WORKING REPORT

by Wang Gang, Chairman of EASTICA

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Dear colleagues,

Thanks to the support from the International Council on Archives, and Charles KECSKEMETI, Secretary General of ICA in particular, the East Asia Regional Branch of ICA was founded in July 1993 in Beijing. Presented here is the working report of EASTICA in the last two years.

In June 1995, the Executive Board Meeting of EASTICA was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Presented at the meeting were delegates from China, DPR Korea, Republic of Korea, Mongolia and Macao.

Japan and Hong Kong were absent for various reasons. The meeting encouraged more archival services and individuals of East Asia to join EASTICA. Presently, in China, besides the State Archives Bureau and the Archives Society of China, Jiang Su Province Archives Society, Si Chuan Province Archives, Su Zhou City Archives Bureau, Aviation Industry Company Archives, Yangzi Petro-chemical Industry Company Archives, Yangzhou City Archives, Xin Su Silk Factory Archives office also joined EASTICA as Category C members. In Japan, the National Archives and the Japan Society of Archives Institutions are members of EASTICA. We hope there will be more archival institutions in Japan join EASTICA. In the Republic of Korea, besides the Government Archives and Records Service, the Diplomatic Archives Division also sent three delegates to this meeting. We also hope more archival services in Republic of Korea become members of EASTICA. The same hope is also addressed to DPR Korea, Mongolia and Macao.

The Executive Board meeting also discussed the venue of the Second General Conference of EASTICA in 1995, and decided to hold the meeting in Macao in December. A seminar on Modernization of Archives Management would be held with the conference. Two experts would be invited as resources persons. Here, I would like to take this opportunity to express thanks to the Cultural Institute of Macao and the Historical Archives of Macao for their kind invitation and very thoughtful arrangement which guarantee the success of this meeting.

The Executive Board Meeting also discussed the ¡§Workshop on Automation of Archives Management¡¨ to be held in October 1994, in Beijing.

The Executive Board Meeting decided that the State Archives Administration of Mongolia and the State Bureau of Archives of DPR Korea send one participant respectively to the Precongress Seminar of the XIIIth International Congress on Archives.

The Executive Board Meeting elected Mr Chuluun Dashdavaa Director General of the State Archives Administration of Mongolia, as vice-chairman of EASTICA, replacing his predecessor, Mr Mendsaikhan. Maria Helena Lima Evora was elected as a Treasurer of EASTICA, replacing Mr Isau Santos, former Director of the Historical Archives of Macao. Mr Han Ryuel Mo, Director General of the State Bureau of Archives of DPR Korea, was elected as member of the Executive Board.

In October 1994, the "Workshop on Automation of Archives Management" was held in Beijing. 27 participants from 8 countries/territories attended the workshop. Four computer experts from China gave lectures. A small exhibition of Computer and archival equipment was presented after the workshop. The workshop was successful, and each participant was given a certificate.

The first issue of "East Asian Archives" edited by the State Archives Bureau of China has been published. The Second issue is going to be published by the State Archives Administration of Mongolia.

Here, I would like to take this opportunity to make the following suggestions on the future activities of EASTICA for you to discuss. And I hope you could propose more ideas and recommendations.

  1. To give more publicity to EASTICA. Up to now, EASTICA has not been quite well known among archives and libraries in East Asia. If all of you present here could let more people know EASTICA and join EASTICA, that would contribute to the development of EASTICA.
  2. To enhance language training and communication facilities. I think language barrier and difficulty in communication are two obstacles of EASTICA. The Construction of EASTICA stipulates that English shall be the working language. I hope each member country or territory give more training on English language to your staff, so as to solve the language problem as soon as possible. It is well known that we are now in the information age. Information could be exchanged within seconds through fax or E-mail. But there are still difficulties in communication in our region. The Secretariat of ICA also finds it very difficult to contact some of the archives in EAST ASIA, since fax machine is still not available in a certain country. Therefore, I hope, in the strongest term, that communication be improved in some of the archives in our region.
  3. Cooperation in East Asia. Last June, at the Executive Board Meeting, Mr Dashdavaa expressed hope to cooperate among members of EASTICA on the acquisition of archives scattered abroad, so as to enrich holdings. I hereby put forward this issue to this meeting for discussion.

4. It is suggested that EASTICA shall hold a meeting during the XIIIth International Congress on Archives to be held in September 1996 in Beijing. You are kindly requested to make suggestions on what topics should be included in the meeting. And I sincerely hope that all of you could come to the XIIIth Congress.

5. Concerning the Third General Conference of EASTICA to be held in 1997, it is also hoped that we could decide its dates, place and subjects at this meeting.

Thanks for your attention.