was using limited available source, or taking for granted the already known information without
further research. For whatever the condition, confirming information on a monument is necessary,
especially when the monument is designated as heritage property. Valid historical information must
be provided to support the designation and to support the value of the monument.
Digging for data in this case must be done prior to a monument’s designation as a heritage
property to evaluate its value. It should also be done to confirm every information already known
by public. Validity of every information concerning a building, or a site must be ensured prior to
public awareness publicity. Valid and accurate historical information of a heritage property is a
capital for the object’s narration to public.
From the case of Indonesian mosques and plantation site data digging, it was found that creativity
in creating keywords related to the object is a fundamental skill. Foreign language skill of a
researcher would be beneficial in digging for data activity. A researcher who wishes to do digging for
data of Indonesia’s built heritage needs to understand Dutch and several other European and perhaps
Asian languages. However, with the aid of technology and online tools, the online translation
services could do a little help on such research especially in creating keywords. Researching
keywords in another language helps researchers in finding out if there are other repositories from
other countries outside Indonesia and the Netherlands having some information on the built heritage
researched. This is true for the case of mosque where French repositories were found to have some
resources on it.
Some information concerning landscape and social situation can also be found on Project Gutenberg as information written in books related to the keyword researched. Other online repositories
that could be useful as well are universities dissertation repositories. Some universities provided
their students’ dissertation online. Along with other repositories, Google books was also found
to contain some information on the searched object or at the least, something related to searched
object. By all means, in accordance with Akihary et al.(2014), selected Dutch repositories are
primary source for the Indonesian colonial heritage data.
5 CONCLUSION
Historical data research is needed to confirm information of every historical object. Not every
present existing data is valid and accurate. It is necessary to find out detailed information from
offline and online repositories to confirm historical information of a built heritage to avoid
informational mistakes.
Repositories are available not only in The Netherlands, but also in other countries in other languages. Consulting repositories in other countries using other languages will help enrich historical
information of a colonial heritage property. Thus, it is important for a researcher to train their ability in keyword researching of an object of their study. The keyword research would be beneficial
for the researcher to find more information not only from the listed sources, but also from other
possible sources. Online repositories itself need to be selected, the information inside needs to be
checked and rechecked to get a valid accurate historical data on an object of built heritage.
Capability in using online repositories, if offline is difficult to access, is important in research
of historical built heritage. When the built heritage is related to history of colonialism, then there
are more repositories to be consulted from both countries—ex-colonizer and ex-colony. All these
repositories can be used to find information on landscape, city history, urban planning. Online
repositories are free and open access, but one must be cautious in choosing a valid repository. A
list of trusted sources should be made and updated to make digging for data more efficient and
effective.
REFERENCES
Huib Akihary et al., 2014. Collecting and Connecting Historical Data for Inner City Development in Indonesia.
Workshop Report Jakarta, Indonesia, October 27–28.
91
further research. For whatever the condition, confirming information on a monument is necessary,
especially when the monument is designated as heritage property. Valid historical information must
be provided to support the designation and to support the value of the monument.
Digging for data in this case must be done prior to a monument’s designation as a heritage
property to evaluate its value. It should also be done to confirm every information already known
by public. Validity of every information concerning a building, or a site must be ensured prior to
public awareness publicity. Valid and accurate historical information of a heritage property is a
capital for the object’s narration to public.
From the case of Indonesian mosques and plantation site data digging, it was found that creativity
in creating keywords related to the object is a fundamental skill. Foreign language skill of a
researcher would be beneficial in digging for data activity. A researcher who wishes to do digging for
data of Indonesia’s built heritage needs to understand Dutch and several other European and perhaps
Asian languages. However, with the aid of technology and online tools, the online translation
services could do a little help on such research especially in creating keywords. Researching
keywords in another language helps researchers in finding out if there are other repositories from
other countries outside Indonesia and the Netherlands having some information on the built heritage
researched. This is true for the case of mosque where French repositories were found to have some
resources on it.
Some information concerning landscape and social situation can also be found on Project Gutenberg as information written in books related to the keyword researched. Other online repositories
that could be useful as well are universities dissertation repositories. Some universities provided
their students’ dissertation online. Along with other repositories, Google books was also found
to contain some information on the searched object or at the least, something related to searched
object. By all means, in accordance with Akihary et al.(2014), selected Dutch repositories are
primary source for the Indonesian colonial heritage data.
5 CONCLUSION
Historical data research is needed to confirm information of every historical object. Not every
present existing data is valid and accurate. It is necessary to find out detailed information from
offline and online repositories to confirm historical information of a built heritage to avoid
informational mistakes.
Repositories are available not only in The Netherlands, but also in other countries in other languages. Consulting repositories in other countries using other languages will help enrich historical
information of a colonial heritage property. Thus, it is important for a researcher to train their ability in keyword researching of an object of their study. The keyword research would be beneficial
for the researcher to find more information not only from the listed sources, but also from other
possible sources. Online repositories itself need to be selected, the information inside needs to be
checked and rechecked to get a valid accurate historical data on an object of built heritage.
Capability in using online repositories, if offline is difficult to access, is important in research
of historical built heritage. When the built heritage is related to history of colonialism, then there
are more repositories to be consulted from both countries—ex-colonizer and ex-colony. All these
repositories can be used to find information on landscape, city history, urban planning. Online
repositories are free and open access, but one must be cautious in choosing a valid repository. A
list of trusted sources should be made and updated to make digging for data more efficient and
effective.
REFERENCES
Huib Akihary et al., 2014. Collecting and Connecting Historical Data for Inner City Development in Indonesia.
Workshop Report Jakarta, Indonesia, October 27–28.
91