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Visit Arkib Negara
On Saturday, 25th June 2005, which was the last working Saturday for the government service, the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project arranged for an official visit to Arkib Negara (the Malaysian National Archives) in Kuala Lumpur. Five Dutch descendants together with friends of the Project, Mdm. Marcia Nicholas and Mr. Michael Weber (Dutch language lecturer at Universiti Malaya), attended this special visit to Arkib Negara.
Five Dutch descendants, Mdm. Marcia Nicholas and Mr. Michael Weber
The purpose of the visit was to tour Arkib Negara's extensive facilities, to obtain a general understanding on the
importance of preserving historical documents, to find out what documents are stored there and how research may be
undertaken at the archives by members of the public.
That morning, the visitors were met by Arkib Negara's officer, En. Zaidin and the group proceeded to register themselves as researchers with Arkib Negara. En. Zaidin began the tour with a welcome note and an overview explanation of Arkib Negara. Thereafter, the tour proceeded to the Reference Hall with an explanation on the use of the archives' computers as a finding aid. It was obvious that the first words keyed into the computers by the visitors were their surname and many were amused to find references linking archival documents to their family name. The visitors were then shown how to "call out" those documents so as to further scrutinise its contents. Thereafter, the tour proceeded to the Research Hall.
At the Research Hall, En. Zaidin showed us samples of different type of old documents that researchers could view, that he had already prepared in anticipation of our visit. Among those documents were some original volumes of the renowned ecclesiastical records from Dutch Reformed Church of Malacca, that took the interest of many there. Fortunately, the Dutch linguist, Michael Weber was at hand to help provide some translations of the documents viewed.
En. Zaidin also showed us the microfilm room and we were briefed on how researchers may use this facility.
Thereafter, the group proceeded to visit Arkib Negara's Library. The librarian there was most helpful and accommodating as she kindly showed us around the library and explained what books, journals and reference materials could be found there. We were also given the rare privilege of going though their collection of extremely old and rare books, that was kept under lock and key.
The tour to Arkib Negara officially ended with refreshments kindly provided by this governmental agency. However, everybody was in no hurry to go home but they proceeded back to the Research Hall to see what else was there to discover in those old and timeworn scripts.
The group was impressed by Arkib's dedicated, friendly and helpful staff. The visit also helped open our eyes to the actual extend of their archives and the many possibilities as a source of research on family histories and other matters.
For further information on Arkib Negara, please visit their website at arkib.gov.my
On Saturday, 25th June 2005, which was the last working Saturday for the government service, the Malaysian Dutch Descendants Project arranged for an official visit to Arkib Negara (the Malaysian National Archives) in Kuala Lumpur. Five Dutch descendants together with friends of the Project, Mdm. Marcia Nicholas and Mr. Michael Weber (Dutch language lecturer at Universiti Malaya), attended this special visit to Arkib Negara.
Five Dutch descendants, Mdm. Marcia Nicholas and Mr. Michael Weber
That morning, the visitors were met by Arkib Negara's officer, En. Zaidin and the group proceeded to register themselves as researchers with Arkib Negara. En. Zaidin began the tour with a welcome note and an overview explanation of Arkib Negara. Thereafter, the tour proceeded to the Reference Hall with an explanation on the use of the archives' computers as a finding aid. It was obvious that the first words keyed into the computers by the visitors were their surname and many were amused to find references linking archival documents to their family name. The visitors were then shown how to "call out" those documents so as to further scrutinise its contents. Thereafter, the tour proceeded to the Research Hall.
At the Research Hall, En. Zaidin showed us samples of different type of old documents that researchers could view, that he had already prepared in anticipation of our visit. Among those documents were some original volumes of the renowned ecclesiastical records from Dutch Reformed Church of Malacca, that took the interest of many there. Fortunately, the Dutch linguist, Michael Weber was at hand to help provide some translations of the documents viewed.
En. Zaidin also showed us the microfilm room and we were briefed on how researchers may use this facility.
Thereafter, the group proceeded to visit Arkib Negara's Library. The librarian there was most helpful and accommodating as she kindly showed us around the library and explained what books, journals and reference materials could be found there. We were also given the rare privilege of going though their collection of extremely old and rare books, that was kept under lock and key.
The tour to Arkib Negara officially ended with refreshments kindly provided by this governmental agency. However, everybody was in no hurry to go home but they proceeded back to the Research Hall to see what else was there to discover in those old and timeworn scripts.
The group was impressed by Arkib's dedicated, friendly and helpful staff. The visit also helped open our eyes to the actual extend of their archives and the many possibilities as a source of research on family histories and other matters.
For further information on Arkib Negara, please visit their website at arkib.gov.my