Author: Orca Huang, Collections Specialist, Hong Kong Action Archives

Keywords: Hong Kong Action Archives, Archiving, Practice

In an era when history is constantly being rewritten or erased, archiving has become a gentle yet steadfast form of resistance. Whether it is a banner left on the street or a manuscript on the verge of being forgotten, every preserved object is an attestation to the right to memory. Yet archiving is not merely a gesture. It involves significant demands on space, manpower, funding, and technical expertise. For organizations with limited resources, daily operations often resemble a tug-of-war with reality.

Hong Kong Action Archives (hereinafter “HKAA”), an emerging community-led archival organization in Taiwan, held a panel discussion inviting three partners to share their practical experiences in managing archives and collections: Wei-Cheng Lin (林威城), Deputy Director of the Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines[1] (hereinafter “Shung Ye”); Li-Hsun Wang (王立勛), Executive Officer at the Special Collections Section of National Chengchi University Libraries[2] (hereinafter “NCCU Libraries Special Collections”); and Wan-Jung Wu (巫宛蓉) and Lu Huang (黃淥), conveners of the Lo-Sheng Stories and Archives Project[3] (hereinafter “Lo-Sheng”). The varied backgrounds of the panelists reflect HKAA’s eclectic approach: bridging the perspectives of a well-established private museum, an academic library with diverse holdings, and a resource-limited, grassroots archival team.

Hong Kong Action Archives

The story of HKAA began in the homes of several Hong Kongers residing in Taiwan, who brought with them many protest-related materials collected in the past decade as they immigrated to the land across the strait. Initially operating informally through volunteers without a formal organizational structure in 2023, the group gradually developed systematically and was formally registered as a civil association in Taiwan in 2025. Since then, it has built a team and adopted strategic approaches to organizing and preserving materials, with the goal of enabling their further use.

Currently, HKAA’s holdings fall into two main categories. The first consists of physical objects from social movements, primarily the Umbrella Movement in 2014 and the Anti-Extradition Law Movement in 2019. These include Lennon Wall remnants, protest banners, helmets, shields, and a large number of printed ephemera. Most were collected on-site and do not involve personal data. They are expected to be made available to the public through an online museum by the end of 2026.

The second category comprises sensitive archival materials from eight civil society organizations, some now disbanded, spanning the 1960s to the present. Due to ownership concerns and the safety of former members, there are currently no plans for public release, and these materials remain under study and negotiation.

HKAA’s current priority is to establish a clear strategy for collections management. As a nascent organization, HKAA is eager to seek guidance and learn from a range of archival and memory institutions in Taiwan. This article provides a summary of a panel discussion organized by HKAA, where panelists share their insights on space, staffing, conservation, digital collections management systems, and digitization.

The Cost of Space

Based on the experiences of Shung Ye and NCCU Libraries, the primary expenses of archival or memory organizations fall into three categories: space, conservation, and staffing. While Shung Ye was fortunate to have begun with a space provided by a foundation, most non-institutional organizations struggle to secure a space for long-term storage due to prohibitive costs. To that, Lin, Deputy Director of Shung Ye suggested that organizations explore partnerships with local governments or other organizations willing to provide unused space. Such collaborations not only revitalize idle areas but may also attract additional operational funding.

Wang, Executive Officer at NCCU Libraries Special Collections, highlighted another challenge: archival storage requires constant temperature and humidity control to ensure the permanent preservation of materials. This results in heavy utility expenses, which must be accounted for in operational planning.

The Cost of Conservation

The costs of conservation could vary greatly from one organization to another. At NCCU Libraries Special Collections, holdings classed as particularly valuable are packed with four-flap enclosures and even custom-made paulownia wood boxes. Since the overall storage environment is already carefully controlled, most items in good condition can be stored simply in acid-free folders. Even so, these folders imported from the United States remain costly to many.

Recognising the high costs of museum-grade acid-free supplies, Shung Ye suggested that newly established organizations could utilise their creativity and explore alternative materials that we see in everyday life or other industries. For example, the thin tissue paper (薄纖紙) often used in computer packaging is a neutral material that can be supplied by local Taiwanese manufacturers.

Lo-Sheng, with limited financial resources, embodies the spirit of utilising what is available. To keep the costs low and realistic, they use primarily common polypropylene (PP) or polyethylene (PE) zip-lock bags and plastic storage bins to meet basic preservation needs.

The Cost of Manpower

Shung Ye observed that at least three full-time staff are necessary to maintain basic museum function: one for exhibition planning and curation, one for collections and research, and one for administration and operations. To expand the professional capacity of a relatively small team, Shung Ye suggested that organizations could try collaborating with universities and engage their students from cultural heritage programs as part-time staff.

NCCU Libraries Special Collections presented a different reality. Despite nearly 90 employees across the libraries, only six are dedicated to the special collections. To cope with their large collections, the team must turn to student assistants for support. To retain these student assistants, they introduced a rotation system to keep the work interesting, allowing the student assistants to switch between scanning and cataloguing from time to time.

Unlike NCCU Libraries Special Collections or Shung Ye, Lo-Sheng is both led by and operated by entirely volunteers. The volunteers’ responsibilities included cleaning objects, cataloging, and digitization. To balance the repetitive nature of these tasks, the conveners set up diverse participation opportunities so that volunteers could learn and contribute at the same time. They regularly held reading groups to discuss details uncovered during cleaning or cataloging, as well as literature surrounding their archiving and volunteering work. Their research, however, is not confined to literature nor to their volunteer group. Interviewing and building connections with Lo-Sheng residents were a huge part of their archiving initiative. Through those interactions, these volunteers transformed cold medical records into living memories.

With respect to human interactions and archival work, our discussants went further to discuss the importance of professional ethics.  Wang, Executive Officer at NCCU Libraries Special Collections, spoke about handling political archives from his experience. He said, to ensure political archives are treated appropriately, staff members must be highly aware of professional ethics at all times. New members of the team must be selected and screened carefully and receive necessary trainings. Even when they are on board, staff members still have to work on building trust and rapport among themselves. Whether it is the case of Lo-Sheng or NCCU Libraries Special Collections, archival work rests not only on systems but also on human relationships.

There is no single staffing or management model that works for all. Across the spectrum of varied resources, these institutions and organizations exhibited their rigor and flexibility in finding the paths that work for them, striving to deliver quality archival work to their best abilities.

Collections Management Systems

HKAA observed that most collections management systems are developed in Europe or North America, making them less suitable for Chinese-language needs. Subscription-based systems also pose risks, as future fees can be unilaterally raised by vendors. Data security is another concern: outsourcing collection data risks potential leaks. For these reasons, HKAA chose to develop its own system tailored to its needs, with hopes of sharing it with other organizations in Taiwan.

NCCU Libraries Special Collections initially appointed an IT professional to develop their collections management system, as part of his fulfilment of his substitute military service. After his departure, however, maintenance became problematic. The libraries’ own IT staff took over, but frequent staff turnover made reliable maintenance difficult.  The libraries eventually made the decision to purchase commercial software, albeit this meant ceding some control to external vendors.

Shung Ye also began with a custom-built system from a private company, but after two decades, the software became incompatible with new operating systems. They temporarily switched to Excel for collections management, but without version control, this proved inadequate. Eventually, they adopted the Taiwan Ministry of Culture’s collections management system, believing this system maintained by the government would warrant better cost stability and information security.

Conclusion

This panel discussion highlighted how archival or memory organizations of varied backgrounds and resources strived to grow within their own contexts and limitations, tackling challenges related to space, staffing, conservation, digitization, and digital collections management systems. While Shung Ye and NCCU Libraries Special Collections are now supported by relatively well-established organizational structures and resources, it must not be forgotten that they are the fruits of many years of trial and error. Operating with relatively limited resources, Lo-Sheng and HKAA demonstrated remarkable creativity and tenacity. From performing archiving work in a dilapidated sanatorium to salvaging materials from erasure and censorship, and from building friendship with a forgotten community to committing to building a collections management system from scratch, they stand as unique examples of innovative archiving practices.

With the experiences of these organizations, we see that the quality and impact of archival work are determined by much more than resources or institutional framework; it is defined by the countless details and decisions of everyday practice. Through ongoing experimentation, consultation, and adjustment, HKAA is gradually developing a model that is rooted in practicality and its local and cross-cultural contexts. It is our goal to continue building a community of collective knowledge with Shung Ye, NCCU Libraries Special Collections, Lo-Sheng, and beyond.

[1] The Shung Ye Museum of Formosan Aborigines, located in Waishuangxi (外雙溪), Taipei, was founded by Lin Ching-fu, Chairman of the Shung Ye Group. It is the first officially registered private museum in Taiwan dedicated to Indigenous peoples. Its collection, built upon Lin’s many years of acquisitions, encompasses both Indigenous artifacts and local art. Established in 1994, the museum adopted the term “Indigenous Peoples” even before it was officially used by the government, reflecting its respect for local cultures and its sense of social responsibility.

[1] The Special Collections Section of the National Chengchi University Libraries enhances the libraries’ archival and research functions. Its holdings primarily come from the university’s faculty and academic departments. The section categorizes acquired materials into two main groups: books and historical documents. The former includes rare and antiquarian books, while the latter comprises manuscripts of renowned figures and valuable historical records. After processing and cataloging, these collections serve as an important foundation for academic research at NCCU.

[1] The Lo-Sheng Stories and Archives Project is a volunteer-based group dedicated to preserving the history of the Lo-Sheng Sanatorium, which houses people with Hansen’s disease. While participating in preservation campaigns and cleaning the sanatorium grounds, they unexpectedly discovered a large number of objects left behind. They then taught themselves archival techniques to organize and digitize these materials. Through conducting interviews with residents and hosting exhibitions, they ensure that the stories of Lo-Sheng continue to be shared.

Further Reading:

● Hong Kong Action Archives Facebook page

● Hong Kong Action Archives Instagram

●〈在台港人成立「香港行動文獻庫」 一個屬於香港人的社會運動資料庫〉，「光傳媒」，2025年4月25日