The archives of the 20th century had completed the transition from custodian institution of only documentary resources to a multi-responsibilities public service organization. Archivists have gradually become managers of information resources, builders of social memory, and defenders of civil rights.
However, the fast-growing society and constantly evolving technologies have placed higher demands on the archives work. In the 21st century, archives are facing and are going to face more changes and challenges, which are unpredictable. Therefore, as archival professionals in the 21st century, what we can do is to “advance with the times and take advantage of the trend”: to maintain the state of learning, to absorb new changes in social development in time, and to think about the connections with archives and archives work.
At present, we need to consider the relationship between archives and digital humanities and artificial intelligence from the technical perspective; accept creative products and educational services from the perspective of cultural services; and advocates and promotes fairness and justice from the perspective of social development.
By Mme Yujue WANG, Associate Professor, School of Information Management Wuhan University China