Digital Archiving of Oral Narratives in Religious Rituals Through ICT Platforms

Thesis Abstract

Digital archiving of oral narratives within religious rituals presents a critical intervention for safeguarding intangible heritage whose transmission is increasingly mediated by digital platforms. The study addresses the erosion of oral traditions due to urban migration, changing ritual practices, and limited access to primary sources, proposing a ICT-driven archival framework that preserves authenticity, enhances accessibility, and supports scholarly analysis. The aim is to develop, implement, and evaluate a scalable digital archival model for oral narratives embedded in religious rituals, integrating metadata standards, multimodal recording, and citizen-science participation to ensure community ownership and scholarly utility. Specific objectives are (1) to design a comprehensive metadata schema and workflow that capture linguistic, performative, and contextual facets of ritual narratives; (2) to construct a digital repository using open-source technologies (CKAN-based catalog, IIIF manifesting for media, and FAIR data principles) and to pilot it with 60–80 recorded narratives from three distinct ritual communities; (3) to evaluate archival integrity, usability, and cultural safety through mixed-methods, involving 30 qualitative interviews with community custodians and 100 survey responses from researchers and practitioners; (4) to apply theoretical lenses from the Reproducibility of Cultural Memory framework and the Practice Theory of ritual performance to interpret how ICT-mediated archives influence memory reproduction and ritual continuity; and (5) to formulate policy and practice recommendations for sustainable, community-centered digital archiving. A mixed-methods research design is employed, combining participatory action research with a case-study approach. The population includes ritual practitioners, language experts, archivists, and ICT specialists within four regional centers of gravity for oral religious traditions. A purposive sample of 40 ritual custodians, 20 subject-matter experts, and 20 IT professionals constitutes the core participants, with additional convenience sampling of 15 broadcasters and 15 lay community members for usability testing. Data collection instruments comprise semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, field notes, recording equipment checks, archiving metadata templates, and a standardized usability questionnaire. The project involves the collection of 60–80 high-resolution audio and video recordings, complemented by ethnographic field notes and contextual documentation (location, ritual timing, sociolinguistic variables). Data analysis employs thematic analysis for qualitative data, using NVivo to identify patterns in narrative structure, ritual function, and community concerns, and regression analysis to examine determinants of archiving uptake and perceived usefulness. Metadata quality will be assessed against Dublin Core and PREMIS standards, with IIIF-compliant media delivery enabling progressive enhancement and cross-platform interoperability. A conceptual model combines the Cultural Heritage Informational Continuity framework with the Community-Driven Archival Sustainability model to assess actor-network interactions, technological affordances, and the social embeddedness of digital archives. Validity and reliability are addressed through triangulation of interviews, field observations, and audit trails, with intercoder reliability checks (Cohen’s kappa) for thematic coding and a pilot test of the metadata schema prior to full deployment. Ethical considerations include informed consent, community IP ownership arrangements, risk mitigation for cultural sensitivities, and transparent governance mechanisms to safeguard sensitive ritual content. Expected findings indicate that ICT-enabled archiving enhances accessibility and intergenerational transmission of oral narratives while simultaneously raising concerns about commodification and misrepresentation. The study anticipates that well-structured metadata, clear consent regimes, and community governance correlate positively with user trust and archival reuse, and that participatory archiving processes strengthen ritual legitimacy and knowledge transfer. The research will contribute to knowledge by advancing a replicable, culturally responsive digital archiving model that aligns technical interoperability with ethical stewardship and living heritage priorities. It will demonstrate how specific ICT choices—open-source repositories, IIIF media delivery, and standards-aligned metadata—facilitate long-term preservation, discoverability, and scholarly analysis without eroding community sovereignty. The main conclusion posits that sustainable digital archiving of oral religious narratives requires an integrated ecosystem of technology, governance, and capacity-building grounded in the values and needs of ritual communities. Recommendations include the adoption of modular metadata templates adaptable to diverse rituals, formalized community IP agreements, ongoing training for custodians in digital stewardship, and periodic impact assessments to monitor preservation integrity and cultural vitality.