University Archives
Our History
There are no professional Archives and Records Management programmes and training in Hong Kong and this led, as it inevitably does, to a situation where the records of our University were scattered across campuses, kept under very poor conditions for preservation, often completely inaccessible to researchers, or indeed, the staff of that department or college, and frequently lost through deterioration, negligence, mishandling, disposal, or destruction.
In 2003, this situation was fortunately recognized by the University and the Archives Working Group was formed by the recommendation of the Senior Management Team(SMT) in 2003. The Working Group assist the University Archivist in building an Archives and Records Information Management Program (ARIM) here at University of Hong Kong. It comprised the former Registrar, Mr. Henry Wai, the former University Librarians, Mr. Tony Ferguson and Mr. Peter Sidorko, the former Professor of the History Department, Dr. Peter Cunich, the Director of the University Museum and Art Gallery(UGMA), Professor Florian Knothe and its former Director Mr. C.T. Yeung.
The Archives andAdvisory Working Group worked with a number of consultants to study the situation at the University. A detailed report given by Randall Jimerson, a former President of the Society of American Archivists (SAA), resulted in the acceptance of a plan “to rescue endangered HKU records and begin the slow development of a full ARM program” (Jimerson, The University of Hong Kong Archives and Records Management Program, 2004)
In July 2006, the first professional University Archivist, Mrs Stacy Becher Lee (nee Gould) was hired. The University Archives was also given a temporary home on the first floor of the Library’s Main Building. Although the University Archives is an independent centre, a part of the Central Administration of the University, it has been supported by and works closely with the Registry and the University Libraries.
By January of 2009, in just two and a half years, the space offered inside the Main Library was completely full because the Archives had already received more than 1,500 linear feet of records, including administrative files, photographs, painting, publications, objects, recordings, films, and electronic files. These include some the earliest records of the University dated 1909, which were saved when they were smuggled out of Hong Kong during the Second World War.
In 2009, with the support of the Accommodations Committee and the Budget Recommendations Committee, the University Archives was able to acquire and retrofit suitable space to expand their collections off campus. The Technology Support Center (TSC), which administered the rehab of the space, also managed the records storage and retrieval service under the direction of the University Archives. Although the TSC was disbanded in 2013 and no longer supports the Archives operations the Archives' space has expanded twice more in the intervening years and now in 2017 is retrofitting another large room in a 3rd expansion of our off-campus space.
This Off-Site Records Centre is equipped with 24/7 temperature and humidity control, UVA and UVB protection, CCTV security and electronic card access that is monitored. It has a rigid schedule of maintenance and pest control, designed to keep pests from ever damaging the records stored there. The University Archives and Records Centre has now exceeded 3,100 linear metres of materials as of December 2025.
In August 2021, the University Archives was officially merged with the Library Special Collections administratively and became the ‘Archives and Special Collections’. The University Archivist oversees and manages both of the University Archives and Records Centre, as well as the Special Collections within the Libraries. The University Archives completed its 6-month renovation, reconfigured all faculties following the international standards and best practice including security, environmental control and preservation measurements for the archives and records of the University. It was launched and, re-opened by the guests of honour Ms Sarah Robinson, Deputy Consul-General of Great Britain, Mr Peter Lund, Consul-General of New Zealand, Mr Carmelo Ficarra, Consul-General of Italy, and Professor Pauline Chiu, Associate Vice-President (Teaching and Learning) together with the Chief Information Officer and University Librarian Ms Flora Ng and University Archivst and Head of Archives and Special Collections Mr Garfield Lam - on the 27 January 2025.