Pusat Dokumentasi Melayu (DBP)

Overview

The Pusat Dokumentasi Melayu (PDM), or Malay Documentation Centre, is a specialized library and documentation unit of Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka (DBP), Malaysia's national institute for the development and regulation of the Malay language and literature. The Malay Manuscript Collection (Koleksi Manuskrip Melayu) within PDM is one of the institution's most significant holdings, comprising handwritten manuscripts in the Malay language and Jawi script covering literature, history, Islamic jurisprudence, medicine, and cultural practices.

History and Institutional Context

Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka was established as Balai Pustaka in Johor Bahru on 22 June 1956, and was renamed DBP during the Third Malay Literary and Language Congress later that year. It relocated to Kuala Lumpur in 1957 and received a formal charter through the Dewan Bahasa dan Pustaka Ordinance 1959. DBP's library—which evolved into the Pusat Dokumentasi Melayu—was an early depository for newspaper and periodical clippings, serving the institution's interest in modern Malay literature, and its scope gradually expanded to encompass the full spectrum of Malay cultural and social science materials. The PDM grew to become a rich repository of Malay materials, both contemporary and historical.

Manuscript Collections and Holdings

The Malay Manuscript Collection of the PDM holds hundreds of manuscripts on diverse subjects characteristic of the classical Malay literary and scholarly tradition. One of its most celebrated holdings is the manuscript Al-Tarikh Salasilah Negeri Kedah, which has been recognized on the UNESCO Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific (MOWCAP) Regional Register, attesting to its global documentary heritage significance. The collection is a key resource for philologists, historians of the Malay world, literary scholars, and researchers of Islamic intellectual history in Southeast Asia.

Access and Services

The Koleksi Manuskrip Melayu is accessible online at pustakapdm.dbp.my. Researchers can also access physical collections at DBP's headquarters in Kuala Lumpur. DBP maintains an address at Menara DBP, Jalan Dewan Bahasa, Kuala Lumpur. The institution also has offices in Sabah, Sarawak, and other regional centers.