與人文學(xué)科中的歷史與法律學(xué)科，社會科學(xué)中的社會學(xué)、公共管理等其他學(xué)科相比，我的專業(yè)——檔案學(xué)與檔案管理，則是一個非常小眾的領(lǐng)域。盡管該學(xué)科十分獨(dú)特，但是，由于其扎根于人文科學(xué)與社會科學(xué)之中，其實(shí)踐應(yīng)用卻貫穿了人類社會的各個層面。在很長的一段時間里，即使在諸如國際檔案理事會（ICA）這樣的國際組織，國際檔案學(xué)及檔案管理的運(yùn)作方式仍是各自獨(dú)立的。國際檔案理事會的成員們囊括了各個國家的檔案局，并定期（每四年一次）舉行全球代表大會，并邀請各國代表參會。然而，在電子（現(xiàn)在是數(shù)字）檔案問世之前，無論是相關(guān)研究，抑或是積極性交流等，在大學(xué)的教學(xué)過程中均沒有得到開展。數(shù)字檔案在管理方面所面臨諸多挑戰(zhàn)，包括永久保存問題，將“立志于檔案管理”的人們包括對檔案學(xué)及其對當(dāng)今數(shù)字世界認(rèn)知充滿熱忱的人們聚集在一起，在過往的歷史進(jìn)程中是前所未有的。而我在中國人民大學(xué)的教學(xué)與研究故事，就是在這樣的背景下開始的。

Compared to other fields such as History and law in humanities or sociology and public administration in social sciences, my field, archival science and records management is a bit small.It is unique.However, as it has its roots in both humanities and social sciences,its practical implications span through all the aspects of human society.For a long time, the international archival/records field had operated in a generally isolated fashion even with the presence of international organizations governing it, such as the International Council on Archives (ICA).The ICA includes national archives administrations as its members, and holds regular congresses (every four years) that are met with global participation.Nevertheless,neither researching nor active exchanges on university teachings took place until the advent of electronic (now digital) records.The challenges of digital records with regard to their management,including permanent preservation, have brought together people‘with a records-management heart’ - for instance, the people that are passionate about records and their affordances to today’s digital world; a scene that is historically unprecedented.My story of teaching and researching at Renmin University of China (RUC)started against this backdrop.

Typical example with “records-management heart”

I met Professor Jian Wang of the RUC’s School of Information Resource Management (SIRM) in Vancouver, which is now an iS-chool, in 2007.She appeared to be the perfect example of a person with a digital ‘records-management heart’.She came to represent SIRM and participate in the world’s largest and longest research project on digital records, InterPARES (www.interpares.org and www.itrustai.org).InterPARES was supported by Canada’s Social Science and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC), the University of British Columbia (UBC), and the institutions of various kinds of international teams, spanning every continent.I was, and have been one of the InterPARES researchers.Upon the professor’s invitation, I went to Beijing to hold talks on digital records management in general, with the centre of attention being Electronic Records Management Systems (EDRM) and their standards in particular.However, I did not intend to go work there at that time.I then met Linqing Ma, an SIRM PhD student, in 2010.She was supervised by Professor Huiling Feng, who came to the UBC as an exchange student, under Professor Luciana Duranti’s supervision.Professor Duranti is an internationally renowned archival scholar,directing the InterPARES project.He is also my PhD supervisor.Linqing, a nice and warm girl.She was also a good example of a person with a ‘records-management heart’.We became familiar with each other after she started taking my courses-‘Digital Diplomatics’ and ‘Digital Records Management’.Linqing came to talk to me every time after class.I was really impressed by her excitement about the studying materials produced by InterPARES and her strong desire to learn about everything relating to records and archives.She showed up in downtown Vancouver one day, where I also worked as a records manager, waiting for me to get off work so that she could use the commute time to ask questions about Canadian archival theories.My boss and colleagues were just as surprised as I was to see her.They saw us walking out of the building and asked, “She’s waiting for you to ask questions about records management, not to go for dinner here, while there are so many nice places to eat here? ” to which we laughed.Soon after they left, Linqing started asking a series of questions, all to which I responded, along with apologies for taking up my time.She told me that she had many questions and hoped to find answers to all of them so that the opportunity of coming to UBC would be maxed out.Even though I was hungry, I was truly impressed.To date, I can still vividly recall that episode.Many of our subsequent Q&As took place at restaurants, where we “killed” both hunger and concern with one stone: delicious food, which also proved good for thoughts.It was during those Q&A sessions, that I learned that to max out her time and opportunity while here, she decided not to visit any tourist destinations.It must have been difficult to do that,as it is not the typical behaviour that you would expect from a student coming from China, with financial support from the government.Nonetheless, Linqing did it.“I do not regret at all”, she said to me when leaving the UBC campus and returning to Beijing, “I only hope I could have more time here, studying and asking you questions”.Linqing became the first wonderful memory I ever had of Chinese archival students.

擁有“檔案管理之心”的典型范例

2007年，我在溫哥華遇到了來自中國人民大學(xué)信息資源管理學(xué)院（SIRM）的王健教授，現(xiàn)在該學(xué)院是iSchool（注：由多個國家的高等院校轄下的信息學(xué)院組成，倡導(dǎo)以跨學(xué)科的角度來理解信息管理所帶來的機(jī)遇與挑戰(zhàn)）的成員之一。王健教授本人是一位立志于推動電子“檔案管理”發(fā)展的完美范例。那時，她代表中國人民大學(xué)信息資源管理學(xué)院參加了世界上規(guī)模最大、時間最長的檔案研究項(xiàng)目“InterPARES”（即“電子系統(tǒng)中文件真實(shí)性永久保障國際合作研究”，網(wǎng)址：www.interpares.org與www.itrustai.org）。InterPARES得到了加拿大社會科學(xué)與人文研究理事會（SSHRC）、英屬哥倫比亞大學(xué)（UBC），以及各大洲各種國際團(tuán)隊(duì)下屬機(jī)構(gòu)的支持。我一直在InterPARES擔(dān)任研究人員，現(xiàn)在仍然在其內(nèi)擔(dān)任職務(wù)。應(yīng)王健教授的邀請，我前往北京參與數(shù)字檔案管理的相關(guān)會談，會談內(nèi)容主要涉及電子檔案管理系統(tǒng)（EDRM）及其標(biāo)準(zhǔn)。然而，我當(dāng)時并沒有去往北京工作的打算。

此后，在2010年，我遇到了馬林青，她當(dāng)時是中國人民大學(xué)信息資源管理學(xué)院的在讀博士生。她的導(dǎo)師馮慧玲教授之前曾是英屬哥倫比亞的交換生。馮慧玲教授的導(dǎo)師露西安娜·杜蘭蒂（Luciana Duranti）教授不僅是國際著名的檔案學(xué)者，還負(fù)責(zé)InterPARES項(xiàng)目。此外，她還有另一個身份，即我的博士導(dǎo)師。林青，是一位善良又熱情的姑娘，同時也致力于檔案管理事業(yè)。在她開始聽我的課程“數(shù)字外交”和“數(shù)字檔案管理”之后，我們彼此間變得熟絡(luò)起來。每次下課后，林青都會來找我聊天。她是InterPARES學(xué)習(xí)資料的深度熱愛者，也對與記錄和檔案有關(guān)的一切懷有強(qiáng)烈的求知欲，這些都給我留下了深刻的印象。

有一天，她出現(xiàn)在溫哥華市中心，那時我正好也在附近擔(dān)任檔案主管，于是她便等著我下班，這樣她就可以在下班的途中詢問我一些關(guān)于加拿大檔案管理理論的問題。我看到她的時候非常驚訝，驚訝的還有我的老板和同事。之后，他們看到我和林青走出大樓，便追問：“她在這里等你，居然不是為了和你共進(jìn)晚餐，畢竟這里有許多美食可供選擇，而是詢問你關(guān)于檔案管理的問題！”于是，我們相視而笑。待我的老板與同事們離開后，林青便開始問我一系列問題，我對所有問題一一作答，而她也為占用我的時間而表示歉意。林青說她其實(shí)有很多問題，希望能夠最大限度地利用來英屬哥倫比亞大學(xué)學(xué)習(xí)的機(jī)會尋找所有問題的答案。當(dāng)時，盡管饑腸轆轆，但我真的非常感動。直至今日，當(dāng)時所發(fā)生的一切仍歷歷在目。后來，我們之間的許多問答環(huán)節(jié)都發(fā)生在餐館之內(nèi)，因?yàn)檫@樣可以起到“一石二鳥”的作用，既消除了饑餓，也解決了困惑。正是在解答這些問題的過程中，我了解到，為了充分利用自己在這里的時間與機(jī)會，林青決定不去往任何地方旅行。其實(shí)，要做到這一點(diǎn)必然困難重重，因?yàn)閷τ谝晃粊碜灾袊覔碛姓Y助的留學(xué)生而言，此類做法并不典型，著實(shí)出人意料。盡管如此，林青還是說到做到。在離開英屬哥倫比亞大學(xué)并準(zhǔn)備返回北京的前夕，林青對我說：“我一點(diǎn)都不后悔，因?yàn)槲抑幌Ｍ约耗茉谶@里有更多的時間學(xué)習(xí)，并向您請教問題?！庇谖叶裕鳛橹袊鴻n案學(xué)專業(yè)的學(xué)生，林青給我留下了一段美好回憶。

RUC is a suitable place for me to grow

Through Linqing and her passion for records management, I got to know other people at SIRM, who were just as passionate about record management, most noticeably, Professor Huiling Feng, Linqing’s PhD supervisor, and Professor Yuenan Liu, who supervised Linqing for her master thesis.We collaborated in doing research and in 2012, we went to the ICA Congress in Brisbane, Australia to report our studies.We took that opportunity, and the team went to a number of archival institutions, including the National Archives of Australia to collect interview data for subsequent research projects.This excursion becomes instrumental in my decision to work SIRM.Professor Feng and professor Liu both loved records management.They also held a sincere sense of responsibility towards records and archives.They described it as having an archival undertaking.It was more than a job or a career; it was an undertaking that required devotion and diligence.I was in awe of their will.I also came to learn that they were lovely ladies.We all enjoyed beautiful dresses and sparkling earrings! (a big smiley face here) At that moment, the trust among us formed, and that was when I decided to work at SIRM.The decision was not entirely difficult as my family did not need to relocate.I concluded that SIRM, along with the University, were suitable places for me to grow and they all supported me.The archival program at SIRM was consistently ranked as the most prominent in China, which assured promising research opportunities and talented students.The University was willing to accommodate my stay on campus, and during the summer and winter breaks, I would go back home for approximately four months.

中國人民大學(xué)是適合我成長的地方

通過林青以及她對檔案管理學(xué)的那份熱情，我認(rèn)識了中國人民大學(xué)信息資源管理學(xué)院的其他師生，他們也同樣對檔案管理學(xué)懷揣熱愛，其中最引人注目的便是林青在讀博士期間的導(dǎo)師馮慧玲教授，以及指導(dǎo)林青碩士論文的劉越男教授。我們合作開展研究，并在2012年前往澳大利亞布里斯班的國際檔案大會發(fā)布了我們的研究成果。為了給后續(xù)的研究項(xiàng)目收集采訪數(shù)據(jù)，我們整個團(tuán)隊(duì)趁這次機(jī)會走訪了多家檔案機(jī)構(gòu)，包括澳大利亞國家檔案館。這次短途旅行，對我決定前往中國人民大學(xué)信息資源管理學(xué)院工作起到了重要作用。馮教授和劉教授都很熱愛檔案管理專業(yè)。對于記錄學(xué)和檔案學(xué)，她們不僅懷有熱忱，還富有責(zé)任感。她們將這一切形容為“檔案事業(yè)”：這不僅僅是一份工作或一種職業(yè)，更是一項(xiàng)需要奉獻(xiàn)與勤奮的事業(yè)。我對她們的想法深感敬畏。不僅如此，她們都是令人喜愛的女性。我們都喜歡漂亮的裙子，以及閃閃發(fā)光的耳環(huán)（此處，比一個大大的笑臉）！從那時起，我們之間便彼此建立起信任，我決定到中國人民大學(xué)信息資源管理學(xué)院工作。下這個決心并不那么困難，因?yàn)槲业募胰藗儾恍枰峒?。我認(rèn)為中國人民大學(xué)信息資源管理學(xué)院，以及整個中國人民大學(xué)都是適合我成長的地方，同時我也能獲得他們的支持。中國人民大學(xué)信息資源管理學(xué)院的檔案學(xué)專業(yè)在中國一直名列前茅，這保證其能夠提供無限的研究機(jī)會，并招錄到才華橫溢的學(xué)生。此外，學(xué)校還為我提供了住宿，而在寒暑假期間，我有大約四個月的時間能夠回到加拿大。

2013年下半年，我前往北京開啟了全新的工作篇章。在我安頓的過程中，很多人都給予了我?guī)椭?，并將那些如何“走流程”的來龍去脈告訴我。在這些熱心人中，包括時任院長趙國俊教授、張斌教授、盧小兵教授、徐擁軍教授，以及學(xué)院辦公室的諸位領(lǐng)導(dǎo)和同事們。2014年2月，我入住公寓，一切準(zhǔn)備就緒。事實(shí)上，直到新冠病毒肆虐之前，這里不僅是我的居住地，更是我的辦公場所。多虧了網(wǎng)上購物、便捷的快遞服務(wù)，以及同事與學(xué)生們的關(guān)心，讓我可以心無旁騖地做事情。

到目前為止，我已在中國人民大學(xué)教授課程并從事研究有八年之久，包括在加拿大進(jìn)行線上工作的三年。對于我而言，來到中國人民大學(xué)工作是一個明智的決定。在院方和校方的支持下，我獲得了長足的發(fā)展與進(jìn)步。在課程設(shè)計(jì)、班級規(guī)模、教學(xué)風(fēng)格、學(xué)生評價以及大學(xué)管理等方面，同事們也對我的看法與觀點(diǎn)給予了尊重與認(rèn)可。不用通勤節(jié)省下來的時間讓我能夠潛心研究中國的檔案學(xué)及其實(shí)踐操作。

謝麗（Sherry L.Xie，加拿大籍），哲學(xué)博士，中國人民大學(xué)教授、電子文件管理研究中心副主任、博士生導(dǎo)師。加拿大麥基爾大學(xué)圖書情報學(xué)碩士（MLIS，McGill University），加拿大大不列顛哥倫比亞大學(xué)檔案學(xué)碩士（MAS，UBC）、博士（PhD，UBC）。主要研究方向?yàn)閿?shù)字信息及其管理，特別是數(shù)字檔案和數(shù)字技術(shù)在法律和信息/社會政策領(lǐng)域的相互作用。目前的研究項(xiàng)目包括人工智能和數(shù)字檔案，管理研究中的組織記憶，以及數(shù)字化組織中的分布式賬本技術(shù)。Sherry L.Xie, MLIS (McGill University, Montreal, Canada),MAS & PhD (University of British Columbia, Vancouver,Canada).Professor of Renmin University of China and Deputy Director of Research Center for Digital Records Management.Interested in digital information and its management, in particular the interplays between digital records and digital technologies in the areas of law and information/social policy.Current projects include artificial intelligence and digital records, organizational memory in management studies, and distributed ledger technologies in digital organizations.

我在學(xué)習(xí)中國檔案與記錄領(lǐng)域是如何運(yùn)作的過程中，所學(xué)所想為我的研究打開了新的窗口。信息領(lǐng)域與管理領(lǐng)域的集成，便是一個很好的例子。這也讓我意識到，對于類似的問題，無論是涉及中國國內(nèi)還是中國以外的其他地區(qū)，都應(yīng)當(dāng)從跨文化的視角來進(jìn)行研究。

“你應(yīng)該為誰而流淚？”

在此期間，盡管并非每一件事情的開端都與我和林青的起初那般，但我對中國學(xué)生的良好印象也在不斷加深。有時候，他們都很會“包裝自己”。在工作的第一年，我?guī)Я藘擅T士研究生，分別是趙夢坤和易兆林。再后來，2015年我還迎來了自己的第一名博士研究生范冠燕，以及另兩名碩士生，李思怡和劉學(xué)亞。根據(jù)規(guī)定，每名學(xué)生均需要提交一篇學(xué)位論文，而當(dāng)前的學(xué)位論文評估趨勢特別注重研究方法。但我不知道的是，這些學(xué)生都沒有接受過關(guān)于研究方法的訓(xùn)練。你可以想象我看到前兩名碩士生的研究報告時作何感想。沒錯，我簡直不敢相信自己看到的居然是學(xué)術(shù)論文。更糟糕的是，我不明白為什么會出現(xiàn)這種情況？“你難道不知道論文寫作有國際標(biāo)準(zhǔn)，并且你們每個人都要遵守嗎？你們不知道學(xué)校對論文所使用的研究方法有明確的要求嗎？你們不是都在簡歷中寫了自己已經(jīng)完成了一篇本科畢業(yè)論文嗎？如果是這樣的話，你們怎么可能對研究方法的運(yùn)用一無所知呢？而且令人難以置信的是，你們的寫作為什么毫無邏輯可言？”這些都是我在和那五名女學(xué)生開會時問的問題，從我的語氣中，你們大概可以看出我當(dāng)時的沮喪程度。我們六人面面相覷，一時間不知如何是好。稍過片刻，夢坤開始喃喃自語：“老師，請您不要生氣，我知道自己論文寫得不好，因?yàn)槲矣X得很難把所有的知識串聯(lián)在一起。但您不是更應(yīng)該鼓勵我們嗎？為什么要對我們?nèi)绱素?zé)備呢？”“我沒有聽錯吧？通過鼓勵的方式來實(shí)施教育？請問你這是在幼兒園嗎？你可是中國頂尖檔案學(xué)專業(yè)的碩士研究生??！”她的回答著實(shí)讓我更加沮喪。

話音剛落，我就注意到夢坤的臉頰上掛著淚珠，并且落淚者不止她一人。起初，我十分震驚，但我很快意識到，哭泣能夠幫助她們打開自己的內(nèi)心世界。接著，她們一個接一個地向我講述著她們過往的學(xué)習(xí)與研究經(jīng)歷。李思怡，這個能對教科書上很多重要段落熟讀成誦的女孩，談到了她為何不清楚研究報告的目的，以及文學(xué)與研究之間的關(guān)系。當(dāng)然，我的博士生冠燕已經(jīng)完成了她的碩士論文，但她卻也附和著思怡的話。原因其實(shí)很簡單：在中國，并非所有的檔案或信息學(xué)相關(guān)院校，都會在本科階段開設(shè)研究方法的相關(guān)課程。然而，作為頂尖院校，中國人民大學(xué)在這些專業(yè)的本科階段均開設(shè)了相關(guān)課程，但這些女學(xué)生都不是人大本科的畢業(yè)生。

In the second half of 2013, I went to Beijing and reported to work.A lot of people helped me settle down and provided me with vital procedural information.They included the then Dean of the school,Professor Guojun Zhao, Professor Bin Zhang, Professor Xiaobing Lu, and Professor Yongjun Xue as well as the officials in the office of SIRM.My apartment was ready in February 2014 and it became my home and office before the start of COVID-19.Living there was nothing but convenient thanks to online shopping, quick deliveries,and the care from colleagues and students.

So far, I have taught courses and conducted research at RUC for eight years.The three years I spent working online, while still in Canada, are also included.Moving to RUC a was good decision.I have grown as a result of the support that the school and the university have offered me.My opinions/viewpoints on course design,class size, teaching style, student evaluation and university administrators have been respected by my colleagues.The time saved from commuting allowed me to study Chinese archival science and its method of operation in that environment.

Learning about how the archival and records field operates in China opened new windows to my research.A good example is integrating the information field with the management field.It also made me realize that similar issues within and outside China should be investigated with a cross-cultural perspective.

“For whom should you shed a tear?”

I continued to develop fond memories of Chinese students even though not every incident started out the same way Linqing’s started.Other times they came in disguise.I had two master students for the first year, Mengkun Zhao and Zhaolin Yi.Later, in 2015, I had my first PhD student Guanyan Fan, along with two master students,Siyi Li and Xueya Liu.According to regulations, each student needsto submit a thesis for their degrees and the current evaluation trend particularly focuses on research methodology.Unbeknownst to me was that none of them had any prior training in research methodologies.You can only imagine what it must have been like to read the research proposals of the first two master students.I could not believe what I was reading.Worse still, I could not understand how and why that was possible: “Don’t you know there is government regulation on thesis writing and each of you is subject to it? Don’t you know the School has a firm requirement on utilizing research methodology in your research proposal? Didn’t you state in your CV that you’d completed a thesis for your undergraduate program?If so, how could you know nothing about using research methods,and incredibly, your writing has shown no logic? ” Those were the questions I asked during the meeting I had with the five girls, and from my tone, one could tell that I was frustrated.We looked at each other for a moment.“Don’t be angry, teacher,” after some time,Mengkun started mumbling, “I know I wrote the proposal badly because it felt so difficult to put it together, but should you not exercise encouragement in education instead of blaming us?” “What?Encouragement education? Are you in kindergarten or what? You are the master students at the best archival schools in China!” I responded, with intensified frustration.

直到凌晨3點(diǎn)，此次會議才宣告結(jié)束，最終她們不再哭泣，我也不再那樣沮喪。自始至終，只有一名女學(xué)生沒有落下一滴眼淚。她不是別人，正是兆林。當(dāng)其他女孩兒問她為什么沒有落淚時，她甚至發(fā)表了一段“演說”，表示，于她們而言，這次會議是必經(jīng)之路。你們可以想象到其他女孩當(dāng)時的反應(yīng)。相對而言，兆林比較內(nèi)向且含蓄，但在那天晚上，她卻主動講出了那段感言。這讓其他女孩子們無言以對。

不久，其他幾名女孩兒也很快領(lǐng)悟到兆林的精神。在幾個小時后，我接到了來自夢坤的微信語音電話，這位女學(xué)生的訴求是開展“鼓勵式教育”，言到傷心之處，難免哭得撕心裂肺。她告訴我，前一天晚上，在離開我的公寓并回到她們的宿舍后（你們可以看到，這就是住在校園內(nèi)的好處），這些女孩兒們一起討論了一個話題：如何成為一名擅長做科研的人，而不是善于考試的人。“您說得對，謝麗老師，我們不應(yīng)該再將鼓勵教育進(jìn)行下去了。現(xiàn)在，于我們而言，這種教育方式已經(jīng)用處不大了。我們將重新開始，學(xué)習(xí)如何變成一個富有邏輯的人?！蹦銈兡軌蛳胂蟮玫轿耶?dāng)時的反應(yīng)。這便是一個完美的例子，一個如何將挫折轉(zhuǎn)變?yōu)闊釔鄣睦印?/p>

我不想被別人貼上“女學(xué)生催淚教授”的標(biāo)簽。當(dāng)離開英屬哥倫比亞大學(xué)的時候，林青在我面前淚流滿面；在開題答辯的時候，有些女孩兒也因?yàn)榛卮鸩怀鑫业膯栴}而潸然淚下。因此，我在下一次論文研究會議上會準(zhǔn)備了一場演講（如果你愿意，也可以稱之為“雞湯”）?！半u湯”的題目是《你應(yīng)該為誰而流淚？》當(dāng)然，你一定聽說過，或者喝過同樣的“湯”，所以我就不贅述了?？傊媚飩兟牭媒蚪蛴形?。每當(dāng)我們聚在一起吃好吃的，并歡迎新成員加入我們的大家庭時，一個全新的故事又將被譜寫，而且每個人都想成為那個講故事的人。然而，這次卻不再有人哭泣，因?yàn)檫@是一個快樂的時刻，充滿著歡聲笑語。自新冠肺炎疫情暴發(fā)以來，我們已相隔兩地三年有余，我不得不通過微信線上教學(xué)、與學(xué)生和同事進(jìn)行交流。每當(dāng)聽到他們說想念我

Thereafter, I noticed tears streaming down the girl’s face, and she was not the only one.At first, I was shocked, but I soon realized that crying helped them open up.One after the other, they started narrating to me their experiences while studying and doing research.Siyi, the girl who was able to recite many vital passages from textbooks, spoke about how she could not figure out the purpose of a research proposal and the relationship between literature and research.Guanyan, the PhD student, who had, of course, completed her master thesis by now, echoed Siyi’s words.The reason was actually very simple: not all undergraduate programs in the archival/information schools in China had research methods courses.RUC did, but none of the girls were RUC graduates.

The meeting drew to a close at 3:00 o’clock in the morning, with their eyes beginning to dry and my frustration beginning to dissolve.There was but one girl who did not shed a tear.Her name was Zhaolin.She even made a speech—upon inquiries from the other girls on why she did not cry—about how the meeting would be a necessary tool for them.You can only imagine the other girls’ reaction.Zhaolin was comparatively more reserved, yet on that night,she took it upon herself to give a speech.This left the other girls speechless.

Soon afterwards, the other girls quickly adapted Zhaolin’s spirit.A couple of hours later, I got a WeChat call from Mengkun, the girl who had asked for “encouragement education” and had almost cried her heart out, telling me that the previous night, after leaving my apartment and going back to their dorms (you see the benefitsof all living on campus), the girls discussed among themselves, how to become good at doing research instead of taking exams.“You are right, Sherry, we should not hang on to encouragement education anymore.It is useless for us now.We’ll start anew and learn to be logic”.Imagine my reaction.This is a perfect example of how frustration turned into fondness.的時候，我都能感受到這份真摯的情感，并被深深觸動。

作者（中）與學(xué)生合影

那么，一切都順利嗎？答案絕對不是這樣的。在這里，有許多規(guī)則需要我去學(xué)習(xí)，更有許多觀念需要我去理解。盡管如此，我仍然相信，在中國人民大學(xué)帶著“檔案管理”的初心，所從事的跨學(xué)科研究將會變得更加頻繁，更加高產(chǎn)。在過往的八年中，種種經(jīng)歷都向我證明：相互理解，一定是研究與教學(xué)的關(guān)鍵所在。要想不斷增進(jìn)這種理解，需要相關(guān)各方的共同努力，上到哲學(xué)、管理學(xué)及計(jì)算機(jī)科學(xué)的“元學(xué)科”，下至檔案學(xué)與檔案管理的“姐妹學(xué)科”，如信息行為學(xué)及人機(jī)交互領(lǐng)域。校內(nèi)外的國際交流與合作無時無刻不在發(fā)生。然而，這些交流并不等同于基于理解的相互性交流。同時，付出時間與努力嘗試，也是推動相互理解的基本要求。此外，八年的時間過去了，我感到十分樂觀，因?yàn)槲也坏珦碛辛藖碜岳嫌训闹С?，還得到了來自新朋友的支持。其中就包括閆慧教授、梁繼紅副教授、任明副教授，他們都是各自領(lǐng)域的杰出學(xué)者。我同他們一樣堅(jiān)信：今天的數(shù)字世界比以往任何時候都更需要記錄、檔案，以及信息管理方面的專業(yè)人員，通過建立在相互理解之上的合作，我們將為更美好的明天作出貢獻(xiàn)。

祝福我的學(xué)生們，同事們，以及所有心念檔案管理學(xué)科的有心人。

愿世間多一份理解，愿我們被溫柔以待。

I would not want to be labeled as ‘the professor who made her students cry’.Linqing cried in front of me when she was leaving UBC.Some girls also sobbed when they couldn’t answer my questions during the proposal defense.Therefore, I prepared a talk(or chicken soup if you wish) during the next thesis-research meeting.It was titled ‘For whom should you shed a tear?’ You must have heard of or drunk the same‘soup’, so I will spare you the details.The girls enjoyed it.Every time we gathered to “chi hao chi de/enjoy tasty foods/” and welcomed new members to the family, a story came up, and everyone wanted to be the storyteller.However, no tears were shed.It was always a happy moment, filled with laughter.COVID-19 has separated us for almost three years now and I have had to teach and communicate with students and colleagues online, using WeChat.Every time they said they had missed me, I felt this sincerity and was deeply touched.

Has everything there been smooth? Absolutely not.There were numerous rules to learn and many ideas to understand.Nonetheless,I believe that the RUC campus still holds promises to my ‘recordsmanagement’ heart, and cross-disciplinary research - one vital goal of my work plan - will take place more often and more fruitfully.The past eight-year experience has demonstrated to me that mutual understanding is absolutely key to research and teaching there.The development of such understanding involves attention from all relevant parties, from university administrators to the “meta disciplines” of philosophy, management, and computer science, to the “sister disciplines” of archival science and records management, such as the fields of information behavior and human-computer interactions.Further,it needs to be strengthened whenever the opportunity presents itself.International exchanges and collaborations are happening all the time,on campus and outside China.However, they are not the equivalent to understanding-based communications.Time and effort are the fundamental requirements to developing mutual understanding.In addition, after eight years, I feel rather optimistic that I have, in my possession, the support of my long-term friends and my newly acquired friends.These include Professor Hui Yan, Associate Professor Jihong Liang, and Associate Professor Ming Ren, all distinguished scholars in their fields.I trust and believe, just as they do, that more than ever,today’s digital world needs records, archives, and information management professions, and by working with mutual understanding, we will ultimately contribute to a better tomorrow.

Best wishes to my students, colleagues, and all people who have a records management heart.

May understanding and kindness prevail.