A time capsule, a bridge between past and present. Visit any UP campus and such a description might come close to embodying UP鈥檚 place in Philippine history. Everything, from the structures to the discourses taking place within them, was shaped by some of the most profound ideas ever thought of.
In the case of UP Diliman, there is probably no other place that embodies this role of being a memory keeper as the University Archives. Located in a nondescript place on the third floor of the Main Library, the Archives contains some of the most timeless pieces bearing the University鈥檚 cultural heritage.
鈥淲e are, to coin a term, the memory keeper of our University,鈥� said Archives Head Librarian Eimee Rhea Lagrama. 鈥淲hat we have here are materials鈥攑aper-based for now鈥攚ith cultural heritage, research, informational and historical value.鈥�
As one might imagine of a place that contains everything, from a National Artist鈥檚 handwritten notes to the theses and dissertations of UP students, the protection of sensitive information is a pressing and constant priority. Sadly, even for a University that prides itself on its history, not many know about the contents of the Archives and, consequently, what to make of the information found therein.
So what kind of information does the Archives section contain, and what are the right steps to protect them?
Four sections
What might appear as a unitary section is actually divided into four. According to Lagrama they are: (a) the bindery/preservation section; (b) the UPiana (containing all UP publications) section; (c) University records; and, (d) the personal papers section. Inclusion in any of these is determined by the permanent value a document gains through the course of the University鈥檚 transactions, in addition to its specification under Republic Act No. 9470 or the National Archives Act.
Many visitors associate the Archives with either University records or the personal papers section. What distinguishes the two? According to Lagrama, University records are defined strictly as comprising of documents that are part of regular transactions (e.g., leave forms).
Personal papers, on the other hand, are explicit products of UP-associated persons, be they faculty, administrators or notable alumni. 鈥淚鈥檒l give the example of Guillermo Tolentino,鈥� Lagrama said. 鈥淗e has personal papers with us. What exactly? Biographical information, legal documents. I think the death certificate is there, school records. Some of his drafts are also there.鈥�
Sensitive and confidential
While Tolentino has long since passed, his case makes it easy to imagine how sensitive or confidential information might be included in the Archives relating to living people. Lagrama admits that there are some personal papers and University records that contain information that cannot be accessed by just anyone.
One basis they have for allowing access to personal papers is the actual donor鈥檚 request. 鈥淲e have donors who do not want specific parts of their collections opened while they are alive. I also remember that we have a collection where even the owner鈥檚 passport was with us. Although he is long gone, we decided that for passports and other personal documents, we need to look if they are covered by data privacy and err on the side of caution.鈥�
For University records, Lagrama and her staff are careful, especially when legal documents are included for cases still being disputed. 鈥淯sually they are related to the law or, for example, to cases filed against students and facylty. These are documents that we can鈥檛 just grant access to and we are very strict about that.鈥�
Specific measures
Lagrama said that it might be a good idea to review their current collection to meet the University鈥檚 data privacy needs since, while the concept of data privacy is fairly new, their office has been collecting UP鈥檚 documents since it was founded in 1974. Personal collections as well as scholarly products might contain information that could prove risky to either their owners or research participants.
Luckily, at least for theses and dissertations, there exists Memorandum No. FRN 15-XXX issued in 2015 by UP Diliman Vice Chancellor for Research and Development (OVCRD) Fidel Nemenzo. The Memorandum provides guidelines to mark their titles as containing: I: a patentable/registrable innovation; P: content that the author intends to publish personally; or, C: confidential information from a third party.
For studies marked as above, Lagrama said that the Archives gives the authors an embargo period of one year, which is renewable, to either publish, patent or delete the information in question before their work is made publicly available.
Thankfully, Lagrama noted that in many of the colleges, students do avail of, and even extend, the embargo period if necessary. She also added that there are current plans to extend the initial embargo to three or five years. For now, students can easily request for an extension when the time is up.
Institutional memory
Lagrama said the primary importance of a University Archives is, recalling George Santayana, to protect the history that helps people in the here-and-now to avoid repeating its mistakes. As the UP Main Library currently undergoes renovation, however, she and her colleagues hope to start a project focused explicitly on the future.
Lagrama believes that before the data privacy policy can be effectively exercised, offices in government should be well-versed in effective records management practices. It makes sense that before we protect the information we have, we should have a records retention and disposition schedule that helps everyone know what documents they should be keeping, who can access them, and how long they should be kept. Armed with an instrument that she helped design with one of her graduate students, Lagrama hopes to use the time available to her and her colleagues to strengthen record-keeping practices across UP.
Guiding others towards a better future is, of course, part of what makes the University Archives a beloved reflection of what UP stands for. Lagrama says, 鈥淗aving this institutional memory instills in you a sense of identity. It gives you a better sense of who you are as a UP student and Filipino citizen, and at the same time of why we are here and where we are going.鈥�
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Published on:听Nov 19, 2019
