As K-culture and K-content expand their influence overseas, there is a growing need for policies on art museums, libraries, and museums as effective media to utilize and disseminate them. As a viable solution, I propose the concept of "Larchiveum."
Larchiveum (Larchiveum) is a multifunctional space related to information collection and culture, championed by Professor Megan Winget of the University of Texas at Austin in the 2000s. It is a portmanteau of Library, Archive, and Museum. Concerned about students' exhausting efforts to search for various sources beyond libraries while gathering academic information and materials, she envisioned an integrated space or system combining these three concepts. Globally, there was already a trend toward collaboration and integration between spaces that store records and libraries that allow reading. Building on this, the role and function of museums were further incorporated. A representative example often cited is France's Centre Pompidou and the National Library of France (Richelieu Branch).
Larchiveum is being reborn as a space for information sharing that provides diverse knowledge and culture services, going beyond the library functions of classifying, storing, and lending valuable records. Records have long expanded from traditional forms such as documents, materials, and books to digital content. Larchiveum is also economically efficient in terms of budget savings through integrated content management. Additionally, it can solve space shortages caused by distributed storage of content. The synergistic effects of consolidating materials further enhance user satisfaction. It can respond promptly and proactively to the rapidly changing supply-demand environment for content.
Information users are seeking spaces that go beyond searching and reading various global contents—they want places where they can also enjoy rest and healing. Even in libraries, exhibitions utilizing records or content have become common. Rather than simply displaying collected records or content, museums now organize exhibitions in the form of performances or media art through diverse cultural planning. The Centre Pompidou National Art and Culture Center combines a library, art museum, and performance venue with a rest space. The Richelieu Branch of the National Library of France showcases historical artifacts but integrates libraries and garden spaces within its exhibition galleries, leveraging the advantages of both indoor and outdoor environments to enable learning, rest, and healing simultaneously. From a digital perspective, organizations such as Europeana, GLAM, and DPLA can be cited as examples of Larchiveum. While pursuing the fusion and linkage of traditional offline collections and digital resources, they aim not merely for online spaces but for true online-offline integration.
The scope of Larchiveum is not limited to library, art museum, and museum content. The Larchiveum model responds to the era of data convergence. It is suitable for operating audiovisual materials such as photos, videos, and recordings; paper records like documents and meeting minutes; and programs in the form of storytelling or participatory experiences. From a digital content perspective, K-content serves as one example. Not only individual contents from dramas and films but also drama scripts, film screenplays, scriptwriters, various production tools, and props can become subjects for recording, reading, and lending. The same applies to K-pop albums, related posters, light sticks, and merchandise. In the case of K-pop, not only artists' personal collections but all items related to musical activities can serve as stored records and shared resources. Such contents are truly worthy of being regarded as cultural heritage to be passed down through generations.
Many foreign tourists are flocking to Korea to enjoy and experience Korean culture and lifestyle. At this time, domestic art museums, libraries, and museums need to take a more proactive approach to the collection and utilization of K-culture content. Above all, they must establish Larchiveum spaces that encompass both K-culture and K-content to attract K-culture fans worldwide. Since Larchiveum transcends the geographical concept of "domestic" through online expansion, it will become easier for people around the globe to enjoy Hallyu via Larchiveum.
in OPINION
