Transcending the boundaries of archives:

ACROSS opens new paths for information retrieval

ACROSS (Archives Cross boundaries, https://across.archives.gov.tw) was built by the National Archives Administration (NAA) of the Republic of China (Taiwan) in 2010, and is a database portal as a one-stop site where users can quickly search multiple databases to delve deeply into Taiwan’s history. It is also the first inter-institutional platform that provides global access services among libraries, museums, and archives in Taiwan. Whether you need to find out more about Taiwan's political, economic, social and cultural development during different periods, or the customs and traditions of Taiwan in bygone days, ACROSS is able to provide extensive archive resources through its one-stop search service.

ACROSS has integrated 78 databases developed by 31 libraries, museums and archives from Taiwan and Japan. It currently features an extensive collection of about 1,108,400,000 valuable photographic, audio, video, and printed records dating as far back as the 14-century Ming Dynasty, and the following Qing Dynasty and early years of the Republic of China. The sources of ACROSS include government agencies, private institutions, and personal records.

ACROSS applies metasearch technology for real-time retrieval of the cooperation institutions’ holdings, and minimizes the inconvenience of searching across different databases so that users can rapidly access the information they need. As the ACROSS integrated archives are maintained by the cooperation agencies and the search results shown through this platform are the common archives resources catalogue. If users need more detailed information, they can use the "link to the source database" button to return to the orginal agencies. The copyright of the content that ACROSS search results shown belonged to the cooperation agencies.

The ACROSS database is categorized according to content, time, type and agencies. The functions and features include searches, knowledge guidance services, personalized services, and Web 2.0 user interactive services. In addition, ACROSS provides both basic and advanced search modes. Advanced search applies Boolean logic (AND, OR, NOT) for information retrieval. If there are too many or too few search results, the ACROSS “expand search” or “narrow search” functions can be used for additional searches.

ACROSS is based on the concept of resource integration and resource sharing, which contains user-friendly personalized servicse, search guidances and search result analysis functions. It provides a comprehensive and convenient archives search tool that fulfils the public's need for a one-stop services. Since the platform came into use, it has continuously expanded through the addition of cooperation institutions and archive databases throughout the years. Online promotion activities are held to increase the visibility of the cooperation institutions' archive resources as well as to expand the number of users. ACROSS is one small step that NAA has taken to transcend the boundaries of archive resource collections. In the future, we hope to broaden the coverage to include records related to Taiwan that are kept in other countires. Furthermore, we will expand the media type to born digital records and increase the amount of photos, images, and audiovisual records. If you have related questions and suggestions, please contact us across@archives.gov.tw .