The Memory of the World Register lists documentary heritage which has been recommended by the International Advisory Committee, and endorsed by the Director-General of UNESCO, as corresponding to the selection criteria regarding world significance and outstanding universal value.
Three Register Types
The world’s documentary heritage is so vast and complex that a single register would be unwieldy and unworkable. Geographically-based registers also allow appropriate regional and national expertise and local resources to be applied to assessing and safeguarding nominations in a way that would never be possible if there was only a single register.
The international register was the first to be established – in 1997 – and is therefore the oldest and largest. Regional registers are managed by regional MoW committees. They inscribe documentary heritage which has been influential within that region and therefore have regional significance. National registers are managed by national MoW committees (or in their absence by UNESCO National Commissions) and inscribe documentary heritage which has been influential within that country and is judged to have national significance. The regional committee for Asia Pacific (MOWCAP) was established in 1997 and Latin America-Caribbean committee (MOWLAC) established in 2000. The first national committees appearing in Poland (1996), China and Australia (both 2000). The registers are not a hierarchy. All are equally important.