ATLANTI .23« 2013. n.1
Basic Rules of Archival Processing, or the Evolution of the
Czech Archivists' Bible
Michal WANNER, Ph. Dr.
Department of Archives Administration and Records Management, the Ministry of the Interior, Nad Stolou 3,
170 00 Prague 7, Czech Republic e-mail: michal.wanner@mvcr.cz
Basic Rules of Archival Processing, or the Evolution of the Czech Archivists' Bible
ABSTRACT
Author of the article introduces the Basic Rules of Archival Processing: the cornerstone of Czech archival science and methodological tool that the Czech archivist uses in the creation of archival description. The development of this basic tool in Czechoslovakia respectively Czech Republic consists of two basic milestones: the Basic Rules of Processing of Archival Material of 1959 (I960) and the Basic Rules of Processing of Archival Records from 2013. Author of the paper describes and compares the two standards, explains the reasons which led to the revision of the original rules, describes the structure of the new rules and method of their implementation.
Regole base del procedimento archivistico, ossia evoluzione della bibbia archivistica ceca
SINTESI
Ľautore dell'articolo introduce le Regole base del procedimento archivistico: la pietra angolare della scienza archivistica ceca e lo strumento metodologico che gli archivisti cechi utilizzano nella redazione della descrizione archivistica. Lo sviluppo di questo strumento basilare sia nelľex Cecoslovacchia che nella Repubblica Ceca consiste di due pietre miliari: le Regole base per il trattamento del materiále archivistico del 1959 (I960) e le Regole base del trattamento dei documenti archivistici del 2013. Ľautore dell'articolo descrive e compara i due standard, spiega le ragioni che portarono alia revisione delle regole origináli, e descrive la struttura delle nuove regole ed il metodo della loro attuazione.
Osnovna pravila obdelave arhivskih zápisov ali evolucija biblije čeških arhivistov
IZVLEČEK
Avtor predstavlja Osnovna pravila obdelave arhivskega gradiva, temelj Češke arhivske znanosti, in metodološko orodje, ki ga češki arhivisti uporabljajo pri popisovanju arhivskega gradiva. Pri razvoju tega osnovnega orodja na Ceškoslovaškem oziroma v Ceški Republiki obstajata dva mejnika. Prvega predstavljajo osnovna pravila obdelave arhivskega gradiva iz leta 1959 (I960) in drugega pa Osnovna pravila obdelave arhivskih zápisov iz leta 2013. Avtor opisuje in primerja oba štandarda, podaja razloge, ki so vodili v revizijo izvirnih pravil, opisuje strukturo novih pravil ter metodo njihove izvedbe.
Základní pravidla pro zpracování archiválií aneb vývoj bible českého archiváře
ABSTRAKT
Autor příspěvku seznamuje čtenáře se Základními pravidla pro zpracování archiválií: základním pilířem české archivní vědy a metodickým nástrojem který používá český archivář při tvorbě archivního popisu. Vývoj tohoto základního nástroje v Československu resp. České republice je tvořen dvěma základními mezníky: Základními pravidly pro zpracování archivního materiálu roku 1959 (I960) a Základními pravidla pro zpracování archiválií z roku 2013. Autor příspěvku charakterizuje a srovnává obě normy, vysvětluje důvody, které vedly k revizi původních pravidel, popisuje strukturu nových Základních pravidel a způsob jejich implementace.
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The aim of this contribution is to acquaint our colleagues from other countries with the cornerstone of Czech archival science, the methodological tool used by Czech archivists to create an archive description - the Basic Rules of Archival Processing. These rules provide a clear and comprehensible guide to practical archival work; they unify the archival description so that archival material can be made accessible and this information can be exchanged, not just between archival institutions in the Czech Republic but on an international scale as well. This is one of the key methodological texts governing archivists' work, especially when creating finding aids. The fact that this text is the upshot of extensive debate between experts from many different types of archives lends it considerable authority and means that in general these rules display greater stability than, for example, archival legislation.
The evolution of this key tool in Czechoslovakia and the Czech Republic has two principal milestones: the Basic Rules of Archival Processing of 1959 (I960) and the Basic Rules of Archival Processing of 2013. Comparing these two sets of standards shows the transformations that archivists' work has undergone in this country in the past fifty and more years and reveals the actual state of basic archival methodology.
Basic Rules of Archival Processing (1959)
The Basic Rules of Archival Processing were issued by the Archive Administration of the Ministry of the Interior in 19591. Similar principles were later adopted by the Archive Handbook issued by the same body in 19652.
Their inception was linked to the creation of a single network of state archives in the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic. In expert terms, the rules followed up various methodological guides for arranging and describing archival matter issued in the territory of the Czech Republic since the 19th century. The enduring high standard and practicality of the Basic Rules was undoubtedly linked to the methodological sophistication of Czech archives, which had adopted provenance as the guiding principle of archival theory and practice from the beginning of the 20 century.
The 1959 Basic Rules laid down the key principles of appraisal of archival records, the sorting of archival records into archival fonds and the registering in basic archival registers. Unlike the previous guides, the Basic Rules were characterised by the idea of a universal prescription for arrangement and also for description. For the first time they gave clear guidance for defining inventory units for various types of archival material and archival fonds. Also for the first time, a hierarchic description was outlined in the form of headings for groups of inventory units in the Basic Rules. Arrangement by diplomatic categories was chosen as the dominant arrangement system. The structure of a Czech archival inventory was thus composed of a description of charters, official ledgers, registry aids, files, accounting material and other archival material. The Basic Rules included a procedure for creating this archival description for basic types of finding aids, i.e. inventories and catalogues. However, the Basic Rules also contained a definition of certain special finding aids (thematic catalogue, register and thematic register) and reference aids (list of fonds, fonds description).
Criticism and the path to new Basic Rules
In the period following the creation of the first Basic Rules and in connection with the adoption of modern archival records and the current practical requirements, the Department of Archives Administration and Records Management of the Ministry of the Interior and the archivists at various types of archives drew up methodological guides dealing with definitions of individual types of archival fonds and collections3 and providing access to various types of archival fonds (e.g. archives
1. Základní pravidla pro zpracování archivního materiálu, Praha 1958. The same text with examples was published under title Metodické návody a instrukce pro zpracování archivního materiálu, "Sborník archivních prací", 10(1960), č. 2, pp. 215-309 (separáte annex).
2. Archivní príručka, Praha 1965, 2nd ed. 1971.
3. Vácslav Babička, Vymezení archivního fondu, „Evidence Jednotného archivního fondu", Praha, SUA 1994. Archivní teorie, metodika a praxe 8. pp. 41-47; Vácslav Babička - Tomáš Kalina, Provenienční a historický princip v archivnictví I. Obecné pojetíprovenienčního a historického principu, „Archivní časopis", 38(1988), n. 3, pp. 137-153; Vácslav Babička -Tomáš Kalina, Historický a provenienční princip v archivnictví II. Syntéza a nástin dalšího možného sméru teoretického
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of municipalities, of national committees etc.)4. And it was the processing of modern archival sets that uncovered the weaknesses of the described Basic Rules; various parts of the Basic Rules came in for criticism. A text written by Vacslav Babička and Tomáš Kalina from 1981 may serve as an example:
"The Basic Rules show clearly that they were compiled over twenty years ago and were primarily based on experiences with arranging and inventorising older written materials. ...The rules for inventorising file material need amending - they are too general, they do not take into account the specific features of various storage systems and arrangement systems and they do not deal with the issue of the inventorisation of certain modern types of written material. The lack of a thorough guide to formulating the abstract part of an inventory record and compiling registers for inventories that are the gateway to information systems is a serious weakness of the Basic Rules'^.
Although the Basic Rules of 1959 were regarded as provisional and their authors reckoned with revising and broadening them on the basis of practical experiences, no fundamental changes were ever made. Nevertheless, from the point of view of the future revision of the Rules a significant role was played by the efforts to make more precise the methodology for Registers of the Unified Archive Fond (the National Archival Heritage now), above all in the codification of specific Czech features/ registration units (these will be explained later) and the formal features of finding aids, as implemented in a series of methodological instructions from the end of the 1990s and, in greater detail, during the general inventory of the Unified Archive Fond in the years 2001 and 20026. A description of specific types of archival material was also partially addressed when lists of archival material (seals, charters,
výzkumu, „Archivní časopis", 38(1988), n. 4, pp. 193-206; Väcslav Babička - Tomáš Kalina, Historický a provenienční princip v archivnictví III. Aplikace v archivní praxi, „Archivní časopis", 39(1989), n. 1, pp. 2-18; František Hoffmann, Složitý archivní fond, „Archivní časopis", 24(1974), n. 1, pp. 6-25; Jiřina Juněcová, Problémy s vymezením fondů při zpřístupňování fondu Ústředního ředitelství státních lesů a statků v Praze, In Archivní péče o fondy z období socialismu. Sborník příspévků z odborného semináře k 30. výročí socialistického archivnictví konaného ve dnech 13.-14.11.1984, Praha 1987, pp. 137-139; Rudolf Kaďorek, Vymezení fondu Ministerstvo zemédélství, „Paginae historiae", 2(1994), pp. 199-211; Metodický pokyn pro vymezení archivních fondů škol ukládaných ve státních okresních archivech a archivech mést (Archivní správa M V, Praha, 1. června 1999, File No. AS/1-2 - 2020/99); Ředitelství císařských soukromých a rodinných statků ve Vídni, Ředitelství státních lesů a statků v Praze - vymezení fondů. (File No. SUA 2017/12-97); Jindřich Tomas, Provenienční a pertinenční princip z hlediska vytváření zpřístupňovacích pomůcek" Zpravodaj pobočky ČSVTS při Státním ústředním archivu v Praze", n. 36, pp. 62-66; Účtárna císařských soukromých a rodinných statků v Praze 1630-1918. Podkladový materiál pro zasedání metodické komise SÚA dne 23.2.a 16.11.2000, Zprac. Jiřina Juněcová; Zásady pro zpracování archiválií vzniklých z činnosti socialistických hospodářských organizací, Archivní správa MV ČSR 1979, Chapter II. Archivní fond, part II. 17, pp. 5-6.
4. Metodický návod na pořádání a inventarizaci archivních fondů Archiv obce (2000); Metodický návod pro pořádání a inventarizaci archivních fondů okresních národních výborů z let 1945 až 1990 (1998); Metodický pokyn pro vymezení archivních fondů škol ukládaných ve státních okresních archivech a archivech měst (1999); Návod na pořádání a inventarizaci archivních fondů jednotných zemědělských družstev (1998); Vymezení archivních fondů KSČ (2000); Metodický návod týkající se pořádání osobních fondů (2000).
5. Väcslav Babička -Tomáš Kalina, Jednotný formulář archivního inventáře, "Zpravodaj pobočky CVTS při SUA v Praze", 1981, n. 18, pp. 87-147, quotation p. 89.
6. Instrukce MV CSR č. 10 ze dne 18. 7. 1977 o způsobu vedení evidence archiválií; Její doplněk ze dne 1.2. 1993, vydaný v souvislosti s automatizovaným zpracováním evidence listů JAF (č.j. AS/1-298/93); Metodický pokyn týkající se způsobu evidence archiválií ze dne 15.6. 1994 (č.j. AS/1-2354/94); Metodický pokyn týkající se způsobu evidence archivních pomůcek v databázích Evidence listů JAF a Archivní pomůcky z 31. 3. 1995 (č.j. AS/1-901/95); Metodický pokyn týkající se způsobu vyplňování databází v programu Evidence listů JAF z 18. 4. 1995 (č.j. AS/1-1474/95); Metodický pokyn týkající se způsobu vyplňování a zasílání databází v programu Evidence listů JAF z 13. 5. 1996 (č.j. AS/1-1783/96); Metodický pokyn týkající se způsobu evidence archivních pomůcek z 22. 10. 1996 (č.j. AS/1-3789/96); Metodický pokyn týkající se zařazování archivních souborů do skupin tematické evidence z 24. 4. 1997 (č.j. AS/1-1499/97); Metodický pokyn týkající se všeobecných zásad tvorby názvů archivních fondů a sbírek ze dne 17. 10. 1997 (č.j. AS/1-3565/97); Metodický pokyn - Základní terminologie vztahující se k evidenci JAF a k archivním pomůckám ze dne 12. 8. 1998 (č.j. AS/1-2882/98); Pokyny archivní správy ministerstva vnitra CR k provedení generální inventury archivních fondů a sbírek v archivech CR v roce 2001; Vyplňování položky "Přístupnost" v záznamech z evidence listů JAF, kopie archiválií (metodický pokyn AS MV ze dne 20. července 2001, č.j. AS/1-2665/01); Příkaz ředitele archivní správy ve věci nedohledaných archivních fondů a sbírek v rámci GI (dopis ředitele archivní správy ze dne 3. 12. 2001, č.j.: AS/1-4343/01); Postup při řešení problému archiválií a archivních fondů (sbírek) nedohledaných při GI 2001 (dopis ředitele archivní správy ze dne 18. října 2002, č.j.: AS-2876/4-2002); Upřesnění dalšího postupu v evidenci JAF (po provedení GI) (dopis ředitele archivní správy ze dne 21. 1. 2002, č.j.: AS- 279/4-2002); Doporučení ve věci aktualizace evidencí vedených v programu PEvA (dopis ředitele odboru archivní správy ze dne 28. května 2003, č.j. AS-740/4-2003); Metodický návod odboru archivní správy MV k vedení evidence Národního archivního dědictví podle vyhlášky č. 645/2004 Sb., kterou se provádějí některá ustanovení zákona o archivnictví a spisové službě a o změně některých zákonů z 25. února 2005(č. j. AS-169/2-2005).
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vedute)7 and archival standards (registers of births, deaths and marriages)8 were being prepared and created. This issue was also covered by various expert studies (e.g. for personal fonds).
As computer technology came to player a growing role in archival science and related fields and standardisation in related fields spread (librarianship, later museum science), in the 1980s a "single archival inventory form" was proposed in the then State Central Archive in Prague (Václav Babička, Tomáš Kalina)9. In connection with this, various types of archival material were defined, with the emphasis on defining the inventory unit as precisely as possible, not solely from the traditional diplomatic point of view but also from the informatics perspective. In the same period, archivists were paying greater attention to the creation of registers for finding aids; the creation of archival thesauri10 and rubricators was considered11, though largely theoretically.
In addition, several attempts were made from the 1980s to the turn of the millennium to draw up comprehensive new rules, but these efforts were not seen through to the end. Some outcomes of this effort were applied in the later amendment, however. A fundamental impulse for the creation of new rules was only brought by a team working on a grant project called Possibilities and Ways of Providing Public Access to Archival Fonds or Parts Thereof in Electronic Form, Research and Development Project VE 20072009004, led in 2008-2010 by Miroslav Kunt from the National Archive. The project's principal purpose was to translate, appraise and introduce international archival standards and to spread awareness of them. The ISAD (G) and ISAAR (CPF) descriptive standards were translated
7. Metodický návod č. 1/2008, který upřesňuje technické parametry, organizační podrobnosti a popis digitálních kopií vedut vzniklých do roku 1850 v rámci projektu „Správa digitálních archiválií a zřízení Národního digitálního archivu" (č. j. MV-11833/AS-2008).
8. Metodický návod odboru archivní správy a spisové služby M V, kterým se zavádí standard pro jednotnou evidenci matrik a výměnný formát pro ukládání a zasílání záznamů matrik v digitální podobě (č.j. AS-882/2-2007).
9. Vácslav Babička - Tomáš Kalina, Jednotný formulář archivního inventáře, "Zpravodaj pobočky ČVTS při SÚA v Praze", 1981, n. 18, pp. 87-147.
10. Vácslav Babička, Druhy rejstříků, „Archivní časopis", 36(1986), n. 4, pp. 198-217; Vácslav Babička, Posudek Zásad pro zpracování rejstříků k archivním pomůckám UA ČSAV, 1981. Typewriting, 7 p.; Vácslav Babička, Využití počítače pro zpracování rejstříků k archivním pomůckám, „Archivní časopis", 36(1986), n. 3, pp. 133-140; Vácslav Babička, Poznámky k tvorbě archivních rejstříků, „Archivní časopis", 34(1984), n. 4, pp. 203-210; Karel Beránek, K otázce generálního rejstříku, In 25 let Státního ústředního archivu v Praze. Příspěvky z odborného semináře konaného ve dnech 19. a 20. září 1979, Praha 1980, pp. 125-126; Pavla Burdová, K problému řazení složených šlechtických jmen v indexech, „Zpravodaj místopisné komise ČSAV", 16(1975), n. 1-3, pp. 110-114; Dagmar Culková, Zpřístupňování fondů pomocí obsahového rejstříku, „Archivní časopis", 1973, n. 2, pp. 74-85; Jaroslav Drtina, Předmětový katalog: vysokošk. učebnice, Praha 1957; Tomáš Fiala, Poznámka k typologii rejstříků, „Archivní časopis", 37(1987), n. 1, pp. 20-25; Josef Levora, Poznámky ke zpracování rejstříků k archivním pomůckám, „Archivní zprávy_CSAV, 16, 1985, pp. 81-97; Václav Podaný, Několik poznámek k problematice archivních rejstříků, Zpravodaj pobočky ČSVTS při SUA", 26(1984), pp. 21-38; Václav Podaný, Archivní rejstříky z hlediska vstupu a výstupu archivního informačního systému, „Zpravodaj pobočky CSVTS při SUA v Praze", 1985, n. 30, pp. 75-89; Pravidla jmenného katalogu, SPN, Praha 1969; Pravidla pro vydávání novodobých historických pramenů, „Studie ČSAV", 1978, n. 12, Praha 1978; EvaPvATHOUSKÁ, Systémy pořádání informací. Principy heslování a mezinárodního desetinného třídění, „Vědecké informace ČAV", 14(1977); Štefan Rudohradský, Spracúvanie registrov v archívnych publikáciách a pomôckach, „Slovenská archivistika", 17(1982), n. 2, pp. 95-114; Vladimír Thannabauer, Katalogy a rejstříky, ÚVTEI, Praha 1975; Zásady pro zpracování rejstříků k archivním pomůckám, „Archivní zprávy ČSAV", 13(1981), pp. 103-118.
11. Vácslav Babička, Příspěvek k problému archivního tezauru, Kamenouhelné doly koncern Kladno: Historie a současnost, vol. 6, 1986, pp. 292-299; Tomáš Fiala, Připomínky k experimentální verzi archivního tezauru, Zpravodaj pobočky ČSVTS při Státním ústředním archivu v Praze, 1981, 18, pp. 84-86; Ladislav Lešický, Problematika zpracování tezauru pro zemědělsko-lesnická oddělení státních oblastních archivů, „Archivní časopis", 35(1985), n. 3, pp. 146-151; Rubrikátor Archais. Zprac: Vácslav Babička - Tomáš Kalina - Stanislav Kokoška - Miroslav Kronus - Jiří Vaněček, Archivní teorie, metodika a praxe, č. 6, Praha 1990, 110 p.; Milan Skřivánek, Tezaurus pro popis fondů okresních archivů (předběžný návrh), Litomyšl 1982, 324 p.; Milan Skřivánek, Tezaurus pro popis fondů okresních archivů. Úvodní studie, Zpravodaj pobočky ČSVTS při SUA v Praze 26, 1984, pp. 44-114; Vladimír Smetáček - Vladimír Voznička, Budování tezauru pro automatizovaný informační systém v archivnictví z hlediska uplatnění společenskovědní a společensko-historické terminologie, In 25 let Státního ústředního archivu v Praze. Příspěvky z odborného semináře konaného ve dnech 19. a 20. září 1979, Praha, 1980, pp. 189-191; ZdeněkŠAMBERGER, Na okraj použití výpočetní techniky a tezauru při katalogizaci archivních dokumentů, „Zpravodaj pobočky ČSVTS při SÚA v Praze", 1979, n. 13, pp. 79-82; Tezaurus pro popis archivních fondů zemědělsko-lesnického charakteru. Experimentální verze.^ Vypracovali: dr. V. Babička, T. Fiala, dr. L. Kubátová, dr. H. Sýkorová, dr. Z. Samberger, CSc, dr. J. Vrbata, dr. J. Žabka, Praha, Archivní správa a Státní ústřední archiv 1980, 100 p.; Vladimír Voznička, K některým teoreticko-metodologickým a praktickým aspektům tvorby tezauru pro ARCHAIS, „Zpravodaj pobočky ČSVTS při SÚA v Praze", 1981, n. 18, pp. 77-83.
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and published in print by the Department Archives Administration and Records Management12; in addition, the basis of the text of the new Basic Rules was proposed, with a view to enabling the implementation of the international standards in the Czech environment.
This team's work was followed up by an enlarged working group for the new Basic Rules set up in March 2010 under the leadership of the author of this paper from the Department of Archives Administration and Records Management of the Ministry of the Interior; within three years it had created the resultant text. At the same time as the Basic Rules were being drawn up, the INTERPI13 project for a shared database of heritage institutions was created by the National Archive in Prague in conjunction with the National Library in Prague; some of the results of this project were implemented in the Basic Rules.
Reasons for the creation of new Basic Rules
The new Basic Rules are partly a response to the criticism of the previous methodology. Although they are a revision of the Basic Rules of Archival Processing of 1959, they are also a response to the significant changes the field has witnessed in recent years and are derived from international standards. The most general reason leading Czech archivists to attempt to draw up completely new methodological rules for providing access to archival material is the gradual change in the social, and above all the cultural, informational and legal, environment in which the Czech archives, like the archives in the majority of developed countries, find themselves.
The increased promotion of human and civil rights has brought greater pressure from citizens for freedom of access to information, not just in the sphere of public administration, but in archival administration as well, i.e. for access to the latest archival records stored in the individual archives. Rapidly developing information technologies that enable the public or institutions to communicate with the creator of archival records and with archives themselves are becoming an important means of access. In this regard archives are developing ever-stronger informational ties with other heritage institutions such as libraries, museums etc. There is increasingly positive two-way feedback between the methods they use to describe and record information units; that applies on an international level as well. The methodology is therefore derived from and elaborates on the International Standard for Archival Description ISAD (G), the International Standard Archival Authority Record for Corporate Bodies, Persons and Families ISAAR (CPF) and the International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings ISDIAH.
The consequence of this is the need for archives to harmonise their field standards for describing archival material with the description methodology of other types of institution in order to ensure the easiest possible exchange of information, on the national and international level. The archives' endeavour to provide access as quickly as possible to the documents they have accumulated induces them to make optimal use of various types of document lists that are created in the pre-archive stage by the originators of the documents handed over (influencing the standard of the transfer lists, expert role of administrative archives etc.). On the other hand, however, the archives are confronted with increasingly rigorous legislation restricting the provision of information and seeking to protect the security both of the state and, increasingly, of citizens or institutions (personal data, trade secrets etc.).
The only way to do full justice to both these contradictory tendencies is by ensuring that the archival descriptions in the care of Czech archives are as precise, i.e. as objective, as possible. And the only way to do that is by having sound standardisation of hierarchical description that categorically covers all types of archival material and archival sets.
The following were therefore the factors that led to the amendment of the Basic Rules:
12. ISAD (G) Všeobecný mezinárodní standard pro archivní popis; ISAAR (CPF) Mezinárodní standard pro archivní auto -řitní záznamy korporací, osob a rodů, Praha, Odbor archivní správy a spisové služby MV, 2009, 95 p.
13.Interoperabilita v paměťových institucích. Program aplikovaného výzkumu a vývoje národní a kulturní identity (DF11P01OVV023) řešený Národním archivem v Praze a Národní knihovnou v Praze v letech 2011 až 2015 (Interoperability in memory institutions. The program of applied research and development national and cultural identity (DF11P01OW023) designed by the National Archive in Prague and the National Library in Prague in the years 2011-2015).
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1. The growing influence of international standards on archival science, above all the archival description; the increasing need for information exchange with other countries (data compatibility, use of internationally recognised formats EAD and EAC).
2. The linking of archives to related heritage institutions; links to state administration and global information systems.
3. The need to reflect the new information environment created by modern technologies (the internet), even though archival processing continues to be based on the provenance principle.
4. The changing view of archival material or definition of archival fonds and collections; the creation of new types of archival material that are hard to apply traditional processing methods to (documents in digital form, periodical documents, various types of technical documentation).
5. The influence of the standardised record management on the creation of archival records (linked to the National Standard for Records Management Systems).
6. The need to harmonise description; this is a case of contextual description as well as hierarchical description. Every unit of description within an archival set or part thereof is based on the structural principle and should be put into context with the relevant description of the originator (again standardised).
7. The new view of the originators themselves (not just in terms of the history of administration, but also sociology, political science and administrative science); the change in the form of registries and registry systems that do not permit the application of the existing Basic Rules. The emergence of new, untraditional types of originators to which the traditional criteria of definition are not suited (international companies, multi-level originators).
8. Public pressure for large-scale access to archival records and archival description online or in networks, and the related changes in archives' services for researchers.
9. The need to put in place suitable conditions for providing access to digital records via the National Portal.
Both preceding methodologies from 1958 and 1965 used the term "processing" {"zpracování'), which meant a set of individual operations, i.e. appraisal, basic registering of records, sorting and arranging archival records, lists and descriptions of fonds (archival collections), inventorisation and cataloguing, and the creation of registers for archive fonds and collections. Processing was defined similarly by Act No. 499/2004, on archiving and records management and amending certain acts, Decree No. 645/2004, implementing certain provisions of the act on archiving and records management and amending certain acts, and the preceding archives administration instructions on maintaining records of archival material. These defined the link between processed and inventorised archival material and the individual types of finding aids.
In the period when the concept of the new Basic Rules was being defined there was a detailed debate on their substance. It became evident that some archivists wanted to incorporate the records management or the record-keeping methodology of the National Archival Heritage into the rules' framework; conversely, others focused on the methodology of digitisation and other ways of providing access to archival material. Practical experience showed that defining the description of the originators of archival material, archival sets, special types of archival material, authority records etc., i.e. the archival description in general, was within the abilities of the working group for the new Basic Rules. It is expected that other methodologies covering the other areas mentioned will follow and be based on the new Basic Rules, but they will not be incorporated into the Basic Rules.
The Rules are not retroactive. They are expected to be used in work with material as yet unprocessed.
The new Basic Rules and their structure
The structure of the Basic Rules was designed so that it would copy at least the basic outline of the individual stages of archival work. The text was conceived so that the actual theoretical core would be as concise as possible, thus enabling the fastest possible orientation in the text. The theoretical core is complemented by an extensive set of annexes in which the reader may look for specific examples of the rules' application. The Basic Rules reckon with archival processing in specialised database applications, but they do not rule out the creation of aids in the environment of ordinary office software either. Both a printed form of the aid and an XML data format output are a matter of course. Connectivity with
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the apeEAD international exchange format, with the national lists of registers of births, deaths and marriages, vedute and seals and with the national digital archive project is anticipated.
An archivist using these Rules should first read the second chapter, which deals with the context of archival processing and records. The issues of defining archival records, their properties in relation to collection items and library documents, and the role of heritage institutions are theoretically dealt with in the Rules. There is a brief description of the creation of archival records and archival sets and how archival records are acquired. Considerable attention is paid to the description and definition of archival sets as such, the use of the provenance and pertinence principles etc. Tools for documentation and keeping records of archival sets (Registers of the National Archival Heritage, fonds files) are codified. The process of discarding duplicates and special cases for handling archival records are also described in detail.
A large part of the chapter is devoted to defining a specifically Czech archive feature -"registration units" {"evidenčníjednotky'). Registration units link finding aids to the Registers of the National Archival Heritage. They are basic, general units for counting and reporting the quantity of archival material. In general they relate to the material form of the archival material; in some cases they take into account the diplomatic category (e.g. charters, official ledgers, registry aids), the form of media etc. Their creation and development reflects many practical and historically conditioned requirements and criteria that are non-uniform in character. This fact was a subject of criticism in the past, but nevertheless registration units have proven their worth in archival practice and are one of the most established concepts. They were created to enable easy, first-glance identification of the relevant archival set. Registration units evolve over time; their definitions are tightened, new media are added etc. The implementation of newly defined registration units is as a rule associated with the general inventory of the National Archival Heritage ("NAH") - formerly the Unified Archive Fond ("UAF").
The primary purpose of registration units is to secure the Registers of the National Archival Heritage as records of property managed by heritage institutions; records of this property are kept according to the Archiving Act14. Registration units therefore make it possible at any time to identify documents that were selected as archival records and are thus governed by the procedure laid down by the Archiving Act. From the broader perspective, registration units play a key role in the implementation of the archives legislation.
The purpose of registration units is not to define an archival set from the point of view of the provenance or pertinence principle (even though this is possible in the case of collections created according to types of archival material), nor does it form the basis for an arrangement system. Even so, they are contained in various forms in the basic types of finding aids. They play an important role in the search for physical and also digital archival material, which is necessary for them to be made accessible. Registration units in a finding aid thus make it possible to combine an intellectually created description level with archival material and to search for them in a repository.
The third chapter defines the description level derived from ISAD (G) and lays down some of its general principles. The chapter prescribes the mutual relationship between a finding aid in analogue and digital form. It declares the intention to share a large amount of information in the context of a comprehensive archival description. The resulting whole is created by combining the description of the archival material that provides access to its content with information about originators, which documents their development and existence in context, with the addition of register search terms and access points that are linked to the description of the archival records or description of the originator and stored in the INTERPI database of heritage institutions, and, lastly, combined with a detailed description of the institution caring for the archival material. These relationships are shown in the following chart:
14. Description of registration units clarifies Annex 1 of the Decree No. 213/2012 Coll., Amending Decree No. 645//2004 Coll., Implementing Some Provisions on the Act on Archiving and Records Management and on the Amendment to Some Other Acts, as well as, Methodological instructions No. 1/2012, to Registers of the National Archival Heritage.
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The Czech archival description system is based on the general principles of ISAD (G). The archival set is described according to logical units, from the highest unit (archival fond or collection), through the subordinate, lower units (series and lower series, files and sub-files), down to the individual archival records or parts thereof (items and sub-items). At each level of the archival description, only such information as pertains to the given unit of description is set down. A description from a higher level is automatically conferred on the lower level, which means that information given in higher units of description need not be explicitly repeated at lower levels.
The description levels are composed of fond, series and other subordinated lower series, files and sub-files and items. A series is an intellectual unit of description that expresses the relationship between groups of archival material within the fonds. As a rule, series are created either on the basis of the original file handling system or on the basis of an artificial arrangement system, material (agenda-based) contexts, or formal or substantive affiliation. A file is a unit of description that describes specific archival material recorded specifically by means of the registration units of box, fascicle, dataset (e.g. files and case files, correspondence, accounts) and files of items (e.g. file of photographs). If materially related archival records are stored in more than one registration unit (box, fascicle, dataset)15, or if a relationship between parts of one file need to be expressed, sub-files are created (levels 1 to n)16. The minimum content of a file or sub-file is two items.
An item is a unit of description that describes archival material recorded by means of registration units (or registration sub-units). These are charters (up to 1850 and after 1850), official ledgers, manuscripts, record registers, indexes, elench lists and repertories, card indexes, sealing-sticks, stamps, seals and stamp impressions, maps, map works, atlases, technical drawings, graphic images, drawings, paper-backed photographs, photographic plates, sheet film, roll film, cinefilm, microfilm, microfiche, photo albums, digital video-recordings, cinematographic recordings, prints (up to 1800 and after 1800), postcards, posters, securities, numismatic items, phaleristic items, and others.
15. For example, a large file stored in multiple boxes.
16. For example, in the case of deepening archival description the box containing multiple files is described by the individual files within a deep inventory or catalog.
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If necessary, items are divided into sub-items (levels 1 to n). Items, or sub-items, are also archival records or part thereof at the lowest level within files and sub-files (e.g. protocol in a file, photograph in a file, one section of a map etc.). Items are therefore units of description whose further physical division into parts would compromise their integrity. E.g. an individual letter, postcard, postage stamp, postal stationary, document establishing an act in law referred to in a primary register, deed of emancipation, deed of legitimacy, deed of apprenticeship, journeyman deed, guild certificate, personal document, diploma, club statutes, guild statute, court or notarial document, cut-out from the period press, piece of sheet music, account, technical handbook, separate print-out of an article, broadside imprint, prayer book, almanac, commemorative imprint, printed annual report, newsletter, bulletin, memorandum, declaration, petition, speech, lecture, invitation, event programme, New Year's greeting card, fare ticket, admission ticket, calling card, individual promotional material, exhibition catalogue, goods catalogue, price list, advertising flyer, advertising magazine, timetable, songbook, theatre play, calendar, address book, dance card, lottery ticket, menu, research report, technical report, report of findings, status report, university qualification work (bachelor's, master's, rigorous, dissertation, second doctorate), work or study material, conference material (conference proceedings, presentation, poster, programme), individual item of corporate literature, sampler, analogue reproduction of a document declared archival material.
The item, file and series description levels are linked to the relevant higher level of description (item to file or serie, file to serie, serie to fond). Each fond contains at least one serie, even if it consists of just one item, or one registration unit.
The chapter also defines the binding depth of description for individual types of finding aids. A manipulation list is a provisional finding aid where the description is taken to the level of the lowest serie. In the case of an inventory (partial inventory), the binding depth of the description is at the level of file and the following items that must not be collated in files: chapters (up to 1850 and after 1850), official ledgers, record registers, indexes, elench lists and repertories, card indexes17, sealing-sticks, map works, atlases, photographic albums, imprints up to 1800.
Other items may be collated in a file (the maximum extent is 1 box, 1 dataset or other unit corresponding to such a quantity, taking into account the way in which it is submitted). Map works are an exception: if they physically exceed the specified required extent, they are split into sub-items (e.g. into individual map-cases, cartographic drawers). The binding description depth for catalogues is at the level of file and item. Items may not be collated into files. A deeper description is not ruled out in specific cases for any of the said aids.
The fourth and fifth chapters set out a description and binding nature of descriptive elements that are related to the individual types of finding aids and archival material. Chapter four contains a list of the basic mandatory and non-mandatory descriptive elements used for all description levels and for all types of archival records and registration units. Chapter five consists of a list of mandatory and non-mandatory description elements specific to certain types of archival material, registration units and finding aids (primarily for catalogues) and to describe the relationship of corporations, individual people, geographic objects and other entities to the unit of description.
Chapter six is devoted to a description of originators. It is envisaged that the description of the originator is separate from the description of the archival records, while retaining the description of the originator in the finding aid. The link between the originator and the archival record is expressed by the relationship between a record of the originator and a record of the unit of description, which is a fonds or series as a rule. The description is based on ISAAR (CPF). The description of the originators is therefore a description of corporate bodies (corporations), families and persons. One specific Czech feature is the fourth category: temporary corporation - event: in the same way as a corporation is a group of people acting under a single name, the duration of an event is limited in advance (event, conference, congress etc.). Primarily certain conferences and congresses can be regarded as separate originators. The chapter specifies the creation of authority records of originators, description elements etc.
17. If the card index is physically beyond the scope according to the rule mentioned in section 3.4.1, expands to the individual elements (such as individual filling drawer) so as to achieve the desired range.
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Chapter seven contains the rules for creating titles and names of originators, as well as access points and registers for units of description in finding aids. Access points are names, terms, keywords, phrases or codes that can be used to search for, identify and localise units of description. The permitted types of register are defined in the chapter. Standardised search terms enabling parametric, semantic and machine searching and access to units of description in higher quality than is the case with standard full-text searching. The database of heritage institutions created under the above-mentioned INTERPI project will be used when creating access points. Access to the database takes place via the archive portal of the national digital archive. Heritage institutions (archives, libraries, museums and galleries) take created records from this database (and possibly correct and expand them) and create new records. Major corrections and new records are subject to approval by responsible supervisors.
Chapter eight is devoted to a description of archive and cultural research institutions (museums, libraries, galleries, memorials, public research institutions and universities) that keep archival records. The description of these institutions is mainly for the purpose of creating and maintaining a register of these institutions so they can be found more easily by researchers and making it possible to create constantly updated address books in real time. The designers of the register envisage the creation of a simple web application into which representatives of archives would themselves enter information and would be responsible for updating it. This register can also be used as a basic layer for connecting finding aids in digital form to institutions, thus giving rise to a national "guide to archives and cultural research institutions" in digital form. The register can also be used as a source of information for government offices and for individual archivists. The description of institutions that keep and care for archival material in line with the legislation is specified by ISDIAH (International Standard for Describing Institutions with Archival Holdings). In the context of the proposed new Basic Rules, a general draft of the institution description was created first. A debate threw up examples of descriptions of different types of archive and cultural research institution.
The basic text of the rules is followed by annexes that mostly contain specific examples of the application of the Basic Rules. These are examples of individual types of finding aids - manipulation lists, inventories and catalogues. That is followed by examples of the description of originators, the creation of access points and registers and examples of the description of archives and institutions.
There is a helpful glossary of terms that refers to the pages of the rules, with the page containing the definition of the term shown in bold.
An XML schema for storing and sending archival records according to these rules is an integral part of the Basic Rules. An apeEAD-based schema created in the APEX project was adopted18.
The draft of the new Basic Rules was published in January 2010 on the web site of the Department of Archives Administration and Records Management of the Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic19. It was also passed on to the consulting bodies of the Czech Archive Society and the Scientific Archive Council, which approved it on 18 March 2013. The new Basic Rules were brought into force by Methodological Guide no. 1/2013 of the Department of Archives Administration and Records Management.
Implementation of the new Basic Rules
Work on the new Basic Rules made it clear that a substantive basis for new legislation and tools for their implementation had to be created along with the Basic Rules. On the one hand, this fact prolonged the work on the new methodological standards; on the other, it stipulated certain significant principles and laid the foundations for the implementation of these new standards both in the legislation and in other methodological materials. The upshot is the fact that the start of application of the new rules is linked to changes in the legislation. The amendment of the Archiving Act that entered into force in 2012 codifies the rules for processing archival records in digital form, for managing metadata of archival records, the structure and function of the National Portal and other principles necessary for putting the new Basic Rules into practice20. At the same time as the Archiving
18. http://www.apex-project.eu/index.php/outcomes/standards.
19. http://www.mvcr.cz/clanek/metodiky.aspx?q=Y2hudW09Mw%3d%3d.
20. Act No. 167/2012 Coll., Amending Act No. 499/2004 Coll., on Archiving and Records Management and on the
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Act was amended, Decree No. 645/2004, as amended by Decree No. 192/2009, which codifies the newly defined registration units and definition of finding aids, was also amended21.
Part of this legislation is being put into practice as part of the general inventory of the National Archival Heritage being undertaken in the years 2012 to 2013. The new descriptive rules can be implemented practically concurrently, in connection with the introduction of new or redefined types of archive aids (manipulation system type one and type two, new type of inventory, new type of catalogue). Full implementation of the new Rules will thus depend on the modification and development of archival software systems and, above all, the successful construction of the National Portal, which will be the principal technical tool for its implementation. The National Portal will be created as part of the National Digital Archive project22.
A software application for arranging, inventorising and cataloguing archival records meeting the current requirements stemming from the new Basic Rules is being created as part of a public contract of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. This software will be both a tool for implementing the altered rules and a source of data for the National Portal. Last but not least, as well as archival processing of records in analogue form a description of digital archival material is envisaged; the software must make it possible to communicate with the National Portal and to process metadata of archival records stored in the National Digital Archive.
The project also covers the conversion of finding aids in digital form created in line with the hitherto applicable national standard for storing and sending finding aids of the inventory and partial inventory type in digital form (SUZAP) into the internationally recognised format of Encoded Archival Description (EAD).
SUMMARY
Author of the article introduces the Basic Rules of Archival Processing - the cornerstone of Czech archival science and methodological tool that the Czech archivist uses in the creation of archival description. These rules provide in a clear and comprehensible form instructions for practical work with archival records, archival description and unification of description in order to make archival records exchangeable not only between memory institutions of the Czech Republic, but also internationally. This is one of the key methodological texts governing the archivists, especially when creating finding aids. The development of this basic tool in Czechoslovakia respectively Czech Republic consists of two basic milestones - the Basic Rules of Processing of Archival Material of 1959 (I960) and the Basic Rules of Processing of Archival Records from 2013. Author of the paper describes and compares the two standards, explains the reasons which led to the revision of the original rules, describes the structure of the new rules and method of their implementation.
Submitting date: 21.03.2013 Acceptance date: 24.04.2013
Amendment to Some Other Acts, as Amended.
21. Decree No. 213/2012 Coll., Amending Decree No. 645//2004 Coll., Implementing Some Provisions on the Act on Archiving and Records Management and on the Amendment to Some Other Acts.
22. Methodological instructions No. 1/2013, laying down new Basic Rules of Archival Processing (File No. MV-46913/ AS-l/AS-2013).
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