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22 January:
Arrival at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka 10.00 AM
23 January:
- 10.00 AM meeting with associate professor Md Mezbah-ul-Islam, Dep. Information Science & library Management, Dhaka University; talkings about Information Literacy programme Unic Dhaka
- 06.00 PM visit Rotary Club Eskathon Dhaka with Md. Mezbah-ul-Islam: presentation “empowerment of students for Right to Information”
24 – 26 January:
Workshop preservation and archives & records management at National Archives Bangladesh, accompanied by Dutch archivist Florus Geraedts
- Preservation of records – Sigfried Janzing
- Making a preservation programme – Sigfried Janzing
- Good Governace and RM – Florus Geraedts
- Right to Information and RM – Sigfried Janzing
29 January:
Travelling Dhaka – Rajshahi
30 – 31 January:
Rajshahi: Meeting with Mayor Khairuzzaman Liton of Rajshahi City Corporation and discussions on Borokuthi, Dutch Silk Factory; Meeting with board Heritage Archives and History Department Rajshahi University.
01 February:
Pabna: Seminars at Pabna Edward College:
- Right to Informatiom (Sigfried Janzing)
- Good Governance (Floor Geraedts)
02 February:
Rangpur: Seminars at Rangpur Begum Rokeya University:
- Right to Information – Sigfried Janzing
- Good Govenance – Florus Geraedts
03 February:
Travelling Rangpur – Dhaka
04 February:
Departure Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Dhaka 09.15 PM
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Dhaka, 5 -9 January
- Meeting Yasin and Mahtab
- Visit National Archives Bangladesh (NAB), International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B) and Prothom Alo (Lutful Haq, VOC-archives, Liberation War Archives)
- Visit Information Science & Library Management Department of University of Dhaka
- Archives and Records Management (ARM) seminar in Narayanganj with NAB
staff (Md. Elias Miah, senior archivist of NAB, asks about program ARM – Right to Information (RTI) in Joypurhat, Panchbibi and Berakhai )
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives according
to Dr Taibul Hassan Khan, former NAB Director’s, acquisition plan 2009
- In other places like Jotir Para, Jamalpur District, Elias invites me to do the same study /
observation in a union parishad near his place in Narsingdhi.
From Dhaka to Gazipur Chowrasta by bus, 10 January
Gazipur Chowrasta, 11 – 14 January
- Meeting Shipon and Touhin, Deepa and Zadid; staying with Shipon’s family Rahman Khan
- Gazipur Local ARM and practice of RTI, Information Commission
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives according
to Dr Taibul Hassan Khans Plan 2009 (see above)
From Gazipur Chowraste to Jamalpur Jotir Para, 15 January
Jotir Para, 16 – 18 January
- Meher Ali Local ARM in Union Parishad or Paurashava to which
Jotir Para belongs
- Social Works Department and ARM.
- Meher Ali and local history, RTI, Local use of right to have access to
information, is people applying for RTI? Is CRTI known to people
over there?
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives according to Dr Taibul Hassan Khan´s Plan 2009.
From Jamalpur Jotir Para to Mymensingh, 19 January
Mymensingh, 20 – 22 January
- Agricultural University, Anando Mohan College Omit (Safkhat Sufian) Social Works Studies. Local ARM and District Collectorate Record Room.
- RTI, Local use of right to have access to information, Is
people applying for RTI? Is CRTI known to people overthere?
- asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives according
to Dr Taibul Hassan Khans´s Plan 2009.
From Mymensingh to Dhaka 22 January
Dhaka, 23 – 28 January
- staying with Mahtab and Shawon & Shampa;
- visiting Mahmood of ROOTS magazine and cultural heritage & Bangladesh Itihas Samiti and
Bangladesh Itihas Parishad
- Course preservation of archives in NAB with Sigfried Janzing, NAB staff
and ISLM students of Dr. Mezbah and Dr. Zabed and History Students of Dr.
Sharifuddin and History Department of Dhaka University, 24 — 26 January
- Visit Fazle Mir (former Deputy Director NAB) and Samsur Rahman Tuhin (ISLM Student Dhaka University) and meeting Lt. Col. Lutful Haq in Prothom Alo for VOC archives and Liberation War Archives and research, 24 — 26 January.
From Dhaka to Rajshahi, 28 January
Rajshahi, Rangpur and Pabna, 28 January – 2 February
- ARM seminars and Heritage Archives Bangladesh History (HABH) Advisory
Council
- Meeing professor Shafi, professor NHChowdh, Yasin, Tofael, Yousuf Shikhder, mr
Moonlight
- Visiting Parimol Dev Records manager of District ARM Room
- Visiting District Collectorate Record Room (DCRR) in Rangpur
- Visiting professor Mounir, former student of Sharifuddin and present cooperator of Mahabub and HABH and Pabna
- RTI, local use of right to have access to information, is people applying for RTI? Is CRTI known to people overthere?
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives according to Dr Taibul Hassan former NAB Director’s Plan 2009
From Rajshahi to Birampur / Dinajpur district, 4 February
Birampur, 4 – 7 February
- Visit ZIA Heart Foundation Hospital Patient Records Kurshida and
Minhaj
- Visit to District Archives
- Discuss E-Learning Train of Trainers
- Visit DCRR
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives according to Dr Taibul Hassan former NAB Director’s Plan 2009
- Birampur Sohel Nasreen, local ARM;
- Bright Star School teacher Lutfar Rahman / Phulbari UP Local Arm Mukul Nandi school
- Aminul and Althab
- RTI, Local use of right to have access to information, Is people applying for
RTI? Is CRTI known to people overthere?
Travel from Birampur / Dinajpur to Sylhet, 8 February
Sylhet, 8 – 12 February
- Staying with Burhan Uddin and Kawsar and Nazrul / Meher
Ali
- Visit Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST), CSE Department. Shishir Professor Zaffar Iqbal, Anthropology professor Awwal Biswas; Sociology Department; Social Works Department, Nazrul (BRAC bank), Faruk Ahmed, student Sociology.
- RTI, Local use of right to have access to information, Is people applying for RTI? Is CRTI
known to people overthere? What about the University’s archives?
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives
according to Dr Taibul Hassan former NAB Director’s Plan 2009.
From Sylhet to Kishoreganj Deepa, 13 February
Kishoreganj Deepa, 13 – 17 February
- Kishoreganj Deepa’s Hosseinpur College, Shah Jahan Computershop and computer lessons, Burhan Uddin Local ARM in Paurashava Kishoreganj
- RTI, Local use of right to have access to information, Is people applying for RTI? Is CRTI known to people overthere?
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives according
to Dr Taibul Hassan former NAB Director’s Plan 2009.
From Kishoreganj to Brahmanbaria, 17 February
Brahmanbaria, 17 – 20 February
- Brahmanbaria Shampaknagar Shafiqul Islam Local ARM.
- RTI, Local use of right to have access to information, Is people applying for
RTI? Is CRTI known to people overthere?
- asking local record keeping staffand chairman for valuable senior archives according to Dr Taibul Hassanformer NAB Director’s Plan 2009.
From Brahmanbaria to Khulna, 20 February
Khulna, 20 – 25 February
- Dr Mujib Apu Visiting Morshed from Sweden (Birampur), CSE Dep of Khulna University. What about the University archives: a plan for maintaining those properly?
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior
archives according to Dr Taibul Hassan former NAB Director’s Plan 2009.
- Pirojpur Tanya’s Ashikul’s family Local ARM.
- RTI, Local use of right to have access to information, Is people applying for RTI? Is CRTI known to people overthere?
- Asking local record keeping staff and chairman for valuable senior archives according to Dr Taibul Hassan former NAB Director’s Plan 2009
From Khulna to Dhaka, 25 February
Dhaka, 26 – 28 February
- Staying with Mahtab and Shilpa
- Visiting Prothom Alo with Lt. Col. Lutful Haq and talking about the Liberation War archives.
From Dhaka to Calcutta, 28 February
Calcutta, 28 February – 5 March
- Belghoria Sukumar Biswas & Shikha;
- Shyamnagar Amit Paul, Gigi Ratan Lal Chakraborty; Bhatpara Municipality;
Santiniketan. Dr Sushil Chaudhury, prof Chakraborty, Gigi (Biplap Panda);
- West Bengal state archives, archivist mr Ananda Bhattacharya, Sarmistha Chowdhury
in Kolkata. Shyamuli Bauri, Dilip, Tagore Archives Tushar and Utpol. From
mail 6 jan 2012 to Manilata 14.09 hrs pm: {From 28 febr. until 5 march I
will be in West Bengal, mainly in Kolkata, for research on Boro Kuthi
(OldDutchFactory in Bd: Rajshahi) in West Bengal State Archives. I also
want to visit in Belghorisa Dr Sukumar Biswas and his wife Shikhi. And
friends like Dr Ratan Lal Chakraborty and Kallyani in Shyamnagar and maybe
also mr Amit Paul and Mr Kartik’s Teashop near Railwaysation in
Shyamnagar. If possible also the main record keeper of Municipality
Bhatpara, where Shyamnagar belongs to, for seeing their local Archives and
Records Management and Right To Information condition for giving Access to
GOVT information to citizens. asking local record keeping staff and
chairman for valuable senior archives according to Archival Rules and
Regulations in India. Or as alternative visiting Santiniketan
Tagore Museum and Archives seeing the digitizing of Tagore Archives.
Calcutta – Delhi, 5 March 2012
Delhi, 5 – 14 March
- National Archives of India (NAI), archivists Alka Sharma, Parveen Shilon, Sanjeev Kumar, Jha.
Meena Gautam, Syed Farid Ahmed School for Archival Study NAI, Dr Om Prakash
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One day workshop on archives and records management to be held in the 7 Divisions of Bangladesh (Barisal, Chittagong, Dhaka, Khulna, Rajshahi, Rangpur and Sylhet) in 2012.
Programme
a) Selection of trainees from record creating agencies from government, semi-government, non-government institutions and business houses: Deputy Commissioner’s office, City Corporation, Public Works Department (PWD), Roads & High Way, Local Government Engineering Department (LGED), Social Welfare, Fisheries, Family planning, Education (Primary and Secondary), Government Tolaram College, Government Girl’s School, Bibi Morium School, Department of Dragger under the ministry of inland water ways, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA), some old and renowned business houses who have contribution in Bangladesh economy, history and society, Chambers of commerce, Kumudini trust.
b) Total candidates 20-30 persons.
c) Four classes (10.30 AM to 01.30 PM)
d) Subjects:
i) Records: definition, kinds of records, classification of records, creation, use, closing and maintenance of files.
ii) Archives: definition, Archival Ordinance, Records Management Manual 1878 to 1943 and Secretariat Instruction 2008
iii) Archives and historical research in bangladesh
iv) Right to information Act and its importance to progress, development and transparency of the country.
e) Speaker’s are selected from Bangladesh Archives and Records Management Society (BARMS) and National Archives of Bangladesh (NAB).
Program Schedule
Dhaka Division, Location- Narayanganj City, Monday 9th of January 2012
10.00 – 10.30 : Opening ceremony
Chief Guest: Md.Zillar Rahman, Deputy Commissioner
Special Guest: Mrs. Selina Hayat IVE, Mayor / state minister
Chairman: prof. Sharif uddin Ahmed, President of BARMS
10.30 to 11.10 : 1st Class
11.10 to 11.50 : 2nd Class
11.50 to 12.30 : 3rd Class
12.30 to 1.10 : 4th Class
1.10 to 1.30 : Brake and Prayer time
1.30 : Lunch time and closing of the program.
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The Centre for Information Studies, Bangladesh (CIS,B) and the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Dhaka, jointly organised yet another training in Information Literacy and UN Literacy, 15 – 16 September, Poil High School, Habiganj, district of Sylhet, Bangladesh. Information Literacy is a critical life skill for all students, it´s basic for the common people to make effective use of the Right to Information Act (RTI). The Right to Information is the key to all other rights. It´s among the most important instruments to effectively empower those to whom power should belong in democracy – the people. The 2008 elected Government of Bangladesh adopted the Right to Information Act in the first session of the 9th Parliament on March 29, 2009, marking a significant step forward in fulfilling the constitutional pledge of the state of Bangladesh. CIS,B and UNIC started travelling the whole country giving training at grass-roots level in information skills, empowering the common people and strengthening democracy by establishing a corruption-free society.
Training was presided over by Chairman Mohammad Shamsul Haque, Head Master of Poil High School, Habiganj. Chief Guest was Mahmud Hassan, Deputy Commissioner Habiganj and Guest of Honour Kazi Ali Reza, Officer in Charge, UNIC Dhaka. Special Guests were: Syed Ahmadul Haque (Chairman, Habiganj Upazila Parishad), Upazila Nirbahi Officer, Habiganj, and Md. Rafiqul Islam, DSEO, Habiganj. Dr. M. Mezbah-ul-Islam, Associate Professor of Dhaka University (Department of Information Science & Library Management), M. Moniruzamman, Senior officer of UNIC and Minhaj Uddin Ahmed, Director of CIS,B, facilitated the training course as resource persons.
Inaugural session by Mahmud Hassan, Deputy Commissioner, Habiganj
Class by Dr. Mezbah
Class by Mr. Moniruzamman
Practical class
Practical class
Student´s speech
Certificate giving
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Daily Prothom Alo (DPA) conducted a workshop on Archives and Records Management (ARM) for DPA trainees on the 20th of August 2011. DPA supports the Right To Information Act of Bangladeshi citizens and Rule of Law (2009) through implementation of effective ARM. Prothom Alo (First Light), founded on 4 November 1998, and nowadays with an average circulation of 435.000, is a major daily newspaper in Bangladesh, published from Dhaka in the Bengali Language. Support of a mayor newspaper on this issue is important, it helps spreading awareness on good governance in Bangladesh in the wake of RTI. Following students participated the training:
Sarder Abdul Matin (Library), Chandra Rani Saha (Library), Md Mizanur Rahman (Library), Md Anwar Hussain (Centre for research on Liberation War), Hasan Tareq (Advertisement), Manjur Hussain (Advertisement), Ismail Hussain (Advertisement), Ezazul Haque (Advertisement), Anisur Rahman (Advertisement), Faqrul Islam (Advertisement), Shamim Khan (Human Resource) and Saiful Alam (Circulation). Mr Mohammad Elias, senior archivist of Bangladesh National Archives, with the help of Encompass student Azizul Rassel, gave demonstrations on preservation of records. Professor Sharif Ahmed, president of Bangladesh Archives and Records Management Society (BARMS) and director of the Asiatic Society, concluded the training.
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August 19, Heritage Archives (HA) in Rajshahi was honoured with the visit of Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit for launching the Heritage website (http://heritagearchivesbd.org/). HA has already earned trust from the people. It now receives collections on a regular base, Heritage Bhaban (building) was extended recently and now HA got a new boost with the launching of the website.
Heritage Archives was established on 23 of March 2002 in Rajshahi (300 km. west of Dhaka) by History professor dr. Md. Mahbubur Rahman from Rajshahi University, Secretary of BARM Society. It is an independent professional depository of important documents, photographs, leaflets, posters, private correspondences, journals and periodicals, magazines, local history books and audiovisual and digital items. It aims at creating a new type of open, service-oriented and user-friendly archives in Bangladesh. Although not that big, HA can be compared with the International Institute of Social History in Amsterdam (IISG) for its focus is on:
1. Social movements (pro-democracy, labour, students, peasant, women, environmental, Islamic, nationalist, human rights) and
2. Social transformation (emergence of NGO’s, urban growth, new entrepreneurial groups, labour migration, popular culture).
For that reason, professor Willem van Schendel, head of Asia Department of IISG, visited HA more than once for research reasons.
HA recently received a donation of about 20 meters long records from a retired professor of Rajshahi University. Mostly rare periodicals, little magazines, journals and rare books on Bangladesh.
The volume of collections in the Heritage Archives is increasing day by day. The immediate task is to make the classifications of the collections. Till now professor Mahbubur Rahman himself used to make the classifications and enlisting them. But because of the time consuming work volunteers are helping Mahbabur with the technical works. Volunteers are mostly students of Mahbabur of Rajshahi University and they stay in HA for a certain period. Heritage Archives has reached to such a position that it can not depend anymore on volunteers only. It now needs a full time cataloger, a computer operator and a researcher who in the future could be the replacement of professor Mahbabur Rahman in HA. At the moment HA is not financially able to appoint any permanent staff. So Financial support is badly needed. Also for the survival of Heritage Archives BARM Society (Bangladesh) and Bangladesh Archives and Records Management in the Netherlands are working firmly together. Visit of Abul Mal Abdul Muhit is considered as a big support for Heritage Archives.
Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit writing in the visitor´s register, professor Mahbubur Rahman standing to the right of the minister
Posters of Mayor Khairuzamann Liton, actual Mayor of Rajshahi City Corporation (left) and Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, father of the nation, founder of the Awami League (right)
Finance Minister Abul Mal Abdul Muhit opening Heritage Website
Staff and volunteers of Heritage Archives
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A new boost for Bengal history was given these days by Encompass student Azizul Rasel from Barisal, Bangladesh, starting the virtual community Centre for Bengal History Studies on Facebook. All the scholars around the world who are interested to be part of the community are warmly welcomed to join. The CBHS community aims at promotion of research and study of Bengal History from pre-historic times to contemporary period. Azizul participates in the three years Encompass programme hosted by the Department of History at Leiden University. Encompass stands for Encountering a common past in Asia. Encompass students receive training in reading and working with valuable Dutch source material, as well as a broad introduction to the kind of history that can be written by using these sources. They will also have the opportunity to develop their general research skills. The programme stimulates students to develop a global outlook in their studies, and to use Dutch primary sources to write local and regional histories that go beyond the traditional colonial interpretations. Already 130 people joined CBHS community.
Azizul Rasel (right) with Professor Shariff uddin Ahmed (Left) and Lt. Col. Md. Lutful Haq (middle)
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June 30, two days before departure for a two months holiday (July – August) to Bangladesh, Encompass student Azizul Rasel (origin from Barisal), payed a visit with Florus Geraedts and Sigfried Janzing to restoration studio Hoogduin Papierrestauratoren Delft, Holland. This visit was organized especially for Azizul to make a presentation for staf of National Archives of Bangladesh when in Dhaka. Hoogduin is one of the best restoration studios in Holland, Willem Hoogduin and Ted Indewey – Gerlings, owners, having a lot of international experience (Projects and transfer of knowledge in National Archives of Surinam, Tamil Nadu Archives, Chennai, India and Arsip Nasional Republik Indonesia, Jakarta). Willem and Ted gave us a warm welcome before starting their tour through the studio, showing us various types of document-damages (damage caused by moisture and insects, ink corrosion e.s.o.) and restoration – techniques (leafcasting, Japanese tissue paper repair). Willem Hoogduin took time to show the working of the leafcasting unit, a device developed by Hoogduin and very much exported because of low costs and easy technique. See pictures below. For more information on restoration and conservation see the Tanap website: www.tanap.net. We wish Azizul luck in Dhaka with his presentation for NAB.
Welcome by Willem and Ted
Willem showing a device for flattening of charters and maps
Talking about conservation strategies
Willem preparing the leafcasting
... showing the proces ...
... pressing the documents ...
... finally the drying of the documents
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Bangladesh Archives and Records Management Society (BARMS), National Archives of Bangladesh (NAB) and Heritage Archives (Rajshahi) don´t stop their efforts by their own and together for spreading awareness on Archives and Records Management in the context of the Right to Information Act (RTI, 2009). Their goal, the improvement of the system of Archives and Records Management as backbone of the Information System in Bangladesh, got and will get a further boost taking into account these past and coming events:
1. Campaign for RTI (promotion of RTI Movement) and Rajshahi Sports Archives at Rajshahi Festival in Dhaka, June 21-25, 2011. Organised by Lt. Col Lutful Haq. In the RTI-stall sportsmen can get forms to record their data; books, posters, leaflets and brochures about the Right to Information will be available for the public. A board with the history of Boro Kuthi (Dutch Silk Factory, Rajshahi) will appeal to everyone to come forward for its restoration, volunteers will wear T-Shirt marked with Boro Kuthi;
2. With the financial support of the Government of Bangladesh, National Archives of Bangladesh conducted a training-programme on Archives and Records Management (ARM) for the personnel of various records creating agencies in the country. The last two months the staff members of NAB and BARMS conducted ARM courses for record keeping and records responsible staffs of District Collectorate Offices, Divisional Commissioners Offices, District Council Offices, Police Superintendent Offices, City Corporations, Public Works Departments, Local Government Engineering Departments, District Judges Offices and Roads & Highway Departments in 7 divisions: Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Barisal, Rangpur and Sylhet. Some 250 staffs were trained in ARM (see also blog report of May 11, 2011);
3. Professor Mahabub Rahman of Heritage Archives Rajshahi (HABHT) is collecting successfully oral sources on the Liberation Movement (1971) and is working on the new HABHT Magazine;
4. Other activities in progress are the 5-days Train of Trainers course (location: in NAB or Opsonin Pharma), September, by mr. Farid Ahmed and 2 of his teachers of the Delhi based National Archives of India School of Archival Studies (NAI / SAS) with possible support and participation of mr. Savumthararaj Gopal of the National Archives of Malaysia;
“Things are moving in a positive direction”, says Lt. Col Md. Lutful Haq (retd), board member of BARMS, but in his opinion still at too slow a pace. Lt. Col. Lutful Haq, now responsible for the RTI-Movement, wants young members, participants, for BARMS to help spread awareness for good governance, i.e. a sound information system for democratic control of government by the people of Bangladesh. So this report is too a call for students to connect with BARMS and help spreading awareness for still better information management in their country.
Lt. Col. Lutful Haq in front of Van Gogh Museum during his visit to The Netherlands, August 2010.
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A new series of pictures which I received from Muhammad Mezbah-ul-Islam, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Department of Information Science & Library Management (ISLM), University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, about the Information Literacy programme organized by the Centre for Information Studies (CIS,B) & United Nations Information Centre (UNIC) -Dhaka. These pictures were taken during the Information Literacy Training Programme at Saver Girl’s High School, Dhaka, on 30-31 of May, 2011. IL programme is an important element in the government´s vision “Digital Bangladesh by 2021″, corner stone of the Charter for Change. The Digital Bangladesh vision is unique as it proposes to mainstream ICT as a pro-poor tool.
Opening session ...
... and introduction
Workshops
Workshop of Prof. Mezbah-ul-Islam
Workshop
Final presentations by students
Certification
Closing ceremony
