Jeonbuk National University (JBNU) will be reborn as a cradle for training professional records management personnel.

Recently, JBNU received approval from the National Archives of Korea under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety to establish a Records Management Education Center, the only one in the Honam region, and has begun training professional records personnel.

Since the enactment of the Act on the Management of Records of Public Institutions in 1999 and the Public Records Management Act in 2007, the field of records management has steadily developed. Recently, the need for records management has spread across society beyond the public sector to companies, hospitals, cultural and arts institutions, and religious organizations.

In particular, with the International Council on Archives (ICA) World Congress scheduled to be held in Korea in 2016 and global attention focused on the records field, the importance of records management has become more prominent than ever.

Accordingly, the National Archives approved one education center each in Seoul, Chungcheong, Honam, and Yeongnam among universities with graduate programs in records management. In the Honam region, JBNU was the only university selected, ahead of seven universities that operate graduate programs in records management.

Accordingly, starting this year JBNU will establish a Records Management Education Center with an annual intake of 30 students. The program will offer a variety of training, from foundational subjects such as Introduction to Records Management to specialized areas including Records Appraisal and Records Preservation, as well as practical records management training.

After completing the program, graduates will be eligible to take the Records Management Specialist qualification examination. They will be able to work as Records Research Officers (equivalent to administrative Grade 6) at central government agencies, local governments, and education offices, as well as records management specialists in the private sector.

JBNU being the first in Honam to receive approval to establish a Records Management Education Center is the result of achievements since 2003 in launching a records management program at the Graduate School of Information Science and producing numerous professionals who have joined public institutions, companies, and research institutes.

Accordingly, JBNU will carry out top-level education and research in records management, serve as an educational institution leading Korea's records culture, and is expected to make a significant contribution to enhancing employment competitiveness in the Jeonbuk region.

Professor Kang Hye-young of the Department of Library & Information Science said, "The establishment of the Records Management Education Center will be a valuable opportunity for JBNU to establish itself as an educational institution leading Korea's records culture," adding, "This program, which grants qualifications under records management legislation to current practitioners, is expected to play a major role in creating synergies through linkage with the graduate program in records management and in improving employment rates."