UNS — The Historical Science Program Faculty of Cultural Studies (FIB) Universitas Sebelas Maret (UNS) Surakarta discussed the ecological portrait of Mangkunegaran in 1870-1939. This discussion was held on Wednesday (2/9/2020) in Reksa Pustaka Library, Pura Mangkunegaran, Surakarta. This activity is an implementation of Higher Education Tri Dharma in the form of research and community service program which focuses on creating a digital catalogue of the Mangkunegaran library collections.
Attending the occasion was the Head of Historical Science Program FIB UNS, Dr. Susanto who provided an opening remark. Dr. Susanto stated that in this community service program, the Historical Science program wants to empower library to expand the circulation of collection not only within the scope of Mangkunegaran.
“Reksa Pustaka Mangkunegaran Library has a wide collection, not only from the traditional era but also the Dutch East Indies colonial era. The community service program is currently at the stage of digitization of manuscripts in Reksa Pustaka Library, Bu Darweni is in the process to edit the files. This stage will result in a digital catalogue, CD, and Books with ISBN which will be distributed to the national stakeholders,” he explained.
The stakeholders are Regional Archives and Library of Central Java, Solo City Library, Department of Archives and Library of the Special Region of Yogyakarta (DIY), and National Library of the Republic of Indonesia (PNRI).
The European influence is strong in Mangkunegara which is why the team study a portrait of the ecological symbol of Mangkunegaran in Karanganyar, Wonogiri and Mangkunegaran Regencies. Many colonial symbols exist in Solo around Syahid Kusuma, the west of Purwosari, to the north in Banjarsari. These symbols are among others, Societeit, Van de Venter School, and Taman Siswo, Taman Kusumowardhani, Partini toein, and Partini huis. The representative from Reksa Pustaka Museum, Darweni appreciated the community service program. The digitization, Darweni mentioned, will greatly help the museum in the preservation of library materials. Darweni hopes that through this effort, Mangkunegaran is not left behind with other places because there are many sources of primary information and that the Historical Science Program will continue to explore the pearls in the Mangkunegaran Reksa Pustaka Library so that they are beneficial to the community.
There are three places of documentation and collection storage in Mangkunegaran, in the north room there is storage for books and digital manuscripts, the middle room is used to store ancient photo and document, and the south room is used to store textual archive storage. In total, 3,000 titles of the book are stored in the library, and 750 titles of the manuscript. Only 2,300 of Mangkunegara special literature will be digitized. The library also stores books concerning education, Javanese history, literature, wayang, dances, and cultures. Dr. Susanto stated that the existing ecological symbols can be used to trace the development of Surakarta. Humas UNS
Reporter: Bayu Aji Prasetya
Editor: Dwi Hastuti