C O R D I L L E R A / N O R T H E R N L U Z O N H I S T O R I C A L A R C H I V E S
BACKGROUND
“Understanding Cordillera Culture Through Primary Sources: A Cordillera/Northern Luzon Historical Archives Project”.
When the University of the Philippines celebrated its 100th year in 2008, one project launched by the UP Baguio’s Centennial Committee to commemorate this milestone was the establishment of an Archives. Through the centennial project called “Understanding Cordillera Culture Through Primary Sources: A Cordillera/Northern Luzon Historical Archives Project,” a historical archives was set up in August 22, 2007, to collect, reproduce, catalog and preserve historical/archival materials in one conducive place – within the UP Baguio campus.
Specifically, the project has the following objectives:
1. Strengthen historical research in UP Baguio and the Cordillera Region.
2. Collect and catalog archival materials.
3. Forge linkages with local, national and international archives.
4. Preserve and make accessible archival materials
The UP Baguio Cordillera/Northern Luzon Archives is the first regional archives in the Cordillera and Northern Luzon that primarily acquires and makes accessible to scholars historical documents, i.e., mission reports, government records, memoirs, letters and personal papers of individuals of the Cordillera in particular and Northern Luzon in general.
The first regional archives in the Cordillera and Northern Luzon that
primarily acquires and makes accessible to scholars historical
documents.
The Archives works closely and receives guidance and advice from the Department of History and Philosophy of the College of Social Sciences, and with this set-up the collection policy has been focused towards the acquisition of primary sources that would enhance knowledge and scholarly work on the Cordillera and its indigenous people. To sustain the Archives, then Dean of the College of Social Sciences and History faculty, Dr. Raymundo D. Rovillos, initiated the preparation of a draft, “Plan for the Development of the University of the Philippines Baguio Cordillera and Northern Luzon Historical Archives.” The draft blueprint, which was approved in December 2011, envisioned to situate the Archives in the organizational structure of UP Baguio and to chart the direction the Archives will take for the coming years. Aside from emphasizing the vision, mission, goals, purposes and significance of the Archives, it also spells out the Archives’ organizational structure, budgetary requirements, collection maintenance, development and priority acquisition for the subsequent years.
With the vision of the UP Baguio to become an academic institution devoted to the development of Cordillera studies, the Archives is seen as a means of achieving this vision of the parent organization. The Archives’ mission, aside from being a repository of primary sources on the Cordillera, aims to collect as humanly possible all known sources written on the Cordillera. The Archives is seen, therefore as a means to achieve the vision of UP Baguio.