Accessibility and technology the focus as Archives Awareness Week kicks off

Accessibility and technology the focus as annual Archives Awareness Week kicks off

The Western Cape Department of Cultural Affairs and Sport aims to make the Provincial Archive more accessible, as the annual Archives Awareness Week begins on Monday, 15 July 2019.

The Archives and Records Service works to preserve important official documents for future use and most of these documents are available for public use. These include early maps, birth and marriage certificates, building plans and wills.

“We preserve historical information which builds the social memory and contributes to nation building,” said Archives and Records Service Director, Nomaza Dingayo, at the launch of the Archives Awareness Week on Friday 12 July. “We preserve this information in order to make it accessible. Our work is about preservation and access.”

The Roeland Street building is also home to a number of documents which predate South Africa’s existence as a republic. These documents have been important to scholars, researchers and historians in the past, but many people who use the archives are simply interested in their family history.

The Archives and Records Service is working hard to make the important documents in its collection available to all.  These documents could also be available online soon. “Sometimes when people think about archives, people think about old documents. And yes we do have old documents. In this archive we have the oldest document in South Africa, which dates back to 1651,” Ms Dingayo said. “However, we are also keeping up with the times and implementing digitization, which is converting the paper to digital format. We would like people to access the records that are here via our website.”

The Provincial Archives will be hosting free family history workshops on Monday 15 July, from 13:00 to 15:00. All are welcome to attend.

The Western Cape Government works to ensure important records and documents are safely preserved for future generations to use. BETTER TOGETHER.