Building Bridges Between Memory of the World, the Academic World and Memory Institutions

Abstract

This chapter sketches out systematic approaches to the introduction of education and research relating to the Memory of the World (MoW) Programme into the academic world. One approach is to establish it within different academic disciplines. The chapter considers the range of academic disciplines beyond Heritage Studies, reflecting briefly on the project of Memory of the World Studies but mainly on the established disciplines. Here, History is seen as a discipline of outstanding significance. It shares with MoW an interest in “document literacy”, as this ability is indispensable to exploring and using sources (documents), though it is an ability that seems to diminish among professors and students of History. And History can be a partner for MoW in recognising the relationship between a document and its interpretation. Assessing the significance of documents is in many cases not possible without telling a story. In this respect, the archivist and the historian have to work together if the MoW Registers are to stand on solid ground. The second aspect of the chapter concerns the necessity of building bridges between the academic world and memory institutions (archives, libraries, museums), especially in the digital era. More and more scholarly editions of documents are published on the Internet. That does not only change the technical form of such publications, but it changes the content of, for example, scholarly commentaries and demands new forms of scholarly editing. In all respects, new forms of interdisciplinary cooperation and new partnerships are necessary in this field, and Memory of the World could be a catalyst in this process.