• 2017-11-01

TheNational Central Library (NCL) hosted the International Joint Research andTraining Program for Nation’s Memory Archive Management from Oct. 30 – Nov. 3,2017. An opening ceremony was held in the NCL’s International Conference Hallto mark the start of the program on Oct. 30. In her opening speech, NCLDirector-General Shu-hsien Tseng (曾淑賢)  saidthat the program’s aim was to strengthen partnerships with ASEAN countries,while advancing exchanges and cooperation with other countries around theworld. Lecturers and course participants for the program were invited from manycountries, including Austria, Brunei, India, Malaysia, Hong Kong, thePhilippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Vietnam, South Korea, Germany,Latvia, and Canada. Among the attendees were a number of Drector-Gneral level staff,such as Leipzig University Library Drector-General Prof. Ulrich JohannesSchneider, the University Librarian at Jawaharlal Nehru University, Dr. RameshC. Gaur, and Deputy Chief Executive of the National Library Board, Singapore,Ms. Tay Ai Cheng. 

Thegoal of hosting this symposium was to support and assist the establishment oftechnological and scholarly exchanges among Taiwan’s academic research andlibrary communities, and their counterparts around the world. These exchangesfacilitate the construction of cooperative online platforms between differentregions that will further bi- and multi-lateral technological cooperationbetween the countries of each region. Lecturers and course participants fromdifferent countries could also utilize the symposium as a platform for developingmultiple conversations and exchanges with other attendees, further increasingthe possibility of close collaborations in the future. 

In hisspeech at the opening ceremony, the Political Deputy Minister for Education, Ching-hwaTsai (蔡清華), remarked that over the pastdecade or more the Taiwanese government has been funding libraries, museums,and public and private cultural institutions to digitize their collections andcreate databases of related materials, which has produced a vast quantity ofdigital information. When experts, policy makers, and staff working at thesedifferent types of collecting institutions combine their efforts throughinternational collaboration, their ability to both preserve the national memoryand pass on humanity’s collective memory is enhanced. This is also effective inpromoting such cooperation and expanding the use of this information in the world’scultural communities. 

Anumber of local and overseas experts and scholars accepted invitations toattend the four-day program. They discussed such topics as the working methodsappropriate for the digital era, the experiences of different countries andinstitutions in establishing their respective national memories, and thecultural preservation of life and memories. Local experts also gave accounts ofTaiwan’s digitization projects and how archives are built up and used, and discussedTaiwan Memory’s past history and future prospects. They described how furtherdeveloping the technology and scope of the management of all kinds of archive andthen pooling collective knowledge could help bring about the establishment ofdeeply meaningful and effective models of sharing.