Structuring Documentary Heritage in the Digital Era: The RDA Standard as a Framework for Manuscript Registration and Access – A Case Study of Ijāzah No. 18175 at the Museum of Islamic Art in Cairo

Abstrakt

This research paper presents a systematic approach to the electronic registration of documentary heritage and the establishment of structured databases for documentary heritage in museums. It outlines standards and mechanisms for digitizing and electronically providing access to this heritage inventory, particularly unpublished manuscripts, as exemplified in the case study presented herein. Therefore, the utilization of the RDA standard, as a set of recommendations and data entry fields for describing and providing access to museum documentary heritage sources, supports the electronic registration of documentary heritage. This aids its accessibility, preservation, and sustainable utilization. The selection of unpublished Ijāzah No. 18175, preserved at the Museum of Islamic Art, as a case study representing manuscript documentary heritage that has not previously been published or made accessible, indicates that the study's approach or the proposed methodology registration and accessibility mechanism to manuscript documentary heritage, as well as to printed, audiovisual, and visual documentary archives within museums. The research examines the extent to which RDA can provide a practical and sustainable mechanism for improving the digital accessibility of documentary heritage collections through standardized metadata, thereby facilitating discovery, preservation, interoperability, and long-term access to museum documentary resources.