Open GLAM Case Study on open access cultural heritage outlook in Pakistan: A case study on GLAMs in Karachi

By
Prof. Muhammad Imtiaz Subhani, PhD., CCGN member & CC Open GLAM member.
Amber Osman, CCGN member & CC Open GLAM member.

The main proposition of this case study is to evaluate the cultural heritage of Pakistan while focusing on the GLAMs located in Karachi, Sindh. For addressing the above-mentioned proposition, several research questions were framed for evaluating the accessibility of archived records and heritage contents by Karachi GLAMs, awareness about CC GLAM movement, sharing of archived records by local GLAMs through open access initiatives, elements of archived records, and local heritage and accessibility of local heritage subject to legal exception.

Background

In a previous CC CAF study (Awareness about Creative Commons Movement and its utility in the Higher Education System of Pakistan) conducted in 2020–2021, it was found that the awareness about creative commons movement and its utility was quite surprising and that the stakeholders of higher education which are the professors and editors of Pakistani universities were either not aware or insufficiently aware of CC movement and open access initiatives or CC licenses (Subhani & Osman 2021).

Keeping in view the above study, it was decided to check the open access initiatives or CC movement in connection with the cultural heritage of Pakistan while focusing on Karachi-based GLAMs.

This case study evaluates the contributions of Pakistani Govt. owned cultural institutions in preserving the local heritage and giving access to collections to people although UNESCO has already digitally archived few Pakistani heritages located in Karachi for making Pakistani (Karachi) heritage visible to the world.

This case study also evaluates the accessibility of local heritage for audiences both online and onsite while focusing the manifesto of CC open GLAM.

Case Evaluations for Karachi based GLAMs

1. Evaluation for Sindh Archives

During the survey of Sindh archives, the data of archived records of manuscripts in Arabic, Persian and Sindhi languages, and Journals of Bengal (1827 to onwards) were collected.

The evaluation confirms that Sindh Archives has a vast collection of records of old monuments and testimonials which include 150 years old historical government records (115,661), commissioner’s office records (44000), maps of Karachi city (350), Pakistan movement documents (500), court files (5000), survey sheets of Karachi and Hyderabad cities (550), Gazettes i.e. Sindh & Bombay government gazettes, the gazettes of India (800).

It also includes more than 1000 years old manuscripts on 33 subjects written in Arabic, Persian, Sindhi, Urdu, and Saraiki languages (920) including ancient manuscripts such as Kitab ul Shifa Qazi Ayaz ( 737 A.D), as reported by (Sindh archives, 2021).

Despite an amazing effort of archiving manually mentioned collections (which are the country’s cultural heritage contents), their digital archives are not sufficiently present in Sindh archives.

The evaluation further confirms that 80% of records are archived manually or digitally. Digital content can be copied through USBs for public consumption. Further, Sindh archives are being digitized for sharing heritage collections that will be on its website by the end of 2022.

2. Evaluation for Antiquities, Govt. of Sindh

During the survey of Antiquities, it is revealed that Sindh has one of the oldest civilizations in the world, from the Bronze Age. Antiquities survey also reveals that Antiquities has archived the records of 4000 archeological sites which include, Moin Jo Daro, Makli, Chowkandi Graveyards, etc. It is also noticed that there are 4500 un-deciphered seals calling researchers to understand them archived with Antiquities.

The evaluation further reveals that Antiquities has a vast collection of records which include records of more than 200 years old heritage buildings in Sindh (2111), records of more than 150 years old heritage buildings in Karachi (1242), records of more than 350 years old Monuments (100) including Boundary Wall of Pucca Fort, Hyderabad, Hala Monuments, the birthplace of Akbar the Great, etc., as reported by (Antiquities, 2021).

Evaluation of the records archived with antiquities finds that all records mentioned in the above lines are digitally archived and preserved and are for public consumption.

In response to this proposition, the above two GLAMs provide access to century’s old archived records, cultural heritage contents, and for restoring the country’s cultural values. It is revealed that all mentioned contents preserved with Sindh archives & Antiquities on local heritage are not shared through open access initiatives or CC0 or the Public Domain Mark but are shared with Sindh archives & Antiquities, watermarks only.

In this context, watermarks are used to confirm the ownership of the collections. From an Open GLAM perspective, the watermarks on digital collections prevent citizens from using and reusing heritage collections and therefore, limit collection outreach.

Moreover, at the above two GLAMs, few records are observed subject to some legal / copyright exceptions in heritage collections.

3. Evaluation for Quaid-e-Azam House Museum

Quaid-e-Azam House Museum, popularly known as Flag Staff House, is a significant National Monument in the heart of the city of Karachi. It is an elegant yellow stone double drifted building that is located at Karachi Cantonment. This study finds that this museum gives a piece of brief information on how Quaid Azam the founder of Pakistan used to spend his daily life.

4. Evaluation for Wazir Mansion Museum

Wazir Mansion is the place where Mr. Mohammad Ali Jinnah consumed the sixteen years of his childhood (Wazir Mansion Museum, Karachi, 2021).

Few collections are online at Wazir Mansion, but this GLAM does not share information through open access initiatives or CC0 or the Public Domain Mark.

5. Evaluation for National Museum of Pakistan

The evaluation reveals that the National Museum of Pakistan represents a complete outlook of Pakistan’s Cultural Heritage from the Stone Age down to the birth of Pakistan, which include:

● Prehistoric Gallery (Two Million — 2500 B.C.).
● Proto-Historic Gallery (2500–1500 B.C.)
● Late Harappa Gallery (2200–800 B.C.).
● Gandhara Gallery (2nd — 6th Century A.D.).
● Hindu Gallery (6th — 16th Century A.D.).
● Freedom movement Gallery.

Further, the Museum also has digital collections for public consumption in terms of:

● Quran Gallery.
● Coins Gallery.
● Ethnology Gallery.
● Islamic Gallery.
● Islamic Art & Crafts Gallery (The National Museum of Pakistan, 2021).

All of the above records are digitally preserved or archived for public consumption (The National Museum of Pakistan, 2021).

6. Evaluation for Mohatta Palace Museum

The Mohatta Palace Museum is a source of vanity for the people of Karachi and a museum of international standing and a beacon of optimism and commitment to the city (Mohatta Palace Museum, 2021).

During the survey of Mohatta Palace Museum, evaluation of the records reveals that there are well-preserved digitally archived collections pertaining to the nation’s culture available with this museum which include:

1. Paradise of earth (Manuscript, Miniatures, and Mendicants of Kashmir),
2. A Flower from Every Meadow (Design and Innovation in Pakistan’s Dress Traditions).
3. Wildly Ours (Past, Present, and Future of Pakistan’s wildlife).
4. Labyrinth of Reflections (The Artworks).
5. The Rising Tide (New Directions in Art from Pakistan), etc.

Barriers that stop Karachi GLAMs to be the open GLAMs

The evaluations of GLAMs as explained in 3, 4, 5, & 6, although observe that these GLAMs and contents are accessible through tickets (i.e. nominal charges), are also accessible for free for students and researchers and the digital contents of these museums can be copied by users through USBs, etc., but contents are not shared through open access initiatives or CC0 or the Public Domain Mark and are not aligned with the openGLAM movement.

For example, when we approached the Director of Sindh Archives on how they share contents of local heritage to the people who want to be benefited. It was quite surprising to know that contents are shared without any systematic approaches, while few of the contents are not shared at all despite the requests arrived at them. The whole team of Sindh archives hardly knows about open licensing, public domain, legal framework.

When we asked the team of Sindh archives about the knowledge around digitizing, it was found that for digitizing contents of a country’s heritage, Sindh Archives has no proper knowledge with no proper labs. They have few machines, with only one lab assistant to look after the entire process of digitizing. The heritage digitized collections and contents will be virtually available with the Sindh archives website by the end of 2022. Currently, the digital contents are copied through USBs. Thus, the users, researchers, designers, students, and historians have to come into the physical space of this GLAM like all other Karachi GLAMs to copy digital collections on their USB sticks. This lack of access to digital collections limits studies, research, and creative activities around these collections.

There are many barriers that stop Karachi GLAMs to be the open GLAMs, which were revealed by this study, including:

- Lack of knowledge around digitizing
- Lack of understanding of open licensing
- Lack of expertise around the public domain
- Lack of legal framework (exceptions to copyright for preservation or access)
- Lack of financial resources.

Further, it is also revealed that at all investigated GLAMs, few records are observed subject to some legal / copyright exceptions in heritage collections as mentioned above.

Conclusion

This study finds:

1. All investigated GLAMs are the Govt. owned cultural institutions which are involved in preserving the local heritage digitally/ non-digitally and giving access to collections to people to understand local heritage, culture and history of heritage.

2. The online digitized heritage collections which are archived on the website of antiquities (for example) are being shared for public consumption but CC tools (CC0 or the Public Domain Mark) are not being adopted to share them.

3. There are the heritage collections which are not digitized as Govt owned GLAMs do not want those non-digitized collections to be in public access as they are of sensitive nature such as old court cases.

4. There is a lack of understanding about Open GLAM in Pakistan and in all investigated GLAMs, caretakers of GLAMs are hardly aware of open access initiatives and CC0 or the Public Domain Mark.

5. All investigated GLAMs are promoting cultural and heritage knowledge through images and manuscripts etc., without any open access initiatives.

GLAMs in Karachi, however, are being operated to promote the heritage and culture of the country within and outside Pakistan. But these GLAMs lack knowledge about CC open access initiatives and are at large functioning for reaching out to the audience without the concept of CC0 or the Public Domain Mark. Further, at all GLAMs, few records are observed subject to some legal / copyright exceptions in heritage collections.

This study recommends webinars/ workshops for local GLAMs on CC movement, CC0, or the Public Domain Mark from the CC open GLAM platform that will help GLAMs to promote the country’s heritage to a wider audience.

Further, the officials of Pakistani GLAMs are also interested to align their works in accordance with the CC movement and the CC open GLAM program.
This study will inspire caretakers of CC open access initiatives to take steps to promote the CC open GLAM agenda in Pakistan.

References

1. Antiquities, (2021), Antiquities Department, Government of Sindh.
2. Mohatta Palace Museum. (2021).
3. National Museum of Pakistan. (2021).
4. Quaid-e-Azam House Museum, Karachi. (2021).
5. Sindh Archives (2021). Information & Archives Department, Govt. Of Sindh.
6. Subhani, M.I. & Osman, A. (2021). Awareness about Creative Commons Movement and its utility in the Higher Education System of Pakistan, Medium.
7. Wazir Mansion Museum, Karachi. (2021).