The National Library and Archives continues its efforts in organizing and enriching archives
The National Library and Archives continues its efforts in organizing and enriching archives
The National Library and Archives continues its educational and awareness-raising role in the importance of documenting the past, recording the present, and organizing government archives in accordance with the Federal Law No. 7 of 2008 on the National Library and Archives and its amendments and executive regulations. In this regard, it presented a virtual training course on "Inventory of Documents in Government Agencies" and a virtual lecture entitled: "Oral History in the National Library and Archives".
The first training course was presented by Mrs. Amal Abdel Hamid, Head of the Government Archives Regulation Unit at the National Library and Archives. It aims at explaining the method of inventory of documents and archives in government agencies in compliance with the said law and its regulations.
This training course is essential because it comes within the scope of applyig the integrated management system of documents and archives in government entities, which contributes greatly to enhancing the employees’ skills and developing qualified cadres in document and archive management.
The course focused on the inventory mechanism of all documents in government entities in all conservation sites, in compliance with the requirements of Law No. 7 of 2008 on the National Library and Archives and its amendments and executive regulations, in order to identify the files which must be preserved, and those are no longer needed so as to transfer them to the permanent preservation in the National Library and Archives. The course also shed light on facilitating the application of all inhouse archiving-related procedures such as determining the file preservation periods, classifying functional documents, and facilitating access to documents to preserve the rights of the government entity, its customers and its employees. It also emphasized that the document inventory ensures the preservation of the entity's assets and provides the necessary protections from disasters and crises.
The other lecture, which was presented by Maitha Al Zaabi, Head of the Oral History Section at the National Archives and Library, and Maryam Al Mazrouei, senior researcher in the said section, confirmed the NLA’s interest in the interviews which the oral history teams conduct with UAE senior citizens and personalities that have lived through the establishment of Union, so that generations may learn from their distinctive historical experiences.
The lecture pointed out that oral history is concerned with recording the history and moral heritage of the United Arab Emirates, and documenting it with oral narratives, including what was conveyed by the memory of the centenarians, veterans and witnesses of the times.
The lecture touched on the articles of Law No. 7 of 2008 on the National Archives and Library and its amendments, which urged the completion of historical information documented with the oral archive in addition to making it available in a scientific manner.
The lecture shed light on the objectives of oral history, methods of conducting interviews by audio and video recording, international standards followed, and topics of oral history, which include social life, political and administrative life, economic and cultural life, architecture and arts, and the most important projects.
The lecture reviewed the stages of conducting oral history interviews through to making them available, and publishing them in NLA’s publications, namely Their memory, Our History, first and second editions.
In conclusion, both lecturers emphasized the importance of nominating the appropriate narrators with a view to preserving and documenting their living national memory.
