On the extended meeting of the collegium of the Department for archives and records management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus
On February 3, 2023, an expanded meeting of the collegium of the Department for Archives and Records Management of the Ministry of Justice of the Republic of Belarus was held, at which the results of the work of the archive industry of the Republic of Belarus for 2022 were summed up and tasks for 2023 were set.
Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus S.N. Khomenko, Deputy Minister of Justice of the Republic of Belarus O.N. Kot, Head of the Office of Records Management and Protocol Work of the Office of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus N.V. Shastilovskaya, Chief Advisor to the Department of Education and Social and Cultural Sphere of the Office of the Council of Ministers of the Republic of Belarus M.V. Leshkevich, Head of the Main Department for Financing the Social Sphere and Science of the Ministry of Finance T.V. Dekhtyarenok, First Deputy Director of the National Center for Electronic Services A.A. Filipenko, First Deputy General Director of the Belarusian Telegraph Agency V.I. Matveev, heads of subdivisions for archives and office work of the main departments of justice of the regional executive committees, directors of state archival institutions, employees of the Department for archives and office work took part in the work of the collegium.
A report was made by the Director of the Department for Archives and Records Management O.L. Voinov, who emphasized that the work of state archival institutions in 2022 was assessed not only by the main target indicators of activities, but also in the context of the requirements of the President of the Republic of Belarus, instructions of the Government, Prime Minister -Minister of the Republic of Belarus, data following a visit on August 5, 2022 to the institution “Belarusian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents” and discussion of the development of the archive sphere, instructions of the Minister of Justice.
O.L. Voinov noted that in 2022 the state archival institutions met the main targets of the subprogram “Archives of Belarus” of the State Program “Culture of Belarus for 2021-2025”. Accepted for permanent storage from organizations – 117,868 cases. The total volume of digitized archival documents amounted to 1,304,043 electronic pages. In the Year of Historical Memory, the state archives organized and held 179 exhibitions, posted 126 virtual projects on websites, published 12 collections of documents, including two electronic collections. In 2022, the fundamental publishing project “Without a statute of limitations. Belarus”, posted on the website “Archives of Belarus”. State archives completed 38,614 requests.
Emphasis has been increased on methodological work in terms of improving the skills of employees of the department’s documentation support services, heads of archives and organizations responsible for the archive. For these purposes, 171 seminars were held.
The state archives ensured monthly holding of unified information days. The reading rooms of the state archives received 3,250 users in 2022.
The Department, in pursuance of the Law of the Republic of Belarus dated April 18, 2022 No. 163-Z “On Amending the Law of the Republic of Belarus “On Archiving and Paperwork in the Republic of Belarus”, organized work to bring 26 regulatory legal acts into line.
In cooperation with the Belarus 3 TV channel, work was organized to strengthen the information and educational activities of state archival institutions. For the period from October to December 2022, 13 stories were prepared with the participation of leading specialists from the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, the National Historical Archives of Belarus, the Belarusian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents.
Together with the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents and the Belarusian Research Center for Electronic Documentation, the section “Documentary Chronicle of Belarus” was created on the website “Archives of Belarus”. More than 150 documents about the historical events of 1919-1925 have been identified and placed.
O.L. Voinov noted that the Department and state archival institutions fulfilled the instructions of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, given following the results of the meeting on the development of the archival sphere on August 5, 2022.
694 events were organized and held within the framework of the republican action «Archives for the School». Over 11,000 schoolchildren and students visited the archival institutions. Organized and held an open day for citizens in archival institutions (September 12, 2022).
Consultative, methodological and practical assistance continued to be provided to representatives of the General Prosecutor’s Office of the Republic of Belarus in identifying documentary materials as part of the investigation of a criminal case on the fact of the genocide of the population of Belarus during the Great Patriotic War and in the post-war period. More than 26,700 pages of copies of archival documents were produced and provided.
The National Archives of the Republic of Belarus continued work on filling the Internet project «Partisans of Belarus» with materials.
The Belarusian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents, in cooperation with the TV News Agency of the Belteleradiocompany, organized and is implementing the video project “Open Access”. 13 videos about significant events in the history of Belarus have been prepared and released.
At the end of the report, O. L. Voinov gave a comprehensive assessment of the work of state archival institutions over the past year. It was noted that among the republican archival institutions, the National Archives of the Republic of Belarus, the Belarusian Research Institute of Documentation and Archiving perfectly fulfilled their tasks. Among the archival institutions of the regions, the state archives of the Brest and Gomel regions took the first place according to the results of their activity, the state archives of the Vitebsk region and the state archives of the Minsk region took the second and third places, the fourth place was shared by the state archives of the Grodno and Mogilev regions.
Assessing the activities of the Department for Archives and Records Management and the archival industry in general in 2022, Minister of Justice S.N. Khomenko noted that the main indicators of archival institutions have been met. The tasks for 2023 should be, first of all, the fulfillment of the instructions of the Prime Minister of the Republic of Belarus, given during a visit to the Belarusian State Archive of Film and Photo Documents, the fulfillment of the targets of the State Program “Culture of Belarus”. The Minister of Justice emphasized that the digitalization of archival documents is a process of preserving the historical heritage of our people, as well as the availability of documents.
It was noted that ensuring the safety of documents, fire safety of archives, premises, uninterrupted operation of ventilation and air conditioning systems, video surveillance, as well as bringing reading rooms into proper condition should be considered priorities in the work of state archives.
The Minister of Justice stressed that the state archives need to ensure the full use of funds allocated to strengthen the material and technical base of institutions.
When implementing events dedicated to the Year of Peace and Creation, the task was set to continue holding the republican action “Archives for the School” and organizing exhibitions of archival documents.
It was also pointed out that trade union organizations in the archives are organizations that should help the leader and guard the rights of workers. There must be the authority of a public organization, then a person will come there on his own.
The minister noted that rating the activities of archival institutions is a good practice.
At the end of his speech, the Minister of Justice emphasized that the historical truth is in the hands of archivists and it is necessary to bring it to society and people.
