Report on the Status of Archives in State Ministries and Institutions 2021
Given the procedural role of the Royal Jordanian Documentation Center in preserving national remembrance; by working on the restoration, treatment, photographing, and preservation of documents and manuscripts of all kinds, and to achieve the center's vision of providing an exceptional level of documentation, restoration, and preservation of Jordanian state documents and the royal family's archives.
To diagnose and assess the current state of repositories and archives in state ministries and institutions, the center conducted a field survey to monitor their compliance with public safety systems, awareness of the importance of archives, adherence to Jordanian laws and legislations related to documents and archives, and to identify obstacles and challenges in preserving paper and electronic archives. Based on the survey data, a set of recommendations and solutions were proposed to improve the current situation in archives, preserving and developing national memory in line with global standards.
This project, considered the first in a series of reports to be issued later, is distinctive and original as it is the first comprehensive study of its kind, covering the entire country, blending scientific and practical methods in monitoring and tracking real-world issues, and standardizing methods to assess the general state of archives across all state ministries and institutions.
The project involved 90 field visits across all provinces of the kingdom, targeting ministries, institutions, government departments, municipalities, schools, and universities, distributed as follows:
- Visited ministries: 23
- Visited institutions, authorities, and government departments: 50
- Visited municipalities: 17
The report divides Jordan's geography into three regions:
- Northern Region: Irbid, Ajloun, Jerash, Mafraq
- Central Region: Amman, Zarqa, Balqa, Madaba.
- Southern Region: Karak, Ma'an, Tafilah, Aqaba
Key criteria considered during visits include:
- Condition of repositories and storage in institutions, indicating the institution's attention to physical archives, with ratings as follows: 26% very good, 42% good, 23% poor.
- Presence of public safety systems:
- Fire extinguishing systems found in only 8% of institutions
- Water suction systems found in only 4%
- Ventilation systems rated as 24% very good, 34% good, 42% poor
- Lighting systems rated as 32% very good, 40% good, 28% poor.
- Institutions' interest in restoring paper documents and archives, with only 3% showing significant interest.
- Presence of electronic archiving systems, found in 63% of visited institutions.
The publications from the Hashemite Documentation Center are not translated into English. Institutions and publishing houses interested in publishing a translated version should contact the center at the following email address: Info@rhdc.jo. This offers an opportunity for broader access to these valuable historical resources for non-Arabic speaking audiences and researchers