TTLV: Survey and evaluation of archival management activities at the Ministry of Public Security, Lao People's Democratic Republic.

INFORMATION ABOUT THE MASTER'S THESIS

1. Student's full name:Phatxay SORPHABMIXAY

2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: December 20, 1984

4. Place of birth: Laos

5. Decision on student admission No. 2679/2015/QD-XHNV-SDH, dated November 10, 2015, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in the training process:

7. Thesis title:Survey and evaluation of archival management activities at the Ministry of Public Security, Lao People's Democratic Republic.

8. Major: Archival Studies Code: 60.32.03.01

9. Scientific supervisor:Dr. Dao Duc Thuan

10. Summary of the thesis results:

Through the research topic "Survey and evaluation of archival management activities in the Ministry of Public Security of the Lao People's Democratic Republic", this thesis has summarized several issues:

1. Management activities have existed since ancient times, when humans learned to work in groups, requiring organization, control, and coordination of activities. Over the years, along with the economic and social development of the country, archival work has played an increasingly important role in social life. For any industry or field, if organized and managed in a rational and scientific way, it will create conditions for the development of that industry or field. The archival sector is no exception to this general rule. Documents generated in the activities of the Ministry of Public Security, its General Departments, Departments, and affiliated agencies and units reflect the functions and tasks of the Ministry of Public Security. The Archives Department is an important part of the Ministry of Public Security's archival collection, but due to the specific nature of the sector, this body of documents, in addition to the general characteristics similar to archival documents of other agencies, also has a high level of confidentiality. For this reason, this body of documents primarily serves the industry's operations and some legitimate needs of agencies, units outside the industry, and citizens; it has not yet been widely exploited and used to serve the needs of the entire society.

2. Through the survey, the archives of the Ministry of Public Security have very important political significance and a clear class character. History has proven that in any era, ruling classes have used archives to protect their class interests. In the Lao People's Democratic Republic, after gaining power, the Party and State proceeded to centralize archives and thoroughly utilize them to serve the cause of building and developing the economy and culture, consolidating security and order, and protecting the country. The current state of archive management at the Ministry of Public Security includes the following basic contents: Organization of the archives management apparatus; Personnel arrangement; Organization of document collection and supplementation; Dissemination and issuance of management documents on archives; Inspection, guidance and scientific research on archives; Organization of preservation; Organization of exploitation and use of documents…

This thesis compiles a list of archival documents of the Ministry of Public Security currently stored in the archives of the Archives Department from 1942 to 2015, divided into two main groups: 1. 55 collections from 1942 to 1975; 2. 168 collections from 1976 to 2015, comprising 223 collections. Documents generated during the operation of the General Departments, Departments, and agencies under the Ministry of Public Security are classified into 13 groups. We can classify the components, content, and significance of archival documents and highly confidential (Top Secret, Secret) industry documents.

3. Due to the unique nature of the Ministry of Public Security, we provide an overview of the position, functions, tasks, powers, and organizational structure of the Ministry of Public Security; the agency assigned to organize, manage, and direct archival work within the Ministry; the organizational system of archival work; the characteristics, content, and significance of archival documents at the Ministry, primarily focusing on the organization and management of archival work from the central to local levels; solutions for managing archival work; lessons and experiences from advanced countries; and the application of theories and practices from Vietnam to further develop archival work within the Public Security sector.

The organization of archival management within the Ministry of Public Security is also divided according to document categories: operational documents and files generated during the activities of the Security forces are called Security operational files, managed by the General Department of Security; operational documents generated during the activities of the Police forces are called Police operational files, managed by the General Department of Police; and operational documents generated during the activities of the Logistics forces are called financial and asset operational files of the Ministry of Public Security, managed by the General Department of Logistics.

4. The relevant agencies of the Ministry need to continue researching and perfecting the system of legal documents on archival work, including: Decrees, Decisions, Regulations, Directives, and some regulations of the Ministry of Public Security in specific areas within the armed forces, specifically regulations on document security, etc., creating a legal framework to strengthen the effectiveness of state management of document management, security, and archiving within the Ministry of Public Security to organize the exploitation and use of archival documents. Although there are still some points that need to be supplemented, overall, attention has been paid to applying these principles to the practical archival activities of the Archives Department within the Ministry of Public Security.

11. Practical applications:

It could be used in practice by the Lao Ministry of Public Security.

12. Future research directions:

13. Published works related to the thesis:

INFORMATION ON MASTER'S THESIS

1. Full name: Phatxay SORPHABMIXAY 2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: December 20, 1984 4. Place of birth: Laos

5. Admission decision number: 2679/2015/QD-XHNV-SDH dated November 10, 2015 by Rector of University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

6. Changes in academic process:

7. Official thesis title: Surveying, evaluating the management activities on archiving work in Ministry of Public Security, Lao People's Democratic Republic.

8. Major: Code: 60.32.03.01

9. Supervisors: Dr. Dao Duc Thuan

10. Summary of the findings of the thesis:

Through researching the title “Surveying, evaluating the management activities on archiving work in Ministry of Public Security, Lao People's Democratic Republic”, the thesis has achieved several issues, as follows:

1. The management activities have existed since the old days, since people knew that working in groups required organization, management and cooperation of activities. Fore recent years, associated with economic and social development of the country, the archival work has played more and more important roles in social life. If any branch or field is organized and managed reasonably, the science will create favorable conditions for this branch or field to develop. The archive branch does not lie outside this common rule. The documents which are conducted in activities of Ministry of Public Security, General Departments, Departments and units and offices directly under the Ministry reflect the functions and duties of Ministry of Public Security, Department of Archives and they become an important part in archived font documents of Ministry of Public Security. But because of branch's specific characteristics, besides general properties of archived documents of other offices, the archived documents of branch of Public Security have high security. Therefore, these documents mainly serve the activities of branch and several legitimate demands of offices and units outside branch and of citizens; but they have not been exploited and used broadly by organizations to serve the demands of the whole society.

2. Through surveying, the archives of Ministry of Public Security have very important political meanings and clear class character. The history has proved that in any era,all ruling classes use archives to protect their class rights. In Lao People's Democratic Republic, after seizing power, the Party and State have collected all archives and absolutely use the archives to serve the building and development of economy, culture and consolidation of order and security and protection of the country. In reality, the archive affair in Ministry of Public Security includes the basic contents, as follows: Organizing a machine in charge of archives; Arranging human resources; Organizing to collect and add documents into archives; Propagating and issuing the management documents on archives; Checking, guiding and researching scientifically about archives; Organizing to maintain; Organizing to exploit and use documents, and etc.

This thesis can make the statistics of archives of Ministry of Public Security which are kept in the store of Department of Stores from 1942 to 2015, they are divided into 2 main blocks: 01. From 1942 to 1975, there are 55 fonts; 02. From 1976 to 2015, there are 168 fonts including 223 fonts. And documents which are formed during the process of organization of General Departments, Departments, and offices directly under Ministry of Public Security can be classified into 13 groups. We can classify in terms of components, contents and meanings of archived documents and professional documents of the branch if high security (strictly confidential, top secret) and etc.

3. Because of special properties of Ministry of Public Security, we have generalized the position, functions, duties, rights, organizational structure of Ministry of Public Security, offices which are entrusted tasks of organizing, managing and directing operations of archive affairs in Ministry of Public Security; we have systematized the organization of archive affair, characteristics, contents and meanings of archived documents to the locality, and solutions to manage the archive affair, and then summarizing lessons and experiences from developed countries and also applying theories and realities from Vietnam in order to promote operations of archive affair in the branch of Public Security more and more developed.

The organization of archives management activities by Ministry of Public Security has been divided into material blocks, professional records which have been formed in activities of Security force are called as Security professional records managed by General Department of Security. The professional documents which have been formed in activities of Police force are called Police professional records managed by General Department of Police. The professional documents which are formed in activities of Logistics force are called as finance and asset professional records of Ministry of Public Security managed by General Department of Logistics.

4. The functional offices of Ministry should continue to research and complete the system of legal norm documents about archive work, including: Decrees, Decisions, Charters, Instructions and several regulations of Ministry of Public Security according to specific fields in the armed force, such as Charters, document security and etc. to create the legal corridor in order to increase the management efficiency of the State about stationary, security and archive affairs in the scope of Ministry of Public Security to exploit and use archived documents, although there are still several points that need to be added, but in general, they are considered and applied into the reality of archiving activities of Department of Archives in Ministry of Public Security.

11. Practical applicability:

The Ministry of Public Security of Lao People's Democratic Republic can apply into reality.

12. Further research directions:

13. Thesis-related publications: