Adel
Mujahed correspondent
of "Al Kahira"
weekly
newspaper interviewed
Dr. Abdel Majid Al Rifai,
Head of Arab Club for
Information (Arabcin).
This interview was published
on 2.11.2001. Herewith
is the whole of it :
In the context of interest
in Arab Documentation
Heritage, with its reflection
of Arab culture fertility,
and under the title
"Documentation
is the memory of the
Nation", the Syrian
Capital "Damascus"
hosted recently the
1st Scientific Seminar
on Arab Documentation
Day, as an initiative
adopted by (Arabcin),
aiming at exhibiting
the importance and role
of Arab Document as
a human civilized accomplishment,
preserving nation's
values, principles and
human civilization.
Conferees
from twelve Arab countries
discussed in three days
four main contexts,
namely:
-
History of Arab Document.
- Information and Internet
Technologies, Document
storing and retrieval
technologies and trends.
- Arab Document Society
serving role.
- Pioneering Arab experiments
in storing, organization,
and classification of
documents, training
and qualification.
In the first context
number of lecturers
discussed the history
of documents and libraries
in Islamic and Arab
civilization, together
with "Beit Al Maqdis"
(Al Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem)
documents, relating
to books and libraries,
with their role in bringing
forth the civilized
aspects of this sacred
city, along with Arab
documents in the Ottoman
archives.
In
the second context which
was inaugurated with
by the Latin saying:
"Every script is
Sacred", the researchers
discussed document preservation
technologies, and the
importance of the electronic
document and book.
Whereas
the third context of
the first scientific
seminar discussed Arab
role in civilizations'
dialogue, electronic
publishing and document
quality assurance using
electronic scanning,
along with the documentation
of arts and homeland
memory, the intellectual
copyrights; the document's
role in international
law sphere, with political,
economical and legislative
relations.
On
the third day of the
seminar, the conferees
discussed in two sessions
their fourth and last
context the storing
and retrieval of documents
along with archives
regional organization's
experiment and that
of Arab agricultural
development organization
in the documentation
of agricultural activity
and archives works in
Palestine.
The
seminar was concluded
by announcing the 17th
of October as a day
to celebrate the Arab
document, since it was
the day of last year
that witnessed the issuing
of the decision to form
the supreme council
for documentation, which
was adopted by the Arab
League for Education,
Culture and Sciences
Organization (ALECSO).
The
document, as identified
by the conferring celebrities,
is any material that
contains any kind of
information and of any
shape. The conferees
also issued some recommendations
to the institutions
interested in Arab document,
and called on government
bodies to pay more attention
to national archives,
documentation, training
and qualification. They
also called on documentation,
information and archives
centers to establish
specialized centers
for translation and
compilation in a way
serving the purpose
of documentation.
The
conferees called in
their communiqué
on Arab leaders to support
documentation and research
relating to it in the
Arab homeland.
Cairo newspaper met
at the end of the seminar
with Dr. A. Majid Al
Rifai, head of Arabcin,
who adopted Arab document
project, and had this
dialogue with him about
the importance of electronic
documentation and the
reservations put forward
by Arab documentalists'
closed sessions:
*
Would you please tell
us about electronic
documentation, and the
extent of confidence
available in electronic
storage of Arab manuscripts
and documents?
**The last decade
of the twentieth century
witnessed deep and far
reaching developments
in the field of information
and communication because
rapid development in
internet and extranet
availed the opportunity
to connect an institution
division, whatsoever
the distances between
them are, by means of
an integrated work system,
depending on modern
ways of building, reservation
and exchange of electronic
records, and through
easy transfer of information
and data base to any
institution connected
to the electronic network
in any part of the world;
the thing which made
all private and governmental
institutions operate
through the internet.
Intuitively
the profuse of these
new operation means
will result in the production
of private and governmental
electronic documents
without any paper forms
for them, since the
whole works take place
by mere electronic ways.
This thing has put archivists
face to face with big
challenges; for instance,
could any national archives
disregard the electronic
documents produced by
a governmental or private
institution, because
there isn't paper forms
for them. How could
electronic documents
be manipulated and retrieved
in order to make use
of them by different
users?
*
What is the best way
for storing electronic
documents safely that
prevents any deformation,
forgery or intentional
sabotage? Is electronic
documentation safer
than traditional one?
**Answers to these questions
do form the main features
of the new tasks assigned
to twenty first century
archivists. In the beginning
documentalists were
skeptical towards the
development of modern
technologies.
Great
part of the skepticism
centered on the electronic
document security, because
it is well known that
a paper copy of the
electronically stored
document could be vulnerable
to intentional sabotage
or forgery, it could
be also damaged by chance
when hardware or equipment
get old, and technicians
deems it necessary to
transfer them to new
ones, or when there
are some faults in the
hardware and it should
be reset, or when new
forms of viruses attack
the equipment.
Nevertheless, the accumulation
of expertise and the
development of protection
technologies, allowed
for the decrease of
the resulting risks,
making them equal to
those facing paper ones.
*
We know that some documentalists
showed reservation towards
electronic document,
because of its nominal
chronological age, which
they asserted doesn't
exceed thirty years,
therefore what do you
think the referent of
this reservation?
**I would like to say
that the electronic
document will last more
than it was said; electronic
document may last longer
than paper one, because
of the increase in the
demand on paper, and
the usage of inferior
quality of paper as
a result, by most official
and private institutions,
in order to decrease
the expenses. Nowadays
you could rarely find
a paper document that
is fifty years old and
is still in good condition,
whereas in the case
of electronic storing
where laser beams do
make fine grooves on
the CD, so they could
be read by the reflection
of laser, it makes the
duration of the document
longer, and the CD could
be copied several times.
*What
about the gap concerning
the storing of electronic
document or the paper
copy, without forgery
or sabotage?
**Scientific progress
could fill this gap,
through the storing
of copies of the final
worm disk, which are
special kind of disks
suitable for archives;
its name is derived
from the phrase (one
read many write). So
documents could be stored
on this kind of disks
ensuring that the stored
paper copy or photo
thereof will never change
by time. The documentalist
could put the discs
in the box Juke which
is connected to the
computer set and may
obtain the document
copy from worm disk
in a period of eight
seconds.
*You've
discussed the adoption
of electronic signature,
what are your concerns
relating to the unveiling
of such signature and
the illegal reply of
the electronic signature,
so the documents could
be falsified for instance.
Would you please give
us an idea about this
kind of signature?
**Modern technologies
relating to electronic
signature, made the
deciphering thereof
nearly impossible, since
it needs endless efforts
along a period of more
than a year; yet it
is impossible for anyone
to maintain the same
forma of electronic
signature for a whole
year. Electronic signature
became legally approved
in USA and most of the
European countries.
Banks and financial
institutions handle
millions of dollars
depending on this kind
of signature, on a daily
basis. It is unreasonable
that such institutions
would risk their wealth,
had this kind of signature
implied any unsafe transaction;
therefore, it is equal
to manual signature
on papers, if not safer.
Nowadays electronic
signature includes some
information about the
document it passed,
such as : number of
letters, lines, columns,
together with the number
of tables or photos
included in the document,
the thing which makes
falsifying very difficult
or nearly impossible.
*Some
documentalists showed
concerns towards virus
risks, that may damage
hardware and the electronic
documents stored in
them, so what is the
solution to this problem?
**The solution to this
problem exists since
a long time and it's
well known, it is done
through protective copying
of information entered
already in the computer
on discs or tapes that
remain in a sage location
far from the hardware
or the computer net
as a whole; besides,
this is done on a daily
basis. When any sabotage
occurs to computer sets
one may recur to back-up
disc or tape recordings.
*What
were the opinions of
Arab documnetalists
concerning the nature
of computer system and
the storage of document
photocopies in it?
**Documentalists showed
reservations on long
halt in the operation
of the computer system,
due to a break down
of the system or sabotage.
But modern network systems
provide a solution to
this problem, through
mirroring technology,
which allows to obtain
instantaneous photo
of the main server files;
so whenever a break
down occurs one may
fetch the mirror server
and load all information
from it into the main
server. This operation
will take no more than
few minutes - one hour.
Another technology could
be used called (cluster),
where two servers operate
as one, when one of
them breaks down the
system may start again
within few minutes.
As
for the document copy,
stored in the computer,
there was also some
reservation made on
it, for it is unseen
or untouchable by the
documentalists; therefore,
most of them preferred
to continue storing
document copies and
microfilms, because
although it is a miniature
and doesn't show the
photo to the bare human
eye, it is tangible
and definite, and could
be investigated and
booked at. Microfilm
has some negative aspects,
despite its long nominal
life, such as difficult
retrieval. The danger
of sabotage facing microfilms
not less important than
that facing the system
itself. On the other
hand microfilm could
store copies of paper
documents, but not the
electronic ones.
*Eventually
do you believe that
there will remain an
open choice between
traditional and electronic
storing, with the technical
rush, with its entitlements
of modernizing traditional
documentation conceptions?
**Choice could remain
in the field of either
storing in paper form
or using digital archives,
if the archives subject
matter is paper documents
only, but when we talk
about electronic documents,
i.e. the documents which
are produced by computer
systems and achieve
their work within an
electronic environment,
so we have no other
choice but the electronic
documents, because a
huge number of documents
in this case have no
photocopies and have
a complicated basis
and are characterized
by the existence of
connectives among many
files, and even if we
get one copy of all
these files we'll not
be able to represent
the real basis of this
electronic document
as a photocopy.
So
we can say that the
archive of the 20th
century is basically
an electronic one, and
there will be no alternative
to use the traditional
means (papers + microfilms)
or to use the electronic
ones. Therefore the
only choice to deal
with the electronic
document to tackle it,
to store it and to regain
it is to depend on the
electronic documents
systems.
The
tasks of archives and
their control on documents
have expanded, so it's
no more devoted to paper
documents but instead
it expands to include
electronic documents.
This led to that the
governmental offices
of the developed countries
finished the stage of
automating their works
completely and it's
advancing very quickly
towards the electronic
government. The electronic
document, therefore,
has become the origin
and the paper version
has become merely a
copy to this origin
to the extent that some
electronic documents
such as hgper texts
can't move its structure
when we copy it on paper.
Archives tasks extended
towards making the public
acquainted with stored
documents. With the
spreading of electronic
speedy communication
and the electronic government,
World archival institutions
are leaning nowadays
to decrease the banning
period of publicizing
documents, making it
fifteen years only,
except documents relating
to the state security.
Upon supporting the
right of public to have
knowledge about documents,
numbers of beneficiaries
have increased considerably.
This makes the serving
of these numbers in
traditional ways so
difficult.
Mr.
Abu AL Saud Ibrahim,
head of Al Ahram Information
and Research Center,
and deputy chief of
(Arabcin), described
the festival in a statement
delivered to our paper,
by saying : this day
is a highly civilized
day; besides our sincerity
towards Arab document
means we have national
memory, mind, importance
of the document in our
history. Mr. Ibrahim
stressed the importance
of electronic storing,
especially in the information
diffusion era, where
nobody can follow closely
all that is written
in a certain realm.
He hoped that electronic
documentation would
be diffused in all institutions
all over the Arab world.
He added that this age
is the information era
and data war; I see
if we could cooperate
in the field of specialization,
and each one of these
fields would establish
its own data network,
it will be to the benefit
of our Arab nation.
