A study on the management of drawings of Metropolitan Rapid Transit

도시철도 도면 관리에 관한 연구 -서울시 도시철도공사를 중심으로-

Metropolitan rapid transit system plays an essential role in the public transportation system of any large city, and its managing agency is usually charged with the responsibility of storing and managing the design drawings of the system. The drawings are important and historically valuable documents that must be kept permanently because they contain comprehensive data that is used to manage and maintain the system. However, no study has been performed in Korea on how well agencies are preserving and managing these records. Seoul Metropolitan Rapid Transit Corporation(SMRT) is the managing agency established by the city of Seoul to operate subway lines 5, 6, 7, and 8 more efficiently to serve its citizens. By the Act on Records Management in Public Institutions(ARMPI), SMRT should establish a records center to manage its records. Furthermore, all drawings produced by SMRT and other third party entities should be in compliance with the Act. However, SMRT, as a form of local public corporation, can establish a records center by its own way. Accordingly, the National Archives & Records Service(NARS) has very little control over SMRT. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to research and analyze the present state of storage and management of the drawings of metropolitan rapid transit in SMRT and is to find a desirable method of preservation and management for drawings of metropolitan rapid transit. In the process of the study, it was found that a records center is being considered to manage only general official documents and not to manage the drawings as required by ARMPI. SMRT does not have a records center, and the environment of management on the drawings is very poor. Although there is a plan to develop a new management system for the drawings, it will be non-compliant of ARMPI. What's happening at SMRT does not reflect the state of all other cities' metropolitan rapid transit records management systems, but the state of creation of records center of local public corporation is the almost same state as SMRT. There should be continuous education and many studies conducted in order to manage the drawings of metropolitan rapid transit efficiently by records management system. This study proposes a records center based on both professional records centers and union records centers. Although metropolitan rapid transit is constructed and managed by each local public corporation, the overall characteristics and processes of metropolitan rapid transit projects are similar in nature. In consideration of huge quantity, complexity and specialty of drawings produced and used during construction and operation of metropolitan rapid transit, and overlap of each local public corporation's effort and cost of the storage and management of the drawings, they need to be managed in a professional and united way. As an example of professional records center, there is the National Personnel Records Center(NPRC) in St. Louis, Missouri. NPRC is one of the National Archives and Records Administration's largest operations and a central repository of personnel-related records on former and present federal employees and the military. It provides extensive information to government agencies, military veterans, former federal employees, family members, as well as researchers and historians. As an example of union records center, there is the Chinese Union Dangansil. It was established by several institutions and organizations, so united management of records can be performed and human efforts and facilities can be saved. We should establish a professional and united records center which manages drawings of metropolitan rapid transit and provides service to researchers and the public as well as members of the related institutions. This study can be an impetus to improve interest on management of not only drawings of metropolitan rapid transit but also drawings of various public facilities.