[Feature: Prospects for Digital Archives] Yukihiro Fukushima: A Sketch of Digital Archives

Digital archives. Have you ever encountered this term? For me, as someone who has been interested in them for a long time and now makes 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 that this is largely an illusion). However, even if there are readers who have never encountered the term "digital archive," the number of digital archives being built continues to increase year by year. Furthermore, their utility has come to be understood.

So, what is a digital archive? To explain it very simply and perhaps a bit crudely, I believe it is safe to call a digital archive a specific collection of information provided through a system that guarantees long-term access and utilization among the overflow of digital information in society. The reason I am using such a roundabout phrasing here is that I believe there is still no clear definition of a digital archive.

The term "digital archive" is a Japanese-coined English term (wasei-eigo) created in the early 1990s by a group led by Yoshio Tsukio, who was 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 each putting forward their own 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 Cabinet Office Intellectual Property Strategy Headquarters and the National Diet Library. Here, "you can find content held by institutions such as libraries, museums, art museums, archives, universities, research institutes, government offices, 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 old documents and photographs, it is possible to reduce the greatest risk to materials: damage and deterioration caused by viewing the originals.

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 becoming even higher.

The construction and utilization of digital archives are progressing not only in prefectures and universities but also in municipalities across the country. For example, efforts to digitize and publish local historical materials and cultural properties are being carried out in various regions. 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 begun to appear. Oamishirasato City in Chiba Prefecture was in a situation where it had no cultural facilities such as museums, archives, or art galleries. Therefore, as a "measure to allow people to enjoy cultural resources anytime, anywhere, and for free," the Oamishirasato City Digital Museum was launched in 2018 with 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 received certification 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, a major method for building digital archives was to digitize materials stored in physical libraries and museums. 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 posted 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 posted in the digital archive. However, digital archives have reached a stage where things no longer align 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 clearly distinguish between ownership and copyright. Furthermore, when publishing digital archives, it has become a standard procedure to simultaneously provide rights notations, 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 mainly been advanced by experts and scholars, the advent of digital archives has allowed citizens to participate more actively in the preservation and research of history. Minna de Honkoku (Transcription by Everyone), conducted through crowdsourcing, is a typical example. To utilize pre-modern historical materials written in cursive script (kuzushiji), this project involves not only experts but many participants in the task of converting the characters into modern type to make them easier to handle as data (transcription). In this case, the text data created by a large number of participants continues to grow. By making materials widely available and accessible to anyone, we are witnessing a situation where various people are involved and the shared assets of historical studies are growing day by day.

These trends coincide 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 has been liberated and museums have been established, and modern citizens have come to operate public libraries for mutual aid. Consequently, among physical materials, those deemed to have particularly high public utility have come 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 where anyone can participate and that guarantees long-term access and utilization, the circulation of knowledge is promoted, and new ideas are continuously born. Whether we can better run this cycle of construction and utilization is, I believe, directly linked to the strengthening of society's knowledge base and its sustainability.