The "Archivist Grade" in HKSAR Government was created in 1972 when the Public Records Office of Hong Kong (PRO) was first established. At present, there are four "ranks" within the grade, namely Principal Archivist, Archivist, Senior Assistant and Assistant Archivist.

Assistant Archivist is the entry rank to the grade and other three ranks are "promotional" ranks. The latter means when vacant posts exist in these ranks, they can only be filled by promotion of the existing archivist staff within the grade rather than outside recruitment.

Candidates applying for the job of Assistant Archivist in PRO are required of the following qualifications.

(a) A recognized degree in History, Political Science, Public Administration or an allied subject;

(b) Two years postgraduate research, study or training in History, Political Science, Public Administration or an allied subject; (which often means a MA/ M Phil degree or above); and

(c) Language proficiency in Chinese and English.

2. Assistant Archivist: Conditions of Appointment

On appointment, the new recruits have to serve a probation period of two years before they can be confirmed to the post. At the end of the first year's service, they have to sit for a proficiency test comprising two parts:

Part one: a written test consists of three papers on Hong Kong history, fundamental principles and theories of archives and records management.

Part two: a practical test of which trainees will conduct projects in records appraisal, arrangement and description, reference service and document research, etc. On the records management aspect, they have to prove their competency in records survey and scheduling methodology and techniques, as well as in designing records classification schemes.

3. Assistant Archivists: Professional Development

Universities in Hong Kong never train archivists. None of them offers any specialist course in archival studies. As a result, training or education for archivists in Hong Kong is exclusively in-house and/or overseas based. Currently, more and more private archives are beginning to reply on PRO to provide training, guidance and resource support.

Training of the newly recruits in PRO starts as soon as they report duty and it goes on throughout their two years' probation period. As for long term professional development, the present policy is that after completion of in-service training and confirmation of their posts, where resources permit, assistant archivists will be sent overseas, (or through long distance learning) to attain a graduate degree or diploma in archival science. The qualification obtained is a prerequisite for their promotion to senior ranks. Further training for senior staff is provided in the form of duty visits/attending short courses overseas.

4. In-service Training Program

As far as in-service training is concerned, we have designed a job-related program aiming at helping the trainees to achieve competency in performing their responsibilities and duties as Assistant Archivists. It is also structured in such a way as to prepare them for the proficiency test at the end of their first year's service.

The various components of the training program include:

(a) Theories and principles in Archival Science and Records Management.

(b) Basic theories, techniques and methodologies in records appraisal, arrangement, and description.

(c) Basic theories and techniques in user interviews, reference services and archival research.

Historical research methods are not taught in the in-house program as it is assumed the trainees would have acquired the needed knowledge and skills through their 2 years' post graduate and study/research experience, an entry requirement for their post.

Although we recognize the importance of a consistent and systematic approach and the need of balancing theories and practices, because of resources constraints, very often we have to limit ourselves to a smaller range of applied subjects depending on the need of the time. Training sessions are conducted informally by senior members of the grade whenever time permits.

5. Problems Encountered

Reluctantly, I have to say that ours is still pretty much a system of apprenticeship focusing a great deal on working acquaintance with the operating system and its basic functions. While we may have achieved some degree of success in equipping our paraprofessional staff with technical competency to "work" as archivists, we feel the inadequacy in making them "think" as archivist-to run the archives with the understanding, interests, appreciation and mission and goal of an archivists.

Given the recent administrative cutback and the ever-increasing workload for everyone in the archives, time devoted to in-house training is becoming inadequate. Training schedules are often interrupted by some other "more urgent business cropped up". Moreover, some of the trainers may not be full-fledged "professional" or they have not been "retrained" for years to deal with rapidly changing information world.

As regards the practice of sending young archivists to receive archives education overseas, we are finding it more and more difficult to release staff to attend a full program because of the long residential requirements. We have tried replacing attending overseas programs by distance learning but the results are not satisfactory.

6. New Challenges

The popularity of computer technology and the recent introduction/revision of a number of legislation and code on the use and access of information in Hong Kong have resulted in growing awareness within the government for achieving effective archives and records management. Our role as archivists is becoming more complicated than ever. We feel the pressure everyday that archivist can no longer be simply record keepers.

Our emergent roles are manifolds. We have to act service provider, regulator, negotiator as well as advocate for proper management of records. We have to deal with records creators, information managers, data subjects and primary as well as secondary data users. We need knowledge not only in history and records but also in government administration, laws and the uses of records and information. We need awareness of and capability not only in historical research but also in information technology and management in order to formulate successful strategies in selecting, preserving and retrieving information that satisfy user needs without infringing on private rights. We need to fill in the gaps before it is too late.

Being a fully developed archival institution, PRO offers a very good training ground for our novices of the archival profession. We are, however, in urgent need to broaden and deepen the coverage of professional training for our young archivists in order to meet the public needs and demands, and the challenge of the future.