Library staff urged to be accountable, transparent

By JINA AMBA
STAFF from the Library and Archives Office have been urged to be accountable and transparent when dealing with public records. Office director-general Kakaito Kasi said this during the opening of the international archives week yesterday in Port Moresby. Kasi said, through the international archives day, staff could raise awareness with the public of the importance of records and archives to make it understood that records and archives provided the foundation for the rights and identity. He said archives and records managers, therefore, needed to be accountable in their deals with records and archival matters. Kasi said staff could raise awareness of senior decision makers in government departments and bureaucracy of the benefits of records management for good governance and development. He urged staff to raise awareness to the public and private sectors of the necessity of preserving archives for the long-term, future reference and posterity and to provide access to them. Kasi told staff to promote and bring to the attention of the larger public unique, extraordinary and rare documents preserved in archival institutions. He said during this week their office had fruitful discussions with the government departments like Finance, Treasury and National Planning and Monitoring to further their plans to deliver library and archival services to the public.