The National Library and Archives trains government entities on transferring documents and archives to the Preservation and Restoration

The National Library and Archives has organized a virtual training course entitled “Transfer of Documents from Government Entities” for government employees in order to highlight the procedures and forms applicable at the NLA for transferring documents in accordance with Federal Law No. (7) for 2008 on the National Library Archives as amended and its bylaw.
Mr. Shehab Al Hefeiti, Senior Archives Specialist, stressed that the transfer of documents from government entities begins at the third stage of the document’s life because if it is still useful, it will be transferred to the NLA’s Center for Preservation and Restoration, which is concerned with preserving and digitizing historical documents in the long-run and restoring documents that are vulnerable to damage.
The training course is part of an integrated series of multiple activities and events organized by the NLA such as workshops, training courses and lectures that are provided to government entities to spread awareness about the proper methods followed in preserving the Memory of the Nation. This will definitely have a positive impact on the methods of managing and preventing records them from loss or damage.
It is worth mentioning that the training course focused on training government employees on the NLA’s applicable procedures and forms adopted in the internal or external transfer. It shed the light on the document lifecycle, starting from its creation at the government entity until its final destination: destruction, if it is useless or preservation at the NLA to form a part of the Nation’s Memory for next generations.
Furthermore, the course tackled the key mistakes that may occur upon transferring documents and records from government entities to state-of-the-art warehouses that adopt international practices to preserve the UAE’s documentary heritage as long as possible and to be restored by excelled experts to prevent it from loss or damage.
Additionally, the course demonstrated the document’s lifecycle, transfer procedures, transfer table, legal references and transfer standards along with files transfer table.
In accordance with the abovementioned federal law, the course defined a document as every recording: written, typed, photos, drawings, sketches, audio, or others on paper, magnetic tapes, electronic media or any other means. This includes public, historical, national and private documents.
Following to defining the public document and inventory process, the course pointed out that transferrable documents are those documents, which are inactive at their creation place. It also reviewed in detail and with images the transfer tables, stages and requirements and the required detailed data as well as the audited archives sent to the CPR.