Work of Archivists to be Highlighted June 6-10

The Jamaica Archives and Records Department (JARD) will be using International Archives Week, June 6 to 10, to highlight the work of its archivists, through a series of daily social media posts.

The posts will be shared on JARD’s Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube platforms.

Being celebrated under the theme #ArchivesAreYou, the Week also coincides with the celebration of the Department’s 60th anniversary.

“We’re looking at their contribution. We’ll also be doing a little trivia competition online to see what it is that the public knows about us and for them to learn a little about us,” Senior Archivist at JARD, Racquel Innerarity, told JIS News.

Video testimonials of researchers and lecturers who have used the various collections available for their own research will also be posted along with a video feature on how the Department came into being.

Mrs. Innerarity further pointed out that the work of archivists and records managers are very important, as they have “the responsibility to ensure that the records that are created and appraised as having archival value are preserved for future generations”.

She pointed out that without people, there are no archives.

“We create the records that are here. A lot of times we create them not thinking they are going to become archival 50 years down the line. We’re creating them for our own purposes, but those records that you create have value beyond yourself and so the archives are for the people,” Mrs. Innerarity emphasised.

She noted that JARD has records dating back to the 17th century, including plantation records and private collections of individuals, among others.

The Jamaica Archives and Records Department serves as the main repository in the country for the preservation of government records relating to the country’s history and heritage in paper, audiovisual and electronic formats.

It also collects archival materials relating to Jamaica produced by government ministries, agencies and departments and persons of national importance, as well as churches, charities and other organisations, to ensure that primary materials of cultural value to Jamaica are preserved.