Section 5: Functions of Director

5. Functions of Director The Director shall— (a) have the custody, care and control of all public archives; (b) regulate the conditions under which members of the public may consult the public archives and make use of the facilities provided by the Department; (c) inspect regularly, within office hours, and after due notice has been given, public archives lying in repositories other than the Department; (d) collect information relating to any document of public interest with a view to compiling a comprehensive register of private archives; (e) ensure the physical protection, conservation and restoration of all public archives entrusted to the custody of the Department and make them available for research purposes; (f) arrange the archives according to established principles of archival administration and prepare all the reference instruments; (g) provide for the making and authentification of copies of, and extracts from, records, required as evidence in legal proceedings or for other purposes; (h) provide for the separate housing of films, sound recordings and other machine-readable records which have to be kept under special conditions; (i) provide for the training of the staff of the Department; (j) provide for the recording and keeping of oral history archives; (k) produce and publish documentary materials for educational purposes and for the public at large; N3 – 3 [Issue 1] National Archives Act (l) disseminate such information as may be of interest to the public at large; (m) release after a period of 30 years official records for public research; (n) lend records in a case where the Minister gives his approval for display at commemorative exhibitions or any other special occasion; and (o) for the preservation of the collective memory of the nation, acquire, receive on deposit, or receive as a gift or by way of donation, any document, or other matter either locally or from abroad.