Who's behind the news?
Who's behind the news?
The Archives of the Institute of Taiwan History (ITH Archives) is a research archive affiliated with the Institute of Taiwan History at Academia Sinica, Taiwan's foremost academic institution. The origins of the collection trace to 1993, when a Historical Records Office was established alongside the Preparatory Office of the Institute of Taiwan History. In 1993 the Archives also acquired the Michael H. Finegan Collection from a private collector, establishing purchasing as a complement to donations. The Archives was formally established as a separate institutional entity in 2009 in order to systematically collect, compile, digitize, and open Taiwan-related records to public access. Academia Sinica itself was founded in 1928 and reconstituted in Taipei after 1949. The ITH Archives is located at the 11th Floor, South Wing, Building for Humanities and Social Sciences, 128, Sec. 2, Academia Road, Nangang District, Taipei City 11529, Taiwan.
The ITH Archives holds personal papers, family and folk documents, clan records, and institutional archives accumulated over more than 20 years of collecting. Materials include land contracts, account books, correspondence, official documents, photographs, and other primary sources related to Taiwanese history. Notable collections include the Sun Jiang-huai Papers (donated 2007) and the Kao Ci-mei Papers (donated 2007–2009). The Archives has undertaken collaborative digitization of major holdings such as Forestry Bureau records from the Japanese colonial period and post-WWII era, records of Japan Kangyo Bank (stored at National Taiwan Museum), and rare books published before the 1950s. Since 2004, the Archives has participated in the National Digital Archives Program and has cooperated with the Taiwan Provincial Consultative Council on digitizing assembly affairs archives. An international collaboration program has extended collection to overseas materials from China, Japan, and Russia relevant to Taiwan's history.
The ITH Archives holds newspapers, magazines, and private manuscripts from the Japanese colonial period and the Republic of China era. Featured thematic collections include archival materials on Taiwanese artist groups active in the first half of the 20th century, drawn from newspapers, private letters, and institutional records.
The reading room is open Monday through Friday, 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Online access to catalog and digitized materials is provided at archives.ith.sinica.edu.tw. Telephone inquiries: +886-2-2652-5181.