The Digital “Memory of the World” An Exploration of Documentary Practices in the Age of Digital Technology A thesis approved by the Faculty of Mechanical, Electrical and Industrial Engineering at the Brandenburg University of Technology in Cottbus in partial fulfilment of the requirement for the award of the academic degree of Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in Heritage Studies. by Anca Claudia Prodan, (M.A.) From Romania First Supervisor: Prof. Dr. Marie-Theres Albert Second Supervisor: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Uwe Meinberg Day of the oral examination: 05 February 2014 To my family Table of Contents Abstract.................................................................................................................................v Acknowledgments ............................................................................................................... vi List of Illustrations ............................................................................................................ vii Abbreviations and Acronyms........................................................................................... viii 1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................1 2. The UNESCO “Memory of the World” Programme .................................................... 12 2.1 UNESCO and the International System of Heritage Protection ............................ 17 2.1.1 The Heritage of Humanity .................................................................................. 20 2.1.2 Spatial and Temporal Dimensions of Preservation ............................................ 23 2.2 The Documentary Heritage of Humanity ............................................................... 26 2.2.1 Documents as Collective Memory ....................................................................... 28 2.2.2 Documents as Recorded Evidence ...................................................................... 31 2.2.3 Documents as Unity between Carrier and Content............................................ 34 2.3 The Digital Documentary Heritage of Humanity ................................................... 37 3. Documents, Documentary Practices and Digital Technology ....................................... 41 3.1 Digital Technology: One Concept, Many Technologies .......................................... 43 3.2 Documents and Digital Technology ......................................................................... 51 3.2.1 From Documents to Information ........................................................................ 54 3.2.2 From Information to Documentary Practices .................................................... 59 3.3 Documentary Practices and Digital Technology ..................................................... 62 3.3.1 From Preservation to Sustainable Access ........................................................... 67 3.3.2 From Selection to Harvesting .............................................................................. 70 3.4 Informational Content, Social Aspects … and the Carrier? .................................. 74 4. From Medium Bias to Balance: A Conceptual Framework .......................................... 75 4.1 Brief Introduction to Medium Theory .................................................................... 77 4.2 The Medium Theory of Harold Adams Innis ......................................................... 81 4.2.1 Medium ................................................................................................................ 86 4.2.2 Bias ....................................................................................................................... 88 4.2.3 Space and Time.................................................................................................... 92 4.2.4 Balance ................................................................................................................. 95 4.3 Medium Theory as Document Theory .................................................................... 98 5. Digital Technology: From Medium Bias to Balance ................................................... 103 iii 5.1 Insights into the History of Digital Technology .................................................... 104 5.1.1 From the Military to the Market ...................................................................... 106 5.1.2 From Scientist to User ....................................................................................... 112 5.2 Insights into the Bias of Digital Technology.......................................................... 117 5.2.1 Political-Economic Aspects of Bias ................................................................... 119 5.2.2 Facets of Bias in the Engineering of Users........................................................ 124 5.2.3 Traces of Bias in the Interface .......................................................................... 130 5.3 Digital Technology as Space-Biased Medium ....................................................... 133 6. Bias in Practices with Digital Documents .................................................................... 138 6.1 Writing Documents with Digital Technology ........................................................ 140 6.2 Structuring Information in Digital Documents .................................................... 149 6.3 Classifications with Digital Technology ................................................................ 155 6.4 Digital Patterns of Access ...................................................................................... 160 7. Bias in Conceptions of Practices with Digital Documents ........................................... 166 7.1 Utopian Assumptions of Digital Technology ......................................................... 168 7.2 The Ideology of Present-Mindedness .................................................................... 175 7.3 Information as Commodity – Information as Reality .......................................... 182 7.4 Humanity as Reflection of Technopoly ................................................................. 188 8. The Digital “Memory of the World” ............................................................................ 193 8.1 The “Memory of the World” as Reflection of Bias ............................................... 194 8.2 Overcoming Bias in the “Memory of the World” ................................................. 203 8.2.1 The Heritage Value of the Digital Carrier ........................................................ 204 8.2.2 Digital Access as Cultural Access...................................................................... 211 8.2.3 Preservation as Participation ............................................................................ 217 8.3 The “Memory of the World” as Reflection of Balance ......................................... 222 9. Conclusions ................................................................................................................... 226 References ......................................................................................................................... 232 iv Abstract This research is a study of the UNESCO “Memory of the World” Programme established with the purpose to increase awareness of the existence and relevance of documentary heritage, and to achieve its universal and permanent accessibility. In this context, digital technology is increasingly used to provide access to documentary heritage but this activity also leads to a series of changes in how documents are understood and handled. Starting from the observation that the conceptual and practical changes triggered by digital technology in the “Memory of the World” do not seem to accurately reflect its stated philosophy, this research pursues the aim to critically analyze the possibilities and limits it offers. This analysis is facilitated by a conceptual framework anchored in the medium theory of Harold Innis and his concepts of medium, bias, space and time, and balance, which serve as analytical lenses to closely study selected aspects of digital technology and their influence. Despite popular beliefs that digital technology is most suitable for universal access, the findings of this present research lead to the observation that this cannot really be the case, and it reveals that an over- emphasis on the technical possibilities of digital access is not supportive of the overall purpose of the “Memory of the World”, leading to the narrowing down of its potential relevance. At first glance, this may suggest not recommending at all the use of digital technology. However, acknowledging that each medium has both limits and possibilities, instead of rejecting digital technology the study searches for solutions that may assist with integrating it in the “Memory of the World” in accordance with its overall purpose and philosophy. To this end, three recommendations are elaborated, the same conceptual framework that revealed the limits of digital technology being applied to construct on their possibilities. In order to motivate why following these recommendations would be necessary the study concludes by shifting attention from the relevance of digital technology in the “Memory of the World” Programme to the relevance of the Programme in a world changed by digital technology. v Acknowledgments If I were asked how this present dissertation has come to fruition, I would perhaps say that it required