Only a handful of people are aware that there are 57 museums in Greater Jakarta. It would be destined to stay that way if the Indonesian Heritage Society (IHS) hadn't published a guidebook titled Museum Encounters Jakarta.

"When I approached the society with the idea of making a book that includes the public museums in Jakarta, I thought that there were only around 15 to 20. I found out that there were almost 60," said Mary Mckay, the author of the book, at its launch on Wednesday in South Jakarta.

IHS is a non-profit organization that promotes the cultural heritage of Indonesia and supports its cultural institutions.

The chairwoman of the society, Ro King, said the book included obstacles that visitors might face in finding the museums.

King said many of the museums --the small, hidden ones-- didn't even have good brochures or other publications.

One such example was the Fight Against Terrorism Museum, located in Jl. Gatot Subroto No. 14 in Kuningan, Central Jakarta.

The museum was established in November 1987 at a small two-story building, with English translations on all displays.

"With this book we try to raise their profile (those small museums) to get more people interested to going and seeing not just the big museums like the National Museum," she said.

The book took two and a half years to develop from an idea to the final product.

"I had to go several times, in some cases, to make sure that the information was 100 percent, and that all the photographs were taken. Sometimes even four times only to visit one museum," Mary said.

There were 17 volunteers working on the book, everything from photography and cover design to proofreading and editing. Lots of people worked together, King said.

She said using volunteers for the project allowed IHS to donate the money from the sales of the book to the museums' projects and activities.

The guidebook provides addresses, opening hours, information about the collections and buildings as well as whether English-speaking guides are available.

King said the society was preparing other publications this year, including a revision of the Jakarta Explorer, another guidebook the society published in 2004.

Museum Encounters Jakarta is currently sold for Rp 75,000 (S$11) per copy. It can be found at IHS's library, the National Museum and bookstores. (JP/lva)