National Archives of Myanmar Groups of Records and Archives (Collection Guide)

Overview

The Groups of Records and Archives portal is a collection guide and finding aid provided by the Department of National Archives (NAD) of Myanmar. It serves as an online resource allowing researchers to browse and identify archival record groups held by the NAD at its facilities in Naypyidaw and Yangon before proceeding to the Archives Online system for document retrieval.

History and Founding

The Department of National Archives was formally constituted under Myanmar's National Records and Archive Law (1990, amended 2007), with institutional antecedents tracing to the Library of Secretaries office established in 1972. The online collection guide was developed to make the structure and scope of the NAD's holdings more accessible to domestic and international researchers, particularly given the archive's broad organizational scheme of approximately 100 subject categories.

Collections and Holdings

The Groups of Records portal describes holdings organized across the NAD's major record groups, which encompass colonial-era British Burma records from the 1820s onward, pre–World War II administrative records, wartime and occupation records (1939–1945), British Military Administration records (1945), and successive post-independence governmental records through the Revolution Council (1962), the Pyithu Hluttaw period, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (1988), and contemporary records. Functional categories include administration, policy affairs, economic matters, health, land, foreign relations, law and constitution, environment, and history.

Access and Usage

The collection guide is accessible online at the NAD's official website. It provides an overview of record groups to assist researchers in identifying relevant materials prior to formal access application through the Archives Online system. Physical access requires registration at the respective NAD facility in Naypyidaw or Yangon.