Archives are not only important records of the development of human civilization but also concrete proofs of the works of government agencies. All the advanced nations attach great importance to the management of archives. They have therefore set up modernized buildings to house and preserve such precious archival materials, and have provided adequate space and facilities for quality service to users. By doing so, precious cultural assets can be best kept. These actions significantly symbolize the progress of a nation.
In formulating correct strategies of archival preservation, we need to carefully take into consideration space planning, environment control, repair & restoration, duplicate & storage, and risk management. All of these rely on professional expertise. The National Archives Administration (NAA) under the Cabinet-level National Development Council is accountable for overall management of national archives in Taiwan. However, many of the archival materials had been damaged or deteriorated even before having been transferred to NAA due to their long history and the poor handling by the original agencies. Preservation of such archives urgently need efficient strategies. This dissertation therefore aims to conduct some researches on the operations of national archives agencies in advanced nations, analyze their preservation strategies, and compare the differences of their works and emphases. More importantly, this author tries to come up with standard operation procedures, which are coherent, complete and accurate, for Taiwan to preserve our national archives. Hopefully this will offer reference in planning for a new national archives hall, so as to enhance the efficiency and upgrade the quality of national archives preservation. The major study results and suggestions are as follows:
I. There is urgent need for a national archives hall.
This study finds out that seriously damaged or deteriorated archives in different agencies account for ten percent of the total archives. It can therefore be estimated that national archives worth preserving might be lost before being transferred to NAA. Statistics show that there are over 100-km long national archives waiting to be transferred. Yet, due to the limited space in NAA, it is impossible to speed up the transfer process. Therefore, in view of international trend or the need to retain precious national memories, to build a new national archives hall is top on the agenda.
2. Priorities should be set to best preserve national archives.
National archives are not only large in quantity but also diverse in media types and material sorts. With limited resources, NAA has to allocate budgets to continue preventive protection measures. Meanwhile, it needs to establish objective criteria for assessing the value, usage, and preservation of different national archives before setting priorities for the restoration and digitalization of each sort. It is equally important to ensure long-term preservation and offer convenient service to users, so as to enhance the management efficiency of national archives.
3. The quality and quantity of workforce in national archives preservation need to be strengthened.
Faced by the challenges in both large number and different types of national archives, NAA assuredly needs more financial, workforce and equipment support to continue fulfilling its missions. In order to more effectively preserve national archives and keep the operation going smoothly, more professionals are needed, and skills and experiences must be passed down to new staff members.
4. The preservation-related knowledge of staff members in different agencies needs to be strengthened.
The current national archives had been kept by different agencies for several decades before having been transferred to NAA. If the original agencies failed to do their jobs well or kept their archives in a wrong way, it would be too late to rescue those archives after transfer. Therefore, in order to prolong the life of archives and reduce the expenses on repairing them after transfer, staff members in all agencies should receive training and assistance to gain better knowledge of archival preservation. After that, they can together take correct, effective measures as environment control and careful preservation to significantly reduce the number and degree of deteriorated archives.