Participating in two specialized virtual seminar

The National Archives celebrates the Arab Document Day and highlights its role in preserving the memory of the nation

On the occasion of the Arab Document Day, the National Archives participated in two virtual seminars. The first seminar entitled “Emirati Experiences in Document and Archive Management” is organized by Juma Al Majid Center for Culture and Heritage, and the second seminar entitled “The Role of UAE’s Document Centers in Preserving the Memory of the Nation” is organized by Zayed Center for Studies and Research in the Emirates Heritage Club. The National Archives’ participations confirm its national role in preserving the documentary heritage of the United Arab Emirates, as one of the leading documentation institutions promoting the UAE history.

In the first seminar, Hassan Al-Mesaabi, the Technical Expert at the National Archives, underlined the importance of the Arab document as a means to preserve historical facts providing evidence of the people’s characteristic civilization. He shed light on the role of the National Archives in collecting, classifying, indexing, archiving and preserving historical documents on the United Arab Emirates for future generations, as well as making them accessible to researchers. He also reviewed the National Archives’ mission, vision, strategic objectives, national duties, and its inception and development. In addition, he pointed out its role in organizing government archives, legal and standard references, the historical archives it preserves, the methods of photographs and films conservation and its smart applications.

He concluded by giving a detailed explanation of the AGDA digital archive and invited participants to the Congress of the International Council on Archives - Abu Dhabi, the most prominent upcoming global archival event, which will be hosted by the National Archives of the UAE.  The ICA Congress will take place on October 2021 under the slogan (Empowering Knowledge Societies), and the conference agenda includes important topics, namely artificial intelligence, sustainable knowledge as basis for sustainable development, and facing challenges in preserving archives through social media.

On the other hand, the National Archives collaborated with Zayed Center for Studies and Research of the Emirates Heritage Club and held another virtual seminar entitled “The Role of the UAE’s Document Centers in Preserving the Memory of the Nation,” delivered by Hassan Al-Mesaabi, Technical Expert. He stressed the importance of celebrating the Arab Document Day to raise awareness about the importance of documents. He also briefed participants on new projects highlighting the new professional Bachelor program in Records Management and Archival Science, introduced last year in collaboration with the Sorbonne University - Abu Dhabi. He pointed out that this Bachelor's degree program meets the current requirements of the labor market in light of the increasing interest of all the UAE’s official entities and institutions in documents and archives. Furthermore, the National Archives has collaborated with the Sorbonne University-Abu Dhabi in launching a professional certificate which develops professional expertise in the management and conservation of electronic and historic archives as well as current and intermediate documents and records.

Besides, he shed light on the National Archives Smart Applications including Sheikh Zayed Audio Library, the Al Nahyan Family Tree, the Chronicles of the Sheikhs, the (Watani Al Emarat) book, and other publications.

He also referred to the Arabian Gulf Digital Archive (AGDA), which is a digital resource offering unprecedented access to researchers, scholars, academics, specialists and the public to thousands of documents of great historical and cultural value relating to the United Arab Emirates and the Gulf Cooperation Council countries.

Mr. Al Mesaabi highlighted the National Archives’ invitation already posted on its portal for researchers to participate and submit their research works on the history and heritage of the UAE and the Arabian Peninsula to the National Archives for publication along with its national publications, which offer invaluable authentic and documented historical information.