Department for Archives and Records Management held a board meeting to review the activities in 2012 and tasks in 2013
On 24 January 2013 the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry of the Republic of Belarus held an enlarged board meeting to review the activities of the archives and records management bodies and the state archive institutions in the Republic of Belarus in 2012 and to set the objectives in 2013.
Attending the board meeting were the Deputy Justice Minister of the RB I. G. Tushinsky, heads and deputy heads of the main justice boards and the archives and records divisions at the regional executive committees and the Minsk City Executive Committee, directors of the state archive institutions, staff members of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Republic of Belarus. In all, 65 persons attended the meeting.
The Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management, V. I. Adamushko, delivered a report. Seven members took part in the debates. In 2012, the state archive institutions were actively engaged in completing the Archives of Belarus State Programme for 2011-2015. 5,3 billion rubles were drawn for the purpose from the republic’s budget. In the regions, the activities were financed at the expense of the local funds to the sum of 4,7 billion rubles.
Much attention was turned to the legal provision of the archive activities. The normative and legal basis in the archives and records management was made fully conformed with the Law on Archives and Records Management in the Republic of Belarus of 25 November 2011. On 26 May 2012, the Belarus President signed the Law on Official Heraldic Symbols, which has become the first national legislative act in the post-Soviet area for the regulation of the relevant legal relationship.
The works were completed in the technical protection of the regional and local archive buildings, their provision with modern equipment, and the expansion of access to archive records. The Department emphasized the good results achieved in the field by all regional archive institutions and the archivists in the regions of Brest, Vitebsk, Grodno and Minsk.
A breakthrough in the automation of the state registration of records was the location in the Internet of the information contents of the National Fonds Catalogue of the Republic of Belarus.
The provision of information services remained an important activity for the state archives in 2012, in particular the execution of legal and social inquiries. In all, in the past year the state archive institutions handled over 28,000 inquiries. More than 14,000 people visited and consulted the archives in person. The exhibition and publication activity increased considerably. During the reported time the state archive institutions organized 75 exhibition projects and published seven collections of documents. 74 official heraldic symbols were entered into the State Heraldry Register of the Republic of Belarus.