Which Government Department Has Responsibility for Archives
Part 1:Government responsibilityfor National Archives and other archives to which the public have access
Laws that govern your country’s National Archives and other archives
1Different countries have different laws about archives.
Please list the laws (with the date that each was passed) that in your country govern:
- the way that government materialis to be managed and disposed of and
- the way that these and other archives are to be preserved.
2What is the name of the government department / ministry / agencythat has responsibility forThe National Archives and also for the other archives to which the public have access
Part 2: States
8Does your country have state governments as well as a national government?
yesGo to question 9
no Go to part 3
9Do the states have their own Archives?
none doGo to part 3
some do Go to question 10
all do Go to question 10
10Please list the state archives here or attach a list when you return this questionnaire.
11Does the same national department / ministry / agencycontrolThe National Archives and the state archives?
yesGo to question 13
no
12Please describe the national or state government agencies, department(s) or ministry (ies)that control the state archives (or attach a list when you return this questionnaire).
13Do the laws you mentioned in question 1 also cover state archives?
yesGo to part 3
no
14Please list the national and state laws (with the date they were passed) that govern state archives (or attach a list when you return this questionnaire).
Part 3: Current material
15The questions in this part are about material that is still being used by the government agency department / ministry that produced it.
Please tick the true statement(s) in this list
The National Archives has some general control over the management
and/or the appraisal and disposal of material still being used by
government agencies / departments / ministries Go to question 16
some other agency has some general control over the management
and/or the appraisal and disposal of material still being used by
government agencies / departments / ministriesGo to question 16
no agency has any general control over the management
and/or the appraisal and disposal of material still beingused by
government agencies / departments / ministries Go to part 4
16If another agency has some general control, what agency is that?
17Comment (if you would like to) on your answers to question 15 and/or 16
18The table below lists different type of government agencies – they will probably be called a slightly different name in each country.
For each one, please answer the question in the table.
If you answer “no” please answer the question in the right-hand column.
Type of government department / ministry /agency / Does the law giveThe National Archives(or the other agency you named at q16) any control over the management and/or the appraisal and disposal of material still being used by this type of agency? / What organisation has control over material being used by this type of government agency / department / ministry?yes / no
Foreign Affairs /
Security Intelligence /
Defence /
Taxation Department /
Parliament /
Land Administration /
the Head of State /
‘highest’ Court /
other courts /
local governments / local authorities / local councils /
other government agencies / ministries / departments / / If yes, please describe the type(s) of agency / ministry / department
19Comment (if you would like to) on your answers to question 18
20This table shows different forms of current material. For each one, please answer the question in the table.
Type of material / While that type of material is still being used by a government agency / ministry / department, does the law give The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) any control over its management and/or the appraisal and disposal of it?yes / no
electronic material
paper documents
other material such as photographs, film, etc etc
Electronic material still in use by government agencies / ministries / departments
21This set of questions is about electronicmaterialstill being used by the government agencies / ministries /departmentsthat you said “yes” to in q18.
Does the law give The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) any control over how such electronic materialare to be looked after while they are being used?
yes
no
22Does the law say that The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) has a responsibility to advise other government agencies about how to look after such electronic material?
yes
no
23Does the law give The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) any control over the appraisal and disposal of such electronic material?
yes
no
24In present-day reality, how much control would you say that The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) really has?
How much control: -- over the management of such electronic material?
- over the appraisal and disposal of such electronic material?
25Comment (if you would like to)on any initiativesthat will provide The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) with more control than it currently has.
26If The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) does not have complete control, please answer this. In present-day reality, how much influence would you say that it has?
How much influence: -- over the management of such electronic material?
- over the appraisal and disposal of such electronic material?
27How well or badly do you think that your country does in the management, appraisal and disposal of such electronic material?
How well or badly does your country do: -- in the management of such electronic material?
very well / well / neither well nor badly / badly / very badly / can’t say / no opinion
- in the appraisal and disposal of such electronic material?
28Comment (if you would like to) on the management, appraisal and disposal of such electronic material.
Other material still in use by government agencies / ministries / departments
29The next set of questions is about all types of materials (paper, film, photographs etc etc) except electronic material. Again, the questions relate to materialcreated and still being used bythose agencies / ministries / departments that you said “yes” to in q18.
Does the law give The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) any control over howthose materials are to be looked after while they are being used?
yes
no
30Comment (if you would like to) on your answers to question 29.
31Does the law say that The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) has a responsibility to advise other government agencies about how to look after such material?
yes
no
32Does the law give The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) any control over the appraisal and disposal of such material?
yes
no
33In present-day reality, how much control would you say that The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) really has?
How much control: -- over the management of such material?
- over the appraisal and disposal of such material?
34If The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q16) does not have complete control, please answer this. In present-day reality, how much influence would you say that it has?
How much influence: -- over the management of such material?
- over the appraisal and disposal of such material?
35How well or badly do you think that your country does in the management, appraisal and disposal of such material?
How well or badly does your country do: -- in the management of such material?
very well / well / neither well nor badly / badly / very badly / can’t say / no opinion
- in the appraisal and disposal of such materials?
36Comment (if you would like to) on the management, appraisal and disposal of such materials in your country.
Part 4:Documents /material / material no longer being used
(non-current material)
37The questions in this part are about material that is no longer being used by the government agency department / ministry/organisation that produced it.
Please tick the true statement(s) in this list
The National Archives has some general control over the preservation
and storage of material no longer in use by government
agencies / departments /ministries?Go to question 38
some other agency has some general control over the preservation
and storage of material no longer in use by government
agencies / departments /ministries?Go to question 38
no agency has some general control over the preservation
and storage of material no longer in use by government
agencies / departments /ministries?Go to part 5.
38If another agency has some general control, what agency is that?
39You answered a question earlier about who has control over the management of currentmaterial of different types of government department / ministry / agency (q18). This question is about who has control over the preservation of the non-currentmaterial of the different type of government agency.
For each type of government department / ministry / agency, please answer the question in the table.
If you answer “no” please answer the question in the right-hand column.
Type of government department / ministry /agency / Does the law give The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) any control over the preservation of non-current material produced by this type of agency? / What organisation has control over material produced by this type of department / ministry /agency?yes / no
Foreign Affairs /
Security Intelligence /
Defence /
Taxation Department /
Parliament /
Land Administration /
the Head of State /
‘highest’ Court /
other courts /
local governments / local authorities / local councils /
other agencies / ministries / departments / / If yes, please describe the type(s) agency / ministry / department
40Comment (if you would like to) on your answers to question 39
41Does The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) have any other functions?
function: / yes / nolegal deposit
collecting material from non-government agencies
other (please list)
42All the rest of the questions are about only governmentmaterial that has long term value. If you said “yes” anywhere in question 41, please do NOT include any non-government material related to those functions when you answer the rest of the questions.
43This table shows different forms of material that might be stored in archives. For each one, please say whether the law makes The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) responsible for the preservation and storage of that type of material. If you answer “yes” please answer the question in the right-hand column of the table.
Type of material / Does the law make The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) responsible for that type of material? / Please rate the ability of The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) to manage that type of materialyes / No
electronic material / / can do it without problems
can do it and there are very few problems
can do it but there are some problems
can do it but with many problems
cannot do it at all
paper documents / / can do it without problems
can do it and there are very few problems
can do it but there are some problems
can do it but with many problems
cannot do it at all
other material / / can do it without problems
can do it and there are very few problems
can do it but there are some problems
can do it but with many problems
cannot do it at all
44Please feel free to comment on any material that there is a problem managing
Electronic material no longer in use by government agencies / ministries / departments
45This set of questions is about electronicmaterialproduced by the government agencies / ministries /departments that you said yes to in question 39. But it only relates to the ones they are no longer using.
Does the law give The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38)the right to say how such electronic material are to be managed, stored and preserved?
yes
no
46How much control over such electronic material does The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) really have?
no control Go to question 48
very little
some
a great deal
complete control
47How well or badly do you think that The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) does in the storage and preservation of such electronic material?
very well
well
neither well nor badly
badly
very badly
can’t say / no opinion
48Comment (if you would like to) on the storage and preservation of such electronic material.
Other material no longer in use by government agencies / ministries / departments/organisations
49The next set of questions is about all types of materials (paper, film, photographs etc ) except electronic material. Again, the questions relate to material with long term value which those agencies / ministries / departments are no longer using.
Does the law give The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38)the right to say how such material which the government agencies / ministries /departments have finished using are to be looked after?
yes
no
50How much control over such material does The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) really have?
no controlGo to question 52
very little
some
a great deal
complete control
51How well or badly do you think The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) does in the storage and preservation of such material?
very well
well
neither well nor badly
badly
very badly
can’t say / no opinion
52Comment (if you would like to) on the storage and preservation of such material.
Public access to archived material
53This set of questions is about all types of material
- produced by the government agencies / ministries /departments/organisations that you said yes to in question 39
- no longer being used by them, and
- held by The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) .
Is there a law (or laws) that give ordinary people the right to see some or all of this material?
yes Go to question 55
no Go to question 54
54If there is no law about public access, does The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) allow the public to access archived material anyway?
yes Go to question 57
no Go to part 5
55Please list those laws and the dates they were passed.
56Please tick as many circles as you need to answer this question. Does that law (or laws) cover material in these forms?
paper documents
photographs, slides and electronic copies of photographs
computer documents or material
sound recordings
moving image recordings such as videotape, film or DVD
microfilm
other
57Is there a place where people can come to look atsuch material (e.g. a reading room or rooms)?
yes
no
58Is a record kept of the number of visits by people to use that room or rooms?
yes no Go to question 60
59Please give the number of visits, in whatever period you have a record for?
inNumber / Period
60Is it possible to use the internet to find out what The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) holds?
yes in little detail for alltypes of material
yes in some detail for all types of material
yes in great detail for alltypes of material
no
61Is it possible to see any of thatmaterial on the internet?
none of it
a little of it
some of it
a great deal of it
all or almost all of it
Listing and describing material
62These questions are about how material held by The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) is listed and described.
How much of the material held by The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38)has been listed?
none of it
very little of it
some of it
a great deal of it
all or almost all of it
63How many of the items that are listedinclude an adequate description of the item?
none of them
a few of them
some of them
most of them
all or almost all of them
64How do you feel about the listing and description of items done by The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38): Do you feel that:
it needs a great deal of improvement
it needs some improvement
it needs very little improvement
you are satisfied with it
65Comment (if you would like to) on the listing and/or description of material held by The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38).
Part 5: Archives and record management training
66How many staff does your archives employ?
67The next question is about current staff that have had specific training in archives, archive conservation and/or record management.
Please use the table below to show the number of current staff who have each of the levels of qualification or training shown.
1 / a qualification that takes at least a year of full-time study to get
2 / a qualification that takes less than a year, but at least 3 months of full-time study to get
3 / a qualification that takes less than 3 months of full-time study to get
4 / no qualification but some training
Total
68Does The National Archives (or the other agency you named at q38) offer training to its own staff in archives care and materialmanagement?