The results demonstrate a strong connection between research and publication.
Archival documents, as a crucial bridge between the past, present, and future, are increasingly making significant contributions to all aspects of social life. Countries have paid attention to organizing, preserving, and promoting the value of archival documents. In particular, the context of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, with the emergence of AI (Artificial Intelligence), Big Data, IoT (Internet of Things), etc., is having a strong impact on all aspects of social life, including the archival sector in Vietnam and other countries around the world.
Understanding the traditional and potential values of archival documents in the face of societal changes is a topic of great interest to many archives around the world, including Vietnam.
With its long-standing tradition in training and research in archival science, in 2024, the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, collaborated with Aix-Marseille University (France) to organize an international conference on the theme: “Archives in the 21st Century: Scientific Knowledge or Information”. Following the success of the conference, Nomos Publishing House (Federal Republic of Germany) selected, edited, and published the outstanding papers into a monograph entitled: “Archival Science and the Digital Transformation in Vietnam: Legal and Practical Issues for the 21st Century”.
Most of the articles selected for this book are the scientific work of faculty members and graduate students from the Department of Archival Studies and Office Management, University of Social Sciences and Humanities.
Speaking at the seminar, Professor Lai Quoc Khanh (Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities) acknowledged and highly appreciated the positive, proactive, and creative efforts of the leaders and lecturers of the Department of Archival Studies and Office Management in promoting the internationalization of scientific research activities, closely combining research and publication. The book, among the few works published by a prestigious publisher in the Federal Republic of Germany, is proof of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities' broad international cooperation strategy, and also contributes to enhancing the research capacity of the faculty.
Professor Lai Quoc Khanh (Vice Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities) speaks at the seminar.
Prof. Dr. Detlef Briesen (Justus-Liebig University of Gießen, Federal Republic of Germany) and Dr. Cam Anh Tuan (Head of the Department of Archival Studies and Office Management, VNU-USSH) chaired the seminar.
A useful reference for researchers.
The book thoroughly analyzes the significance of archival documents and traditional archiving methods stemming from numerous objective and subjective reasons. Furthermore, alongside the continuous advancements in science and technology, a new trend is emerging: documents of historical or other value are being digitized and made available to users via the internet. Archives worldwide have shifted from the analog to the digital era in the past few years. This is changing the work of archivists and demanding new archiving technologies and concepts.
The authors' articles in this book also affirm that archival science has freed itself from its role as an auxiliary science of history; archives and archivists no longer consider their task to be merely preserving documents and keeping them available for practical or scientific purposes. Archival science has transformed into a modern information science with a diverse range of activities. Besides document preservation, archival science today also includes actively gathering information and making it available to a wide range of users from administrative and scientific institutions to the general public.
Delegates presented reports and participated in discussions at the seminar.
At the seminar, delegates affirmed the value of the book and shared and exchanged information related to the direction, development prospects, and adaptation of the field of archival studies in the context of digital transformation.
Professor Detlef Briesen (Justus-Liebig University of Gießen, Germany) suggests that the book may have addressed a relatively recent development that will continue to change archival practices not only in Vietnam: artificial intelligence and methods related to processing and analyzing big data. Undoubtedly, archival studies in Vietnam are also moving towards a new research model of digital humanities. This clearly raises new questions, not only technically, but also concerning issues such as freedom of information and information security. These points could be a new and certainly interesting publishing project.
At the end of the seminar, Professor, Doctor Detlef Briesen, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Dao Duc Thuan and Dr. Cam Anh Tuan (co-editors) on behalf of the author group presented the publications to delegates and organizations attending the program.
The book "Archive Science and Digital Transformation in Vietnam: Legal and Practical Issues for the 21st Century" was published by Nomos Publishing House (Federal Republic of Germany).
