re-popularized the lontar writing tradition, build an understanding of the importance of keeping the traditions of Balinese lontar manuscript. This was done through the lontar festival including the Balinese language and the aksara, lontar writing class regularly, unique and interesting lontar exhibition, etc. This activity can improve utilization and access to the manuscript, either physical or digital form. So that the manuscript digitization activities can be beneficial to the community. In the future, the manuscript preservation program can be a program that is more inclusive, synergistic and integrative.