| The archives of the foreign settlement are one of the most important primary sources(firsthand historical materials) for the study of modern history. The historical memories of the arrangement, cataloguing and preservation of those precious documents should not be ignored. This thesis intends to demonstrate the developing process of the archives management of the Municipal Council by means of a study on the history of the archives management of the Shanghai International Settlement. The basic sources for this study are the archives from the Shanghai Municipal Archives concerning Shanghai Municipal Council. This study bases on those archives and focuses on the origin, establishment, development and renovation of the archives management of Shanghai Municipal Council. The thesis is composed of four parts:The first part mainly expounds the historical background regarding the emergence of the archives management of Shanghai Municipal Council and the managerial activities in the early years. In the first place, it investigates the archives of the British Concession of Shanghai and its archives management, which was the predecessor of Shanghai International Settlement. Moreover it illustrates the relation between the administrative archives of the Committee of Roads and Jetties and the archives of Shanghai Municipal Council. Finally, this chapter sketches the background of the establishment of Shanghai Municipal Council, and especially pays attention to some early activities of archives management. This study argues that the feature of the archives management in this period is that the business was in the charge of the secretary of the Board or managed concurrently by the individual director.The second part chiefly elaborates the slow development of the archives management of Shanghai Municipal Council. It demonstrates that the Secretariat of Shanghai Municipal Council which established in 1860 was the first department which was provided with the function of archives management. It was the beginning of the specialization of archives management, and was the transition from the individual management to the organized management as well. The Central Registry which established later was the first specialized department for administrating the current documents and the archives simultaneously. This department also classified the archives for the first time and built the first index system. Moreover, this chapter also investigates the problems of the Central Registry, those problems resulted in the establishment of Archives office and the renovation in 1930 s.The third part reaches to the details of the archives work renovation in 1930 s after the establishment of the Archives Office. It expatiates the details of the institution of archives management, the new method for classification, the new index system, the rehabilitation for the old archives and also explains the use and the compilation of the archives in this period. Moreover, this chapter sums up from these archives work the idea of archives management of the Shanghai Municipal Council and the advanced cognition to the value of the archives.The fourth part is divided into three parts. The first part examines the archives management of Shanghai Municipal Council in its final period, which includes the development of the archives work after the innovation and the final situation of the archives management during the Japanese occupation of the Shanghai International Settlement after the outbreak of the Pacific War. The second part gives a brief introduction to the circulation, preservation and redevelopment of the archives of Shanghai Municipal Council after the end of the Shanghai International Settlement. The final part analyses the characteristics and influence of the archives management of the Shanghai Municipal Council.The conclusion part examines the value and significance of the archives management of the Shanghai Municipal Council in the view of the archives enterprise, and points out some enlightenment and worthy lessons. |
PDF Full Text Request