The Parliament of the Maldives has commenced efforts to preserve old documents stored in the parliamentary archive.
The documents in the parliamentary archive include attendance books from previous parliamentary terms, meeting minutes and other historical documents. Preservation of these documents began under the initiative of Speaker of Parliament Mohamed Nasheed, and is carried out by the staff of the parliamentary library.
Deputy Director of the Secretariat of the Parliament of the Maldives Mahasin Ahmed Didi said library staff are currently working on restoring some of the old documents, using restoration procedures involving water, tissue, glue and ethanol among other materials. He said although it was previously believed that restoration of such old documents was impossible, the initiative of Speaker Nasheed has kickstarted an important process of preserving historical documents with the help of enthusiastic staff.
In addition to preserving old documents, the parliament is also maintaining a digital archive with digital copies of historical documents. The digital archive and library were launched last year with the aim of providing convenient access to historical laws and other important information from the past.