In celebration of the International Archives Day,
The National Library and Archives participates with a working paper in a symposium organized by the Sharjah Institute for Heritage
The National Library and Archives participated in a symposium organized by the Sharjah In-stitute for Heritage under the slogan of “The Future of Archiving and Documents Sustainabil-ity” with a working paper entitled “The Importance and Role of Documents and Archives at Documentation and Archiving Centers”. The NLA’s participation comes as part of its celebra-tion of the International Archives Day, which aims to preserve the human archival heritage, exchange experiences, research and ideas and organize archival organizations.
In her paper, Dr. Fatma Al Mazrouei, Head of Historical Archive Section at the NLA, fo-cused on the importance of preserving historical documents since they reflect the civilized image of the nation. The NLA makes considerable efforts in collecting archival materials from inside and outside the UAE.
The paper shed the light on the agreements and memoranda of understanding that linked the NLA with a large number of archival organizations and under which the NLA can exchange, restore and preserve documents in line with the best standards applicable in the field of ar-chives preservation. It is noted that the NLA continues its efforts to enhance cooperation with the international archiving organizations and major national libraries worldwide such as the British Archives, British Library, Portuguese Archive, French and Indian Archives, Dutch Archives, US Archives and other archives that have rich and diversified holdings.
She stressed that the NLA is interested in providing access to archival materials via its elec-tronic platforms such as AGDA that contains thousands of various original historical docu-ments like letters, manuscripts, reports, and others, which all are pertaining to the history of the UAE and the Arabian Gulf region.
The paper highlighted some of the NLA’s projects and initiatives, primarily the “Young His-torian” Award, which is sponsored by the NLA due to its importance in promoting historical research among the future generations.
In addition, it presented the NLA’s publications, most prominently the chronicles of sheikhs, which are a documentary series of the sheikhs’ visits, receptions and daily activities. These chronicles document the UAE’s history and development, which was achieved by Sheikh Zayed Bin Sultan Al Nahyan and his fellow founding fathers, and which was promoted through the efforts of the wise leadership that followed in Sheikh Zayed’s footsteps in devel-oping the UAE so that it achieved a special status worldwide.
Al Mazrouei illustrated the NLA’s other periodicals and publications that provide researchers, academics and those who are interested in history with reliable information about the history and heritage of the UAE and the Gulf region.

Photo:
Sharjah Institute for Heritage honouring Ms. Fatma Al Mazrouei for her participation.