(3)  Directorate of Documents and Documentation

Summary of the Main Activity (responsibilities):

The Directorate of Documents and Documentation is responsible for collecting documents, national-dimension photos, manuscripts, the Official Gazette, royal speeches, and cultural agreements of ministries and governmental departments. Based on the national documents Law No. 9 of 2017, it also gathers documents from unofficial sources, such as local institutions and individuals. Through the establishment of exhibitions and publications in printed, audiovisual, and social media, the Directorate organizes, maintains, and preserves these documents using contemporary techniques to transfer them faithfully to future generations and make them accessible to researchers and interested parties. It furthermore educates the local community about the value of documents and how to preserve them.

Main responsibilities:

1. Collecting, preserving, arranging, and publishing documents held by ministries, departments, and official public institutions in compliance with the national documents law and the National Library Regulation.
2. Participating in committees in charge of destroying records in ministries, institutions, and official public offices, and extracting any records having a national scope for storage in the Department.
3. Arranging documents using the necessary technological procedures.
4. Promoting various programs that raise public awareness of the value of documents and their preservation.
5. Forming working connections with the pertinent authorities.
6. Training on electronic document archiving.
7. Facilitating access for researchers and other individuals to obtain documents.

Directorate of Documents and Documentation consists of three divisions:

(3-1) Public Documents Division:

Task list:

1. Collecting documents from government sources by enforcing National Document Law No. 9 of 2017 and cooperating with ministries and government agencies to archive their records by signing cooperation memoranda and participating in destruction committees with them.
2. Undertaking technical tasks necessary for document archiving and preservation, including:

• Sterilizing documents
• Categorizing files and indexing documents manually
• Scanning documents
• Entering the electronic index card into the system used for archiving process and verifying it
• Storing documents in the appropriate containers in preservation repositories.

3. Facilitating access to documents for researchers and interested individuals.
4. Providing personnel training on document archiving and preservation procedures and the necessary technical assistance to all departments and ministries

(3-2) Special Documents Division:

1. Collecting documents and photos with a national scope from private sources by enforcing the National Document Law No. 9 of 2017, signing memorandums of cooperation with agencies owning archives.

2. Performing the necessary technical operations to archive and preserve documents and photos, including:

• Classifying and indexing documents and photos.
• Scanning documents and photos
• Installing the electronic index card on the archiving system and then auditing it.
• Storing documents and photos in preservation repositories using the proper containers

3. Facilitating access to documents and photos for researchers and other interested individuals

4. Increasing public awareness of the importance of documents by:

• Holding documentary exhibitions at national events.
• Publishing photos and documents on the National library social media, as well as in the printed, audio, visual, and audiovisual media.

(3-3) Electronic Archiving Division:

1. Collecting official newspapers, royal speeches, and cultural agreements from their sources.

2. Archiving official newspapers issues, royal speeches, and cultural agreements and performing the necessary technical operations, such as classifying, indexing, scanning, and entering data into the system; and making them accessible on the National Library website.

3.  Converting books from their conventional format to digital format via scanning and then keeping an electronic copy of the archived books.

4. Facilitating access for researchers and other interested individuals to obtain documents and photos.