Issued by: GCIS
14 May 2001
Minister of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology, Dr Ben Ngubane, will deliver a keynote address at the official launch of the National Automated Archival Information Retrieval System (NAAIRS) to be made available for public use via the Internet on Monday May 14 2001 in Erasmuskloof, Pretoria.
The launch of NAAIRS represents a technological breakthrough towards the realisation of objectives envisaged by the Promotion of Access to Information Act (No 2 of 2000) to enable members of the public to identify and locate public records in archival custody that they may require for the exercise or protection of rights.
The facility, which will be maintained by the National Archives of South Africa (NASA), also constitutes an advance in the National Archives' outreach strategy in terms of the National Archives of South Africa Act (No 43 of 1996) to make archival services known to the broader public especially the less privileged sectors of society.
The success of NAAIRS, billed as the first existing public sector mainframe database to have been made available on the Internet, is a result of major collaborative project involving the State Information Technology Agency (Sita), National Archives of South Africa (NASA) and the Department of Arts, Culture, Science and Technology.
NAAIRS may be accessed on the National Archives' website: www.national.archives.gov.za
Issued by
OUPA NGWENYA
SITA Corporate Communications Head
(012) 482-2109
Cel 082 652 1276
e-mail : oupa.ngwenya.@sita.co.za
For further reference contact:
CLIVE KIRKWOOD
Deputy Director: Records Management
Tel (012) 323-5300
e-mail: clive@dacst4.pwv.gov.za