The Department for Archives and Records Management of the Justice Ministry held a board meeting

On December 29, 2020, the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus held a board meeting to examine the following issues:

1. On the state registration of documents held at the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings
2. On handling appeals from citizens and legal entities at the Department and the central archival institutions for the period from July to November 2020.
3. On the Plan of Main Activities of the Department for 2021.
4. On implementation of anti-corruption legislation at the central archival institutions in 2020.

On the first issue, the Board noted that the system of state registration organized at the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings (BGAKFFD) is an effective means of ensuring preservation of audiovisual documents, provides an opportunity to search for documents and control their availability.

As of January 1, 2020, the permanent archival storage in the BGAKFFD includes: film documents – 22,741 accounting units (49,589 storage units); photographic documents – 270,990 accounting units (270,984 storage units); sound documents – 22,032 accounting units (10,701 storage units); video documents – 6,858 accounting units (5,455 storage units). All accounting units and storage units have been assigned archive numbers for the purpose of accounting and identification. Documents are numbered in a gross order separately within each type of media for audiovisual documents.

The BGAKFFD takes account of especially valuable documents on a scheduled basis. According to the Archive Passport as of January 1, 2020 the most valuable records include: film documents – 911 accounting units (1,549 storage units); photographic documents – 7,606 accounting units (6,726 storage units); sound documents – 518 accounting units (836 storage units); video documents – 56 accounting units (57 storage units). For especially valuable documents, the necessary accounting documentation is kept in full. The lists of especially valuable audiovisual documents are annually submitted to the Department together with annual reports.

Since 2014, in order to automate its main activities (including the state registration), BGAKFFD has been operating an information system – “Automated Information System of Audiovisual Documents for the Belarusian State Archives of Films, Photographs and Sound Recordings” (AIS BGAKFFD).

With the introduction of AIS BGAKFFD the planned work is carried out to transfer the main accounting documents into electronic form. This system automates the following accounting functions: formation of inventories of audiovisual documents – for photos and film documents; partially – formation of accounting books and descriptions of audiovisual documents.

On the second issue, the work of the Department and the central archival institutions in the second half of 2020 was aimed at timely and quality handling of appeals from citizens and legal entities. Despite the difficult sanitary and epidemiological situation in this period, the state archives did not stop the work, continuing to carry out activities in the key functional areas. Citizens and legal entities were provided with various options to send appeals to the archives in a remote format (including via the Internet). In all, in July – November 2020, the Department handled 78 appeals from citizens and legal entities, of which 20 were written, 56 were electronic and 2 were oral. The archival institutions handled 121 appeals (3 – written, 46 – electronic, 72 – oral). All citizens’ appeals received by the Department and archival institutions were handled in due time.

According to the schedules of “direct telephone lines” approved by the Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus, the heads of structural divisions (and their authorized officials) at the Department held two direct telephone lines during this period.

The Board pointed out to the central archival institutions to constantly monitor the fulfillment of the legislation of the Republic of Belarus to work with the appeals of citizens and legal entities; to timely update the information posted on stands and Internet resources; to examine the state of work with the appeals of citizens and legal entities in a planned manner at the board meetings of the Department and the administration of central archival institutions; to promptly analyze complaints, comments and proposals received from citizens and legal entities.

The third issue on the agenda of the Board examined and approved the Draft Plan of the Department’s Main Activities for 2021. Special attention was paid to the complex of planned organizational activities in preparation for the celebration of the 100th anniversary of the State Archival Service of Belarus, which will take place in 2022.

On the fourth issue, the Board heard the information about the fulfillment of legal requirements for combating corruption by the central archival institutions. In accordance with the national policy, this work is under constant control by the Department and the administration of central archival institutions. Activities are organized on a planned basis to inform and explain to employees of the archive sector the requirements of the legislation and the possible responsibility for corruption.