To carry out the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism's decision to entrust the National Library of Vietnam (NLV) with the implementation of national standards projects, on November 22, 2022, NLV held a symposium (northern area) to contribute to the formulation of the National Standard "Document management - Electronic document file format for long-term preservation" by M.A. Kieu Thuy Nga - Director of NLV as the Project Manager. The symposium is being held with the view to exchange, discuss, and receive comments from scientists, managers, and specialists in the fields of library, information, and information technology for the second Draft of the Standard.

Attending the symposium, there were delegates and specialists: Ms. Nguyen Thanh Huyen - Deputy Director of the Information Technology Center; M.A. Nguyen Huu Gioi - President of the Vietnamese Library Association, and Dr. Ta Ba Hung - Head of the Technical Department specializing in TCVN/TC46, former Director General of the National Agency for Science and Technology Information. Dr. Nguyen Huy Chuong - Former Director of the Library and Information Center, National University-Ha Noi, President of the Northern Academic Library Association, Dr. Chu Ngoc Lam - Former Director of Hanoi Library, M.A. Cao Minh Kiem - Former Deputy Director General of the National Agency for Science and Technology Information, General Secretary of Viet Nam Association of Science and Technology Information; members of the National Standard Compilation Board; representatives of provinces, cities, specialized libraries, armed forces libraries, university libraries, technology companies from Thua Thien Hue onwards.

The National Standard "Document management - Electronic document file format for long-term preservation" was created in response to the actual operational demands of information agencies - libraries, archive agencies - in storing and utilizing electronic documents, finding and assessing document management systems, information technology firms that have produced application software equipment for information activities, libraries, archives, and information technology.

The project is developed on the basis of accepting ISO 19005 "Document management - Electronic document file format for long-term preservation" (parts 1 and 2) to create PDF document file format standards, namely PDF/A. To satisfy the demands of all library image formats, PDF/A is designed specifically for the long-term archiving of electronic documents, application in software creation and design, and information processing systems. The goal is to create appropriate standards for the library sector's development needs in conjunction with information technology and digital transformation, while also recognizing the challenges of long-term and sustainable growth in the context of technology. Today, information is continually changing and evolving at a rapid pace.

There are currently no clear rules for the long-term preservation of electronic document file formats. As a result, research and development of the National Standard on document management - electronic document file format for long-term preservation has a significant practical impact. This National Standards application will define a PDF file format (PDF/A) for document storage, providing a technique for displaying electronic documents in a way that maintains visual appearance over time, regardless of the tools and systems used to create, store, or display files; provides a framework for storing the context and history of electronic documents as metadata in relevant files, as well as a framework for storing the logical structure and other semantic information of electronic documents in appropriate files to fulfill the following requirements: Electronic data governance; electronic document file format; electronic document long-term preservation; Data extraction.

The Symposium attendees praised the Project's systematic execution, practicality, and applicability of the standards to existing demands and standardization requirements in the field of libraries; the project's sincerity in implementation, the receipt of comments for the First Draft... The meeting recorded and received 11 discussions from experts, scientists, and management leaders (40 comments). Besides several comments confirming that this is another challenging national standard related to programming and hardware building, there were other comments focused on style, translation, and Vietnameseization of phrases to make them easy to understand while ensure scientific, legal and administrative character; and comments on research using specialized terminology, proposals on NLV should conducting activities of arranging seminars, training courses, promotion and distribution of the National Standard after its launching.

The Symposium comments will be used by the National Standardization Committee "Document Management - Electronic document file format for long-term preservation" to continue investigating, augmenting, editing, and finalizing the Draft and Standard Notes.

Some photos at the Symposium:

Overview of the Symposium

M.A. Kieu Thuy Nga - Director of the National Library, Project Manager presents the Lead Report

M.A. Le Thi Thanh Ha - Secretary of the Editorial Board presented the Report on receiving and explaining the comments of organizations and individuals to the Draft and Notes to the Draft

M.A. Nguyen Huu Gioi - President of the Library Association gave a speech

M.A. Nguyen Thi Minh Trung - Vietnam Institute of Information and Social Sciences gave a speech

Dr. Nguyen Huy Chuong - President of the Northern Academic Library Association gave a speech

M.A. Cao Minh Kiem - Former Deputy Director General of the National Agency for Science and Technology Information, General Secretary of Viet Nam Association of Science and Technology Informationgave a speech

Dr. Ta Ba Hung - Head of the Technical Committee specialized in TCVN/TC46, Former Director General of the National Agency for Science and Technology Information, gave a speech

Dr. Chu Ngoc Lam - Former Director of Hanoi Library gave a speech

M.A. Tran Nu Que Phuong - Head of Information – Bibliography - Computers Department, Military Library spoke at the Symposium

M.A. Tran Thanh Hieu - Head of Informatics Department, Hanoi Library gave a speech

MILS. Nguyen Thi Ngoc Mai - Vice Dean of Faculty of Information and Library, Hanoi University of Culture gave a speech

Ms. Le Thi Thuy Trang - National Digital Transformation Department, Ministry of Information and Communications gave a speech

Ms. Tran Lan Huong - Department of Science, Technology and Environment, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism gave a speech

Delegates attending the conference took souvenir photos

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News: Thu Trang, Photos: Hoang Dung