UNAIR NEWS – The Faculty of Humanities (FIB) Universitas Airlangga (UNAIR) in collaboration with the City Library and Archives Service and the Begandring and Roode Brug Communities held a Workshop on Encyclopedia Content Writing for the Object of Cultural Advancement in Surabaya at the Novotel Surabaya Hotel on Saturday, December 4, 2021. The event was motivated by the high potential of the local wisdom of Arek Surabaya culture.

Prof. Purnawan Basundoro, Dean of FIB, in his speech said that his party encouraged the city government, the communities, and anyone to collaborate in the workshop on encyclopedia content writing.

“Listing and writing it down as learning material are not easy. They require the initiative and cooperation of many parties,” he said.

In writing the encyclopedia content, the professor of History also said that FIB has strength in the use of foreign languages. Therefore, the content of the Surabaya cultural encyclopedia is planned to be written in Indonesian, English, Japanese, French, and Javanese-Arek. Thus, the encyclopedia content can also be used by the foreign public.

Meanwhile, the FIB Encyclopedia Community Service coordinator, Kukuh Yudha Karnanta, S.S., M.A., said that the encyclopedia is closely related to the National Literacy Movement, especially cultural and civic literacy. “Therefore, this activity is important to do,” he added.

As a partner and one of the speakers, Ir. Musdiq Ali Suhudi, M.T., mentioned various cultures in Surabaya. Among them are earth almsgiving, okol wrestling, jula-juli etc. He explained that the cultural encyclopedia could be an option to prevent the cultural fading from modernization.

“The encyclopedia presents writings of a popular scientific nature. In other words, the language is easy to understand, but the content can be accounted for scientifically,” explained the Head of the Surabaya City Library and Archives Service (Dispusip).

Furthermore, Musdiq also explained the importance of creating innovations in the literacy movement. Virtual Tour, Taman Kalimas (Kalimas Park), and e-TBM are some of the innovations that have been widely used in Surabaya.

“Dispusip as a source of information makes various efforts to take inventory, document, and publish the cultural richness of Surabaya so that it can be enjoyed and used as public education material. In that case, innovation management that utilizes information technology, including the media, is needed,” explained Musdiq.

In addition to the National Literacy Movement program of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology, this activity is also inseparable from the mandate of Law Number 5 of 2017 concerning the Advancement of Culture and the Cultural Conservation Law No. 11 of 2010. One of the objectives is to make cultural resilience more competitive in the face of globalization, foreign cultural influences, and revitalization of cultural heritage, both tangible and intangible.

Author: Nikmatus Sholikhah

Editor: Feri Fenoria