Country/Territory Report China

Strategy for Archival Management in the Digital Age
Cai Xuemei
The State Archives Administration of the People’s Republic of China
The rapid development and widespread application of information technology has had aprofound and comprehensive effect on the administration of archives. From the perspective ofarchival formation, the recording mode, storage carriers and rendering tools use computer
technology and equipment as core elements, and the standard archiving of electronic documents andthe credible long-term management of electronic records have become the subject of archival workin the information age. From the perspective of archival management, IT management tools arenecessary for scientific storage and the speedy access of archives in today's world, while theestablishment of the MARC database covering entire collections and the digitization of archives in
traditional carriers are imperative for an enhanced level of archival management.
From the beginning of the 1990s, China has gradually commanded archival departments at alllevels to meet the development requirements of the information age from the aspects of systemdesign, technology application and process reengineering, etc.

I. The system design in IT processing of archives
Faced with the impact of information technology on archival work, archivists should on the one
hand actively adapt to new changes brought about by information technology, and on the other handalso standardize the filing of electronic documents and management of electronic archives. In systemdesign, we follow the set processes of archival management of traditional paper documents, andemphasize the requirement of filing links to transfer electronic documents from the archive creating
unit to the archives section and from each creating department to the archive institutions. Regarding
the handover of electronic documents, the State Archives Administration of the People’s Republic ofChina (SAAC) formulated and released in 2002 the national standard "Electronic Document Filingand Management Norms," presenting the normative, operational requirements for electronic filingfrom the creation and accumulation of electronic documents, electronic document archiving, testingand arranging, the transfer, reception and storage of electronic archives and other aspects. In thetransfer link of electronic archives from file creating units to the archive institutions, the SAAC
formulated and promulgated in 2012 the "Methods for the Transfer and Reception of ElectronicFiles,” regulating the duty, time, processes, data organization, transfer formalities, etc. in the transferand reception of electronic files.

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Table 1: Regulations and standards concerning archival informatization issued by the SAAC in thepast decade

No.
1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

14

15

2

TitlesFilingandmanagementTime
normsofelectronic

documents
Interim Measures for Electronic Document Archiving

Detailed regulation for the structure of catalogue anddescription database of archives at the item-level
Standard for archives catalogue data collection

Technical specification for digitization of paperarchives
Business Email Archiving and Management Rules

Disctechnology

requirements

andapplication

specifications for the filing of electronic records
Technical specification for microfiche digitization

A Guide for Building Digital Archives

Methods for transfer and reception of electronicarchives
A Guide for Building Digital Archives Section

Specifications for Filing and management of Digital
PhotosTechnical specification for digital archives COM andCOLD
Technical specification for transferring Archives
Model Database into XML files
Basic terminology of electronic archives management

2002

2003

2004

2005

2005

2005

2008

2009

2010

2012

2013

2014

2014

2014

2014

Typetechnicalstandard
departmental
regulation
technical
standard
technical
standard
technical
standard
technical
standard
technical
standard
technical
standard
normative
document
departmental
regulation
normative
document
technical
standard
technical
standard
technical
standard
technical
standard

Country/Territory Report China

II. To enhance efficiency in keeping and use of archives with information technology
The use of information technology to improve the level of storage and efficiency of use isinevitable in archival work in order to adapt to the social reality of the digital age. Through theestablishment of the MARC database covering the collections and digitizing parts of traditionalarchives, we can improve the speed of archives use, recall rates and precision, and reduce or avoid
the use of the original files, to achieve storage protection of the original files. Archive institutions
now provide the public with remote service on their websites, which is a new application forarchives in the digital era. Chinese archives in provinces and cities have actively used IT to enhancetheir management and service levels, established on a basic level a MARC database covering allcollections, and gradually promoted the digitization of traditional files; more than 90% of have built
a website for their archives on the Internet. However, there is uneven development between thedeveloped areas and economically backward areas of China. The websites also provide an
insufficient archive catalogue or full-text archives.
Table 2: Archives digitization and website construction in China (data digitization rate as of the endof 2013; site data as of August 2015)

The localDigitization

Archives

rate ofarchives

Websiteestablished

Current fileservices
providedUploadedArchives

catalogues orinquiry service

full-text
queries

Onlinearchives
display

Beijing

66％

√√√√

√

Tianjin

11％√√√none

√

Hebei

10％

√√√

none

√

Shanxi

1％

√none

none

none

none

Inner14％

√

none

none

none

none

Liaoning

26％

√√

√

√

√

Jilin

16％

√√

√

none

√

Heilongjiang

4％

√√

√

none

√

Shanghai

52％

√

none

√

√

√

Mongolia

3

Country/Territory Report China

4

Jiangsu

51％

√

none

√

√

√

Zhejiang

35％

√√

√

none

√

Anhui

3％

√none

√

√

√

Fujian

24％

√none

√

none

√

Jiangxi

11％

√√√

√

√

Shandong16％

√√√√

√

Henan9％√√nonenone

√

Hubei

43％

√none

√

none

√

Hunan

1％

√

none

√

√

√

Guangdong

9％

√√√

√

√

Guangxi

19％

√

none

√

√√

Hainan

6％

√

none

√

none

√

Chongqing

23％

√

none

nonenone√

Sichuan

25％

√

none

√

√

√

Guizhou

10％

√

none

√

√

√

Yunnan

31％

√

none

nonenone

√

Tibet

10％

√

none

nonenone√

Shaanxi

16％

√

none

√

none

√

Gansu

44％

√

√√none√Qinghai

9％

site notaccessible

Ningxia

6％

√

none

√

none

√

Country/Territory Report Chinasite notXinjiang

40％

Dalian24％√

nonenonenone√

Ningbo

15％

√√

√

none

√

Xiamen

25％

√√

√

none

√

Qingdao

52％

√

none

√

√√

Shenzhen

83％

√none

√

none

√

Xinjiang40％

not established

Shenyang

1％

√

none

√

none

√

Changchun

21％

√

none

none

none

√

Harbin

95％

√

√

√

none

√

Nanjing

12％

√

none

√

√

√

Hangzhou57％

upgrading

Jinan

59％

√

√

√

√

√

Wuhan

50％

√

none

√

none

√

Guangzhou

7％

√

none

none

none

√

Chengdu

29％

√√√

√

√

Xi'an

23％

√

none

√

none

√

accessible

Corps

III. To explore the positioning and strategy of archives in the digital era
Various types of data are generated in the digital age and composed of complex and diverse datatypes; technology and equipment to produce and read data are quickly updated. It is a challenge forevery archivist to figure out how to position the role of archives and archival work. In the past era ofpaper documents archives served three roles. First, the role of evidence, access and research.
Archives could provide society and the public evidence as well as details for the basis of an event.
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Country/Territory Report ChinaSecond, the role of knowledge and experience. Archives as the results and experience of past work
could provide the basis and reference for future work. Third, the role of history and memories.
Archives were the records of the historical development of a locality and reflected the history of thestate and society. Because of the diversity and convenience of knowledge channels in the digital age,
the traditional knowledge role once played by archives is gradually weakening. This is happening at
a time when the proof and memory roles of archives are even more important and prominent becauseof their function and credibility. To bring into play the proof and memory role of a file in the digitalera, especially of electronic documents and archives, is a major challenge for current and futurearchivists to figure out how to ensure reliable and credible electronic records for long-term
availability. Chinese archivists have not formed a consensus on norms and operating requirements inthis regard. According to Chinese law and other provisions on the control of electronic data, we havedone some research and piloting work, and achieved preliminary results and observations.
How can we manage electronic records in order to meet legally required evidence features? As
can be seen from the relevant provisions of Chinese law, electronic data storage as evidence should
satisfy three conditions: a) the electronic data can be effectively presented; b) the electronic data
have not been changed since its formation, and the format of electronic data should remainunchanged. If the format has changed, the content of the electronic data should be consistent; c)when the storage address of electronic data is changed, the relevant processed information has to berecorded, especially the information regarding time. Thus, we can summarize the management
requirements in saving electronic files for various types of archives.
Firstly, to develop a management method for electronic records; according to laws andregulations, the management methods of electronic records are developed for archives (or ArchivesSections) to regulate job duties and give posts for managing electronic archives. Second, to takeappropriate technical measures to ensure that electronic records within the system will not bechanged, or to take effective technical measures to prove that electronic archives have not beenchanged. Using today’s technology, the following types of technical measures can be used as needed:
1) data format cured, that is, when the archive is saved, a streaming file is transferred into a layout
file; 2)for the electronic archive data, set attribute to "read only,” or set a file into non-editable mode;3) a small file is stored as an electronic backup using a write-once optical disc as the carrier; 4) theuse of digital signatures, digital watermarks, timestamps and other technologies to help prove thatthe electronic file has not been altered; 5) the use of access control technologies, such as firewalls,
intrusion detection and security auditing, authentication, and access control to prevent sabotage andillegal use of electronic files within the system. Third, an electronic archive management systemshould record and preserve the management process;, to write down operations of electronic files inthe event of format conversion, data migration, and changes to the management subjects; and to test
and confirm the consistency before and after the operation of electronic archival content.
Another major challenge for archivists is to ensure the long-term available use of electronic
records. Summarizing the awareness of the problem among Chinese and international archivists,, we
may take the following measures for the long-term preservation and availability of electronic
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Country/Territory Report Chinarecords.
First, we must formulate management regulations for the long-term preservation of electronicarchives, including job functions, staff responsibilities, process determination, technology options,risk assessment, etc. The regulations can also involve interlibrary cooperation, intellectual property,
quality management and auditing, and supervision according to need. Long-term preservation
includes warehousing, storage, backup, recovery, testing, conversion, migration, and extraction.
Second, the provincial archives and above should carry out the registration of mainstream softwareand data formats, and purchase and retain certain hardware facilities, in particular input and output
devices. They should register and track long-term preservation formats for all kinds of electronic
records, the storage carrier suitable for long-term preservation, and the hardware and softwareenvironment suitable for long-term preservation; if there is anything unusual, they should begin
format conversion or data migration operations in a timely fashion. Third, we should constructsystems for the long-term preservation of electronic records, including the construction of
infrastructure, applications and security systems. This must be done for reception, management,preservation and utilization operations. An application system is part of a three-way separate design
architecture of a management library, long-term storage repository, and users’ library. A Management
Library is for electronic archival data management and disposal; a long-term storage repository is forstoring electronic records in line with long-term data retention requirements. In principle, we do notdispose of the long-term data preservation repository. The users’ library is to provide file services fordifferent user objects. Fourth, we should retain the records in the management process of anelectronic file transfer, receipt, format conversion, data migration, etc., and build theircorrespondence with the electronic archives.
Archive operations in the digital age have just begun. Chinese archivists have made someachievements and gained some experience after years of research and practice, but problems remain.
We have a long way to go, but we hope that through exchanges with our international colleagues wecan jointly promote the development of archival work in the new era.

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