[Feature: Perspectives on Digital Archives] Yukihiro Fukushima: A Sketch of Digital Archives

2024/11/05

Digital archives. Have you ever encountered this term? For me, having been interested in them for a long time and now making them my primary research subject, it feels as though communities, local governments, universities, and companies all over the world are building and operating digital archives (though I am well aware this is a grand illusion). However, even if there are readers who have never encountered the term, the number of digital archives being built continues to increase year by year. Furthermore, their utility is becoming widely understood.

So, what is a digital archive? To explain it very simply and perhaps a bit crudely, I believe it is acceptable to call a specific collection of digital information—among the vast amount of digital information overflowing in society—that is provided through a system ensuring long-term access and utilization, a digital archive. The reason I am using such a roundabout phrasing here is that I believe a clear definition of a digital archive does not yet exist.

The term "digital archive" is a Japanese-coined English phrase created in the early 1990s by a group led by Yoshio Tsukio, then a professor at the University of Tokyo. I consider it almost synonymous with what is called "digital cultural heritage" overseas. This was a stage when the US and the EU were launching their respective visions for the future in anticipation of the arrival of the internet society. Within that context, as part of Japan's global strategy, the term "digital archive" was given to the concept of digitizing and preserving the world's important cultural heritage using Japan's then-cutting-edge technological capabilities and abundant funds.

Currently, digital archives in Japan have become easier to find starting from Japan Search. This Japan Search is described as a "platform that links with digital archives in a wide range of fields in Japan, allowing users to search, browse, and utilize diverse content collectively," operated by the Secretariat of Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters, Cabinet Office, and the National Diet Library. Here, "you can find content held by institutions such as libraries, museums, art museums, archives, universities, research institutes, government agencies, and local governments," and utilization is possible according to the licenses indicated on each content page.

When examining the current state of digital archives, the perspective of preparedness for large-scale disasters has become important. Anywhere has the potential for a region-wide disaster like the Great East Japan Earthquake. Even on a daily basis, there is always a risk that materials passed down until now will vanish due to fires or floods. Even if it is impossible to recover lost materials, by digitizing them, it is possible to preserve even a small part of that information and pass it on to future generations. Building digital archives is also a disaster prevention measure looking toward post-disaster reconstruction. Furthermore, by digitizing materials that deteriorate easily, such as ancient documents and photographs, the greatest risk to materials—damage or deterioration caused by viewing the originals—can be mitigated.

One field that has attracted attention in recent years in relation to digital archives is Digital Humanities. Digital Humanities is a new trend in the humanities that combines traditional humanities fields with methods from information science and data analysis, and it is expected to enable more advanced research. With the rise of Digital Humanities, the importance of digital archives, which provide the target content and simultaneously serve as platforms for publishing results, is increasing further.

The construction and utilization of digital archives are progressing not only in prefectures and universities but also in municipalities across the country. For example, initiatives to digitize and publish local historical materials and cultural properties are being carried out in various locations. This not only allows local residents to easily engage with their own history and culture but is also utilized as a resource for cultural tourism and regional education.

As a result of the penetration of digital archives, museums without reading rooms have finally appeared. Oamishirasato City in Chiba Prefecture was in a situation where there were no cultural facilities such as museums, archives, or art museums. Therefore, as a "measure to allow people to become familiar with cultural resources anytime, anywhere, and for free," the Oamishirasato City Digital Museum was launched in 2018 based on the concept of an "authentic digital museum proposed by a local government without a physical building." This museum activity, characterized by substantial content development and an active approach to school education, received a great response, and in March 2024, it was certified as a registered museum under the Museum Act. This is the first case in the country for an institution that publishes materials primarily on the internet. Previously, digitizing materials stored in physical libraries and museums was the primary method for building digital archives. However, from now on, as long as the core of museum activities—collecting, preserving, and utilizing materials and information—is protected, even a virtual museum can obtain legal status.

With the spread of digital archives, the question of who owns the content listed in them is emerging. Previously, it was taken for granted that the owner of the digitized materials or the creator of the digital content held exclusive rights to the content listed in the digital archive. However, digital archives have reached a stage where things cannot be reconciled under this positioning.

Behind this trend is the penetration of understanding regarding intellectual property rights, including copyright. It has become common sense among digital archive stakeholders and museum and library professionals to distinguish between ownership and copyright. Furthermore, when publishing digital archives, it has become a standard procedure to simultaneously provide rights notation, such as Creative Commons licenses. As a result, in many cases, for materials with no copyright issues, this works in the direction of significantly permitting the utilization of that content.

Additionally, while history has been advanced primarily by experts and scholars, the advent of digital archives has allowed citizens to participate more actively in the preservation and study of history. Minna de Honkoku (Transcription by Everyone), conducted through crowdsourcing, is a typical example. To utilize pre-modern historical materials written in cursive (kuzushiji), this project involves not only experts but many participants in the work of converting characters into modern type to make them easier to handle as data (transcription). In this case, the text data created by many participants continues to grow. By making materials widely available and accessible to anyone, we are witnessing a situation where the shared assets of history are growing daily through the involvement of various people.

These trends are in line with the process of turning physical materials into public goods. Works for faith or solemnity, and records for securing legitimacy, were created in places where resources and power were concentrated and were passed down within circles of power. However, since the modern revolutions, the property of royal families and aristocrats was liberated and museums were established, and modern citizens began to operate public libraries for mutual aid. Consequently, among physical materials, those considered to have particularly high public utility came to be opened to society as a whole as public goods, regardless of the current owner. The Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties is based exactly on this spirit. It could be said that this wave has finally reached digital archives as well.

Digital archives are acquiring the status of important public goods in modern society. By having a system that anyone can participate in and that guarantees long-term access and utilization, the circulation of knowledge is promoted, and new ideas are continuously born. Whether we can better manage the cycle of construction and utilization is, I believe, directly linked to the strengthening and sustainability of society's knowledge base.