Analyzing and Organizing Knowledge Recorded In Palm Leaf Manuscript

Abstract

The main objective of this study is, to analyze the Knowledge Organization System (KOS) of Palm Leaf Manuscript (PLM). The five KOSs which are currently used for organizing knowledge recorded in PLM both at international level and in Thailand are employed for this study. They are 1) KOS created by UNESCO's Memory of the World Project, 2) KOS created by the German-Lao Cooperation Preservation of Lao Manuscript Program: G-Lao, 3) KOS created by the National Library of Thailand : Thai-PLM, 4) KOS created by Palm Leaf Manuscript Preservation in Northeastern : Northeastern-PLM and 5) KOS created by the Research Institute of Chiangmai University : CMU-PLM. A content analysis method was conducted on the collected data. The results of the study reveal that all analyzed systems used a knowledge Classification principle for organizing knowledge. The knowledge structure of the system is organized into classes, sub-classes and divisions. However, the findings also show that none of the 5 KOSs adopted the knowledge structure of class, sub-class and division or covered all of the content of the knowledge recorded in PLM. Therefore, the current KOSs cannot clearly present the knowledge structure recorded in PLM and its relationship with them. These are big obstacles for organizing and accessing the knowledge recorded in PLM.