General Information
The functions of the Government Records Section are carried out
in cooperation with the Provincial Records Manager, departmental
Records Officers throughout Government, and the Public
Records Committee (PRC), and are in accordance with the Archives
Act 1983.
Records cannot be directly transferred to the Government Records
Section from Government sources once they have become inactive.
All records created by Government departments, agencies, boards,
commissions or Crown Corporations must receive authorization for
disposal from the PRC. Of all public records approved for disposal
by the PRC, only approximately five to ten percent are retained
by the Provincial Archives. The remaining ninety to ninety-five
percent are destroyed. It is the role of the Government Records
Section to determine which records will be retained based on their
enduring value. This value is based on such factors as whether
the records document: policy and decision-making; major initiatives
or programs; the overall operations of a department, agency etc.;
significant historical events or moments; or information which
is generally important to the history of the Province.
Archival Government records are available for research at the
Provincial Archives, subject to the provisions of the Freedom
of Information Act.
As many government records are stored off-site, researchers are
advised to contact one of the Government
Records Archivists when planning to visit the Provincial Archives.
Notable Collections
The
Government Records Section holds original records dating from
as early as 1749 and as diverse as the Colonial
Secretary's Letterbooks (1749 - 1948) and the working papers of
the Royal Commission on Employment and Unemployment (1986). A
sampling of records from the holdings of this section includes:
Governor's Office, Courts, Crown Lands, Public Works, Executive
Council, National Convention, Department of Justice, Secretary
to Commission of Government, Labrador Affairs, Electoral Office,
Royal Commissions, and a sampling of Newfoundland related records
from Great Britain, France and other foreign governments.
The physical extent of the holdings is approximately 4000
linear metres
(4 km.) of textual records and over 2500 rolls of microfilm, along
with a small number of video and audio cassettes.
Access
The holdings of the Government Records Section are in the Colonial
Building and two off-site storage facilities. Please consult
Government Records Archivists for information on retrieval of
any records.
The Government Records Section makes material available to the
public subject to the Privacy
Act and the Freedom of Information Act which may prevent
certain records from being publicly available. Application may
be made under the Freedom
of Information Act to view "restricted" materials.
These applications will be processed by the department which transferred
the materials (department of origin) to the Provincial Archives.
Finding Aids / Publications
There are various finding aids available in the main Reference
Room of the Provincial Archives for the Government Records holdings,
however, initial access to the records should be sought through
two primary guides: A Guide to the Government Records of Newfoundland,
by M. Chang, and Inventory of the Government Records Collection,
by S. Smith (1988).
Services to Government Departments
The Government Records Section provides a variety of services
for Government Departments. Some of these are as follows:
- review records retention schedules to identify archival
materials and access
- management of records retrieval
For further information regarding any of these
services, please contact the Government Records Section at (709)
757-8035.
