Exchange of archival
information:
Member States and
institutions of the
European Union
Number 10Summer 2005
EU RO P E A N ARC H I V E S NE W S
continued on page 3
1
I N A RI N f o r m a t i o n S u m m a r y o n A R c h i v e s
S
ARCHIVES
IN THE NEW MEMBER
STATES
ARCHIVES
IN THE NEW MEMBER
STATES
Announcement – DLM Forum 2005 1
Information systems of Czech archives 2
Towards the construction of modern 4
archive buildings in Europe
Archives in the new Member States: 5, 7–11
Poland, Estonia, Slovenia, Slovakia,
The Czech Republic, Cyprus, Lithuania, Latvia
Hungary, Malta
Report on Archives in the 6–7
enlarged European Union
Archives Buildings 12
E D I T O R I A L
This issue of INSAR, the 10th overall, is the first regular issue to be published since the summer
of 2001. Much has happened since then. One major change took place on 1 May 2004 when
10 new Member States joined the European Union. INSAR 10 introduces the national archives
of each of these new Member States to its readers.
Earlier this year archivists from all the Member States, old and new, completed their Report on
archives in the enlarged European Union. This report, the result of a resolution adopted by the
EU Council of Ministers on 6 May 2003, examines the situation of public archives in the European
Union and their probable evolution in the years ahead. The report will be published this
autumn.
The report addresses the situation of public archives in the Member States and the institutions
of the European Union. It takes account of the enlargement and suggests ways of improving
document and archives management and archive services for the citizens of the European
Union. The report contains a number of orientations for increased cooperation between
archives as well as suggestions for priority actions. The main proposed priority actions are
described in the executive summary of the report which can be found inside this issue of
INSAR.
The promotion of standards and specifications for archives buildings is one of the actions recommended
by the report in order to help preserve and avoid damage to our archives. In the
past INSAR has published numerous articles on archives buildings. In this issue INSAR introduces
the new building of the Greek National Archives in Athens and the new building which
is shared by the National Archives of the Czech Republic and Central Bohemia’s Regional State
Archives.
Just as in the previous issue four years ago, INSAR 10 has the honour of once again announcing
a DLM Forum. After the success of previous DLM Forums in Brussels in 1996 and 1999 and
in Barcelona in 2002, the fourth DLM Forum, Electronic Records Supporting e-Government
and Digital Archives, will take place in Budapest from 5 to 7 October this year. The DLM Forum
2005 is being organised by the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office and the Hungarian Archives
with the support of the DLM Forum. The full programme is included in this issue.
This is the first INSAR that is also published online. The articles published in INSAR 10 as well
as some additional ones not included in this issue, can be found on the EUROPA website at
http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/edoc_management/insar/insarindex_en.htm
The online publication of INSAR can be consulted for updates and new developments.
ANNOUNCEMENT OF
THE DLM FORUM
CONFERENCE
BUDAPEST 2005
Electronic records supporting
e-government and digital archives
The fourth multidisciplinary European DLM (document lifecycle management) Forum Conference
on electronic records will take place in Budapest on 5–7 October 2005.
The DLM Forum Conference will welcome specialists and executives representing a range of
interests: public administration, archives, research, the ICT industry and other private and voluntary
sector organisations. A large number of participants from the 25 EU Member States, regions
and other countries are expected.
The DLM Forum Conference 2005 will be organised by the Hungarian Prime Minister’s Office and
the Hungarian Archives with the support of the DLM Forum.
When: 5–7 October 2005
Where: Budapest, Hungary
The network of archives in the Czech Republic currently consists
of 43 archives services in total. An enormous quantity of
documents are deposited in these services which, as in other
countries, are arranged according to the provenance principle
of archive fonds (archive groups). This means that collections
of historical records (which include documents on different
types of media) were created and maintained for specific purposes
such as administrative, business or legal needs and they
were preserved because they held long-term archival value.
There are also archive holdings, in lesser quantities, that arose
on the pertinence principle, i.e. by intentional collectionbuilding
activities regardless of who the records creators
were.
Registration of historical records
In the Czech Republic, the storage of historical records is
subject to relatively strict rules which are generally not
known to the public. The quantity of records is so formidable
that it is not always easy for the archivists themselves to
get a good grasp of such a wealth of documents. For this
reason, the compulsory registration of archive fonds and
collections in the Czech Republic has existed since the
1950s. All archive fonds and collections in the territory of
the Czech Republic, which are thus registered, are under
the protection of the Archives Act which is a part of the socalled
National Archive Heritage (Narodni archivni dedictví
— hereinafter NAD).
This registration originally took the form of traditional index
cards and in the course of the 1990s an electronic registration
system was developed and implemented which is the
database system known as PEvA — Program pro evidence
archivu (Programme for archive registration). This database
system was compiled by a small group of experts (J. Hora
— programmer, M. Wanner and O. Macek) who are based
in the Administration of Archives Department within the CR
Ministry of the Interior (MoI) in cooperation with the
archivists from all the archives services in the Czech Republic.
The system was gradually built up from 1992 and from
1998 it routinely functions in all CR archives. When it was
started, it was a unique system containing unified items of
information on all historical records held in the State. Today
analogous systems exist in Sweden, Poland, Spain and
Great Britain. To this day, PEvA is one of the most complex
systems of its kind in Europe and it is continually being
developed.
After 1998, other registers and functions were added to the
PEvA system such as the registration of accessions and discarded
material. These supplementary registers interact
which means that the data are automatically updated. The
system provides a plentiful supply of statistical data.
As regards the quality of the database, the general inventory
of the archival collections held in the country which was
made in 2001 was very important and most CR archives
participated in it.
Finding aids
Linked to the registration of archival collections is the registration
of finding aids which consist of different types of
inventories, catalogues and registers. Basic data on the finding
aids are contained in the PEvA system. Each citizen can
thus not only learn whether finding aids to a given archival
collection exist but also what type of finding aid it is and
where it can be consulted. Duplicates of important finding
aids from district State archives are submitted to the regional
State archives of the relevant region and also to the
Administration of Archives Department within the Ministry
of the Interior in Prague. Other archives services also send
the duplicates of their finding aids to this department.
There are approximately 20 000 finding aids in the Administration
of Archives Department in Prague. This library is
also widely used by researchers who search the finding aids
to determine where the documents they want to view are
located. The aids deposited in this library are also registered
in PEvA system and the data are regularly updated and distributed
to individual archives services. In the future, data
held on individual historical records that are described in
the finding aids should also be integrated into the system.
System of data updating
Using the method set by CR Ministry of the Interior, officials
working in archives services throughout the country can
register archival collections and finding aids into the database.
There are three officials from the MoI Administration
of Archives Department and around 150 archivists throughout
the State who participate in the augmentation of this
database.
The data are updated at yearly intervals. At the end of
February of the following year, the data are brought together
at the MoI, Administration of Archives Department,
where the nationwide database is compiled and the database
is then transferred to individual archives services. Each
service is thus informed in detail of the historical records
that are held in other services. In future, registration will be
widened to include the historical records that are held in
museums and other cultural institutions. At present, the
database of archival collections contains data on historical
records that are held in 77 museums and art museums.
The development of the database has gradually brought
continued on page 3
2
ARCHIVES IN
INTERNATIONAL
CONTEXT
A conference marking
the 50th anniversary of
the foundation of the
Central State Archives
in Prague
Background
The conference ‘Archives in international context’
was part of the celebrations marking the 50th
anniversary of the foundation of the Central State
Archives in Prague. The conference was held in the
Archives in Chodovec, Prague from 29 September
to 1 October 2004 and included a special exhibition
which was accompanied by a representative
book. The main topic of the conference was ‘Different
forms and possibilities of cooperation
between Czech archives and international partners’.
Six themes were chosen that highlighted the
perspectives of Czech archival science and theory.
Many archivists, both from the Czech Republic and
other countries, attended the conference.
The conference was opened on 29 September with
speeches by the Director of the Central State
Archives in Prague, Eva Drašsarová, and the Director-General
of the Administration of Archives
Department, Vácslav Babička.
Research projects
Karel Müller opened the proceedings on the first
theme with a paper which gave details about the
systematic research that is being carried out in
Silesian archives, mainly in Wroclaw, Katowice and
Opole. An ongoing project in these archives, dating
from 1970, it is based on research of documents
on Czech State history. The results of this
research are collected in the Provincial Archives of
Opava and are regularly published.
Karel Waska spoke about a similar research project
being carried out in the archives of Bavaria that
began in 1985. Thus far, research has focused on
written documents up to 1800 and copies and
microfilms of these documents are collected by the
Regional State Archives in Pilsen. The production of
a printed catalogue of this archival material is
being considered.
Another region where Czech studies have a long
tradition is in Italy. The director of the State
Archives in Florence, Ms Rosalia Mano Tolu, spoke
about forms of Czech-Italian cooperation in the
field of archives. Ms Alena Pazderová then presented
a summarising paper ‘Czech studies organised
by the Central State Archives in Prague and its
predecessors’. Details about research carried out by
two Austrian archives were presented by Ms Anna
Kubíková.
Documents relating to Czech history held in
foreign archives
In this part of the conference, foreign archivists
gave papers which outlined important series of
documents relating to the history of the Czech
State that are deposited in their archives. Éric
Jécabsons discussed sources from the period of the
so-called First Czechoslovak Republic that are
deposited in Riga. Amy Schmidt, archivist from the
National Archives of the United States, focused on
the period of World War II and mainly on important
written documents from the Ministries of Foreign
Affairs, Defence and Propaganda. Finally
Gražina Sluckaité gave a paper called Reflections
of Lithuanian-Czech relations (1918–1939) in the
archival documents.
Possibilities for international cooperation
At the opening of the second day, there were official
speeches given by deputies from the Czech
Ministries of the Interior and Foreign Affairs. The
President of the International Council on Archives,
Director-General of the Austrian State Archives, Professor
Lorenz Mikoletzky, also spoke and greeted
the participants on behalf of the International
Council on Archives.
The papers given in this part of the conference concentrated
on the new possibilities for international
cooperation within the framework of globalisation.
Charles Cloude Biedermann reminded participating
archivists of the international searching service,
which was founded in 1943 for the purpose of documenting
the persecution of the inhabitants during
World War II. He also outlined the collections of
original documents and copies of documents which
can be used for research.
In his paper, Jens Boel highlighted the need for
more everyday and easier communication on professional
issues between archivists working in different
countries. Christine Martinéz gave a paper
on professional development and training in the
certain modifications. The PEvA system, from which both
the archivists and the public can obtain information, is
being continually developed and utilised by all archives
services. However, it primarily serves the needs of archivists
who register specific types of national property. The data
created by operators in the PEvA programme may become,
and in some cases already have become, the basis of automated
information systems of individual archives. The information
contained in this system is also provided to the public
on request, yet the information intended for the public is
increasingly being delivered via the Internet.
Review of archival collections that are presented on the
Internet
The PEvA programme holds a unique set of information
that is useful for professionals as well as for the public.
However, the system is complex and it performs many purely
professional functions which are not particularly useful
for general researchers. To address this issue, the Administration
of Archives Department prepared in 2002, in cooperation
with MoI Public Relations Department, the web
presentation of key data from the database which are at the
address: www.mvcr.cz/archivy/peva
To date, this database contains information relating to more
than 146 833 archival collections and this equates to 711
653 shelf meters of historical records. This can be visualised
by imagining a row of standard archive boxes containing
historical records stretching from Prague to Copenhagen.
Data on approximately 144 435 finding aids were also
released.
Released data
The web database contains the following information: the
name of an archival collection, who the creators were, the
time span of the records, the number of shelf meters the
collection occupies and whether the collection is processed
and catalogued. A researcher can thus learn in which
archives service an archival collection is held, what the datespan
of the records is and whether they are processed or
not, this being one of the main criteria for making an
archival collection available for research. A brief description
of the procedure for data searching, supplemented by
examples, is also part of the presentation.
In the web application, data can generally be found on the
fonds and collections that are held in the National Archives
in Prague, in the seven regional State archives and the 72
district State archives. The database further contains data
from five municipal archives and from the main representative
and constitutional bodies, universities, scientific institutions
and archives services that specialise in certain type of
collections (e.g. the National Museum Archive and the Literary
Archive of the Museum of National Literature) or
archives with specific types of record (e.g. the National
Cinematographic Archive, Czech Radio Archive, Czech TV
Archive).
Public response to the database and up-to-date experience
The official announcement about the release of this database
was issued primarily by electronic mail and it was sent
not only to all archives services but also to important
libraries, art museums and research centres both in the
Czech Republic and in foreign countries. In the first three
months of operation, there was considerable interest
shown in the database. The usefulness of the data is also
substantiated by the fact that references to the database
can be found in a number of websites of partner institutions
and organisations both in the Czech Republic and in foreign
countries and by letters of thanks that were sent from
a number of archives and research institutes in foreign
countries.
The above experience as well as the comments from
archivists and the general public formed the basis for further
development of the web presentation. Since 2003, the
description of search methods has been available in several
languages, English, French and German. The search conditions
should nevertheless be entered in Czech, as the translation
of such an extensive and continually developing set
of data files would be technically and financially prohibitive
and also purposeless, since a researcher must know the
name of the archival collection and other data in Czech.
These modifications again increased the number of visitors
to the web database, where the number of searches has
reached tens of thousands per month.
There were some problems encountered by those members
of the public who used the system in the beginning. A relatively
high percentage of them found they could not get
the data they required and this was mainly due to a lack of
experience of the structure of the archival collections which
meant that incorrect search terms were entered. This shortcoming
has been dealt with because researchers may now
send enquiries (also in English, German and French) to a
special e-mail address of the MoI, Administration of
Archives Department (arch@mvcr.cz), where they can get
further information.
Both of these information systems have thus brought closer
to both the Czech population and to people of other
nationalities the extensive archival riches that are deposited
in Czech archives.
Dr Michal Wanner
The Administration of Archives
The Ministry of the Interior
M. Horákové 133,
CZ-16621 Prague 6
Tel. (420) 974 83 50 71
arch@mvcr.cz
www.mvcr.cz
INFORMATION SYSTEMS OF
CZECH ARCHIVES
A view of Prague.
continued from page 2
3
field of archives and mentioned special education
programmes developed within the framework of
the European archives structures. Lajos Körmedy
spoke about programmes of reciprocal cooperation
such as the exchange of microfilms between
archives services and collectively issued publications.
Stefano Vitali, Chairman of an ICA committee,
then presented a paper on the ‘Descriptive
standards for archives’.
Deana Kovacec gave a paper on ‘International
cooperation in the Croatian State Archives’. Wladyslaw
Stepniak spoke about the regular working
meetings of Colloquia Jerzy Skowronek dedicata,
which have been held since 1995 and in which
Czech archivists have started to successfully participate
in recent years. Ewa Rosowska presented a
second paper from a Polish perspective giving
details of the expectations of Polish archivists upon
Poland’s entry into the European Union. A practical
example of international cooperation, in this
case Czech-Slovakian, was described in the paper
of Jozef Hanus and Michal Ďurovič: ICA Commission
on Protection of the Archival Documents in the
Temperate Climatic Zone. The Past and the Future.
Professional experiences of archivists
Speakers on this theme summarised their views on
the archivist’s profession from the perspective of
their national viewpoint. In the majority of countries,
archivists are facing new tasks connected
mainly with the mass introduction of information
technology, requests for the quick dissemination of
information and new trends in education. Peter
Kartous discussed the position of Slovakian
archivists, Valerija Jusevičiute talked about the situation
in Latvia, Pille Noodapera presented her
paper on the profession of the archivist in Estonia
and Nina Županič Pušavec described the profile of
Slovenian archivists. The final speaker in this
group, Mr Aat in’t Hout, surprised the audience by
presenting his paper called ‘Archives in Prague and
The Hague’ in the Czech language. He summarised
some of the results of his doctoral thesis which
compared Czech and Dutch archives legislation and
terminology.
Information technology and electronic docu-
ments
On this theme, the participants heard papers which
related to the use of IT in the archives and the
problems associated with electronic documents. In
a theoretical paper, Frank M. Bischoff pointed out
the need for a greater concentration on teaching
IT in the university education of archival science
and gave examples of his own experiences during
his teaching at the Archival School in Marburg. Nils
Brübach summarised the possibilities and future of
current descriptive standards of archival groups.
The importance of the quick exchange of information
and the need for access to archives via the
Internet was the topic of Hartmut Weber’s paper.
Oskar Macek and Michal Wanner presented the
results of a grant project that concentrated on the
long-term preservation of documents in digital
form. Helena Sedláčková, who also represents the
Czech Republic at the International Committee on
Sigillography, presented details of a nationwide
project relating to the digital cataloguing of seals.
The last speaker of the second day was Maria Pia
Rinaldi Mariani who presented a paper entitled
‘Possibilities of cooperation in the archives’. This
paper also emphasised the need for quicker information
exchange.
Archives of international organisations
The final day of the conference was dedicated to
the presentations given on the subjects of archives
of international organisations and archives of
Czechs living abroad. Maarten van Boven gave a
paper on the ‘Changing role of the Dutch archivist’
stressing the need for flexibility when dealing with
the public. Other lectures included ‘Archives of the
European Parliament’ by Secondo Sabbioni,
‘Archives of the European Council’ by Francoise
Benjamin Palermiti and a paper presented by Pavol
Šalamon entitled ‘Open society archives in
Budapest’. This society is in charge of the collections
of Radio Free Europe and Freedom.
Jiří Křesťan introduced papers about the archives
of Czechs living abroad. He summarised the up-todate
experience of the central archives in this
sphere and at the same time he pointed out the
possibilities for cooperation with foreign compatriots.
Papers were also given by representatives of
unions of compatriots, Jiří Kraus (Switzerland),
Vlasta Valeš (Austria) and Goran Hruška (Croatia).
The conference ended with discussions on the
papers given in the final session and on ideas
which would aid future closer cooperation in different
spheres of archival work.
Conclusion
The main objective of the conference was to commemorate
the anniversary of the founding of the
central archives and to highlight Czech archival science
and practice. The delegates were given a general
view of the current trends and problems in
European and world archives and information was
given about different projects and programmes.
The importance of acting upon the valuable ideas
discussed at this conference was stressed.
Jan Kahuda
State Central Archives Prague
Archivní 4
CZ-149 01 Praha 4 — Chodovec
Tel. (420) 974 84 73 96
Jan.Kahuda@ff.cuni.cz
http://www.nacr.cz
The proceedings of the conference and the book
‘Nothing and nobody should be forgotten’ are
available to order at the address of the National
Archives in Prague.
Continued from page 1
Aims and objectives of the
DLM Forum (1
) Conference
Budapest 2005
Now that electronic documents and records are becoming
widely used, the DLM Forum Conference 2005 will address
the issues that come to the fore: information governance in
the e-government environment, standards for interchange
and preservation of digital information as evidence and historical
records, the challenges of widespread take-up by
users and realisation of benefits.
The objective of the DLM Forum Conference is to present,
discuss and advance best practices and solutions. To this
end, presentations and discussions will focus on solutions,
proven practical applications and ongoing projects.
The aspects of enterprise electronic document and records
management and of digital records preservation will play
an important role at the DLM Forum Conference.
Industry White Papers will be presented at the DLM Forum
Conference covering key technology and application areas
as requested in advance by participants and under the Call
for Papers.
Users will have the opportunity to discuss their experiences
and needs with representatives of the ICT industry as the
DLM Forum Conference will include an exhibition of leading
suppliers of enterprise electronic document, records and content
management systems. The exhibition will give participants
an opportunity to see the latest technologies available
for the practical and effective capture, management, delivery
and preservation of electronic information.
Programme
The conference will take place from midday Wednesday 5
October till midday Friday 7 October 2005. The intended
audience includes users from all sectors, information and
records management, and IT specialists.
The DLM Forum Conference 2005 will consist of plenary
sessions and parallel general and specialist sessions all with
simultaneous language translations.
The programme has the following major themes:
• governance in organisations’ electronic working environments
and requirements for public access to infor-
mation,
• standards for transfer and preservation of digital information
as evidence and historical records, and
• the challenges of change management to achieve widespread
take-up by users and realisation of benefits.
Wednesday 5 October, afternoon
14:00 Hosts’ official opening of the conference by senior
representatives of the Hungarian govern-
ment
14:40 KEYNOTE SPEECHES
European Commission introduction:
The history of the DLM Forum, the MoReq
Project and European Commission support
to the DLM Forum
Frank Brady, European Commission
The EU Report and the DLM Forum
Sarah Tyacke, Chair of the DLM Forum
15:30 Break and suppliers’ exhibition visit
16:00 KEYNOTE SPEECHES (continued)
The view from the ICA (International
Council On Archives) on DLM Forum
work and standards
George Mackenzie, ICA Lead on
Electronic Records
Electronic Records and Digital
Government, an Australian View
Stephen Ellis, National Archives of Australia
Trends in electronic records management
and related technologies with examples
from EU countries
Eric Woods, Government Practice
Director, OVUM
18:00 Reception and suppliers’ exhibition visit
Thursday
6 October, morning
8:30 Coffee and suppliers’ exhibition
9:30 e-GOVERNMENT AND E-GOVERNANCE (choice of two
parallel streams)
11:00 Break and suppliers’ exhibition
11:30 E-GOVERNMENT AND E-GOVERNANCE: MANAGING
ELECTRONIC RECORDS (Plenary session)
Chair: Sarah Tyacke, Chair of the DLM
Forum
Plans for MoReq (Model requirements for
management of electronic records).
A report on scoping of a MoReq2
Ian Macfarlane, National Archives of the
UK
The DOMEA concept
Andrea Wettmann, Sachsisches
Staatsarchiv, Germany
How normal is normalisation?
On the use of MoReq as a starting point
for standardising software specifications
for records management software in the
Netherlands.
Hans Waalwijk, Archiefschool,
Netherlands
13:00 Lunch and suppliers’ exhibition
Thursday 6 October, afternoon
14:30 STANDARDS & INTERCHANGE (choice of two parallel
streams)
16:00 Break and suppliers’ exhibition
16:30 PRESERVATION AND DIGITAL ARCHIVES (choice of two
parallel streams)
18:00 End of Day
Friday 7 October, morning
8:30 Coffee and suppliers’ exhibition
9:30
11:30 Break and suppliers’ exhibition
12:00 CLOSING PLENARY SESSION
The Chair of DLM Forum will preside over this session
which will take the form of a question and answer session
with a panel. ‘Next Steps’ will be the core topic. There will
also be summary reports from each session
13:00 END OF THE CONFERENCE
For conference updates from the organisers and
information for participants see:
http://hungary.hu/DLMforum2005
Information on the conference and exhibitions by
IT suppliers can be found on:
http://www.dlm-network.org/
Up-to-date information and links to other relevant
sites are also available on EUROPA:
http://europa.eu.int/comm/secretariat_general/e
doc_management/dlm_forum
ANNOUNCEMENT OF THE DLM FORUM CONFERENCE BUDAPEST 2005
(1
) The DLM Forum was originally based on the conclusions of
the Council of the European Union (Official Journal of the
European Communities C 235 of 17 June 1994) concerning
cooperation in the field of archives. It has flourished and is
now an association of members from public sector,
research, and private sector organisations across the EU
States and includes the EC. DLM is now an acronym for
document lifecycle management.
A – PUBLIC POLICY AND
LEGISLATION
B – LEGAL ASPECTS AND
AUTHENTICITY
Chair: Viktoras Domarkas,
Deputy Director-General,
Lithuanian Archives
Chair Professor Seamus
Ross, Glasgow University
E-Governance
Prof Dr Angelika
Menne-Haritz, Bundesarchiv,
Germany
Data protection, privacy &
EU directive
Malcolm Todd, the
National Archives of
the UK
CARMEN Group: Archival
control of the electronic
memory
Maria Luisa Conde, National
Archives of Spain for the
Expert Working Group on
Electronic Records
The Italian government
‘Digital Protocol’ initiative
Lucilla Garofalo, Archivo
centrale dello Stato Roma,
Italy
EURBICA: The database of
EU legislation affecting
records management and
archives
Christine Martinez,
Archives de France
The EU e-signatures
directive and authenticity.
Hannelore Dekeyser, Interdisciplinary
Centre for Law
and ICT (ICRI), Belgium
A – Chair: Jean-Pierre Teil,
Archives de France
B – Chair: Malcolm Todd,
The National Archives of
the UK
Cooperation models to
ensure the preservation of
digital heritage: the case
of Estonia
Raivo Ruusalepp,
Estonian Business Archives
Archival requirements in
record-keeping systems
Markus Merenmies,
National Archives of
Finland
A process oriented
approach to recordkeeping
metadata
Peter Horsman, Archiefschool,
Netherlands
The Archival version —
How it is made and what
it looks like
Jan Dalsten Sorensen,
National Archives,
Denmark
Metadata ISO standard
and revision of ISO15489
Hans Hofman, National
Archives of the Nether-
lands
Standard messages for
interchange of records — A
concept to improve inter-
operability
Karl Wessbrandt, Statskontoret,
the Swedish Agency
for Public Management
A – Chair:Harmut Weber,
Director-General, Bundesarchiv,
Germany
B – Chair: Joze Skofljanec,
Slovenian Archives
Keeping electronic records
accessible — How the Federal
Archives of Germany
preserves the digital heritage
of the East German
Republic; a case study
Andrea Haenger, Bundesarchiv,
Germany
The PRONOM service: a
technical registry to support
long-term
preservation
Adrian Brown, the Digital
Preservation Unit, The
National Archives of the
UK
A digital repository for the
Rotterdam municipal
archives: learning by expe-
rience
Klaartje Pompe, Rotterdam,
Netherlands
The DAVID digital preservation
strategy: motivation
and implementation
Filip Boudrez, Antwerp
Archives, Belgium
Towards a national digital
repository
Osmo Palonen, Mikkeli
Polytechnic, Finland
The ArchiSafe Project —
legally secure and scalable
long-term record keeping
complying with the
requirements of the German
electronic signature
law
Siegfried Hackel,
‘BundOnline 2005’, Ger-
many
A – EDUCATION AND COST
BENEFITS
B – IMPACTS AND
DEMANDS ON
RECORDSMANAGEMENT
(choice of two parallel streams)
Chair: Daria Nalecz, Director-General,
National
Archives of Poland
Chair: Atle Skjekkeland,
AIIM Europe
Records and archival edu-
cation
Prof Mariella Guercio,
University of Urbino
The impact project: FOI
and records management
in the UK
Elizabeth Shepherd,
University College London
The organ-grinder and the
monkey: making a business
case for sustainable
digital preservation
James Currall, Glasgow
University
Mobile working ~ Issues
and records management
responses
Sari Makinen, University of
Tampere, Finland
A cost model for digital
preservation
Remco Verdegem, Nationaal
Archief of the Nether-
lands
ERM compliance review
methodology
Richard Blake, the National
Archives of the UK
continued on page 5
4
NEW BUILDING OF THE
NATIONAL ARCHIVES
AND REGIONAL STATE
ARCHIVES IN PRAGUE
Background to the construction of the
building
The new building of the National Archives (Národní
archiv (the NA)) and Central Bohemia’s Regional
State Archives (Státní oblastní archiv Praha (the
RSA)) was ceremonially opened in Chodovec,
Prague, in September 2001. It is one of the
biggest modern archive buildings in Europe. The
archivists from the Department of the Czech Society
for Science and Technology in the NA had
devoted many years to the preparation of its concept.
Therefore, they were able to extensively participate
in all the steps of pre-project and project
preparations and significantly influence the design
of the building. The first study was prepared in
1989 and construction began in 1992 when the
foundation stone of the ‘archival complex’ was
laid. Two repository blocks with jointed and adjacent
acquisition and processing departments were
constructed during the period 1993 to 1994. The
third repository block and the rest of the administrative
and operational areas were finished in the
second period of construction from 1995 to 2001.
The relocation of archival holdings from the old
premises to the new building started at the very
beginning of 1995. This new building gave the NA
and the RSA a solution to their problems relating
to the storage of their archives. Prior to this, the
NA had been storing over 93 000 m of archive
boxes in 12 unsuitable buildings as well as the
holdings which were stored in the building of the
former Archives of the Bohemian Lands that was
built in the 1930s. The RSA had been using up to
43 similar buildings for the storage of their holdings
during the past 50 years. Since those times,
the amount of standard archive records has grown
to 112 500 m of archive boxes stored in three
functional buildings of the NA. At the same time,
the RSA is preserving almost 32 000 m of archive
boxes.
Location of the building
The new premises of both archives services are
located in a suburban district of Prague, easily
accessible by public municipal transport. This location
is out of reach of industrial sites and areas
that are liable to be affected by floods which
means that the risk of possible damage to the
archives is minimised. It was thought that there
would be a negative impact on the site due to the
distance between the archive premises and the cultural,
government and education institutions in the
centre of Prague, however, this has not proved to
be the case. The very close visual vicinity of the
building with the corresponding premises of the
Archives of the City of Prague forms a unique concentration
of both central and regional archive
institutions.
The layout of the archive premises and
basic concept
In line with the principal demand of the archivists,
the designer chose a block design for the archive
building. The block design allows complete separation
of the repository areas which are intended for
the permanent storage of archive materials, from
the other areas, as well as the separation of the
sectors that are open to the public. The complex
comprises four functionally and architecturally distinctive
parts and one connecting ‘neck’. Each part
consists of one or more independent blocks for reasons
of fire prevention.
The dominant feature of the premises are the
repository blocks. These are connected with each
other in a communication hub, which is linked to
the eastern side of the largest repository block.
This repository part is connected on the ground
level to the two-storey acquisition and arrangement
block, where there are extensive areas for the
reception, disinfection and sorting of archive materials.
On the other side of the repository block,
there is located a two-storey ‘service block’ which
houses two gas boilers. The slender communication
‘neck’ links the first repository block from the west
with the administrative-operational premises
(ground plan of 6 000 m2
), where the main
entrance, all the public spaces, offices and other
specialised working areas are located.
The location of the repository blocks in the centre
of the whole building between the acquisition
block on one side and the administrative-operational
block on the western side has achieved short
transport routes, taking into account the size of
the site, principally between the repository rooms
on the one hand and the research room, library
and acquisition and arrangement rooms on the
other. A frequent drawback of large archive buildings,
that of excessively long horizontal communication
routes, has thus been successfully eliminated.
At the same time, the designer ensured that
the routes used for moving archive materials and
those reserved for the public are kept separate,
due to this block division. Within the repository
blocks themselves, the designer has also found the
shortest possible transport routes by locating the
repository rooms alongside the service corridors
The International Conference in Annecy, organised by the
Direction des Archives de France with the support of the
General Council of Haute-Savoie, allowed specialists,
archivists, engineers and architects from various countries
to share their experience and thoughts on the design, construction
and fitting of archive buildings. These buildings
are a tool for the preservation of records as well as a place
of culture which are open to the public. For this reason,
after an introduction setting out the progress made in the
last 30 years and giving recent and varied examples of the
construction and fitting of buildings, the conference was
organised around three main themes, protection and accessibility,
good design for good management of the future
building and its contents and, finally, some thoughts on the
archive building of the future.
Protection through climate control
There are specific standards in existence for the preservation
of graphic records, particularly the standard ISO 11799.
Bertrand Lavédrine, Director of Research and Head of the
Research Centre for the Preservation of Graphical Documents,
began by referring to this standard, its climatic
requirements and the need, particularly in the case of photographic
or cinematographic records, to ensure the maintenance
of a low and stable temperature. Lowering the temperature
by 10° C triples the life expectancy of a record (the
level of humidity being a factor that is less important in
record-keeping, as long as it does not exceed an RH of
65 %). Pierre Diaz-Pédrégal, physicist and head of the
agency In Extenso for the protection of cultural assets, mentioned
that the principal objective in thermo-hygrometric
maintenance was stability. He called upon the archivists,
engineers and air-conditioning experts to take into account,
in their calculations and climatic projections, the collections’
specific behaviour (their water-absorption capacity),
a factor that had so far been neglected by the designers of
air-conditioning systems. From this viewpoint, standard airconditioning
systems (with the exception of ‘double skin’
alternatives such as those described below) have an unsettling
effect upon the archives’ hygrometric balance. It is
therefore necessary to choose climatic control systems for
preservation areas with care but also to ensure their maintanence
and the subsequent monitoring of the measuring
instruments and fittings.
First and foremost, protection therefore requires a satisfactory
climatic control in preservation areas. In metropolitan
France and in the overseas territories, archive services
already have many years’ experience of air conditioning,
with greater or lesser degrees of success. For this reason,
several heads of archive services, called upon by engineers
and design consultants to consider the technical aspects,
have recently been experimenting with alternative solutions
to air conditioning, favouring technical measures that
provide the preservation premises with natural insulation
and thermal inertia. Lars Christoffersen, engineer and the
designer of the Schleswig Holstein regional archives, presented,
using various recent building examples, the conditions
required for climatic maintenance and control. This
consists mainly of multiplying layers of building materials
(specially chosen for their inertia and humidity absorption
capacity) and forming insulation by conducting streams of
air, cooled if necessary, between two of these inner walls.
This thermal measure presupposes very low support, with
climatic control by external air where necessary. However,
it also places a limitation on the number and duration of
visits to the rooms, since persons are likely to change the climatic
balance of the area if they remain there for long or
they work there and they may bring in spores from microorganisms.
Sebastian Barteleit, an archivist from the German
Federal Archives in Koblenz, gave an example of a
building with ‘double skin’ walls, which has been functioning
for several years. After an installation that had required
the use of industrial dehumidifiers to absorb the residual
humidity of the walls following their construction, the
building succeeded in maintaining its natural climate. This
led to savings and self-sufficiency in terms of energy, making
the German Federal Archives a model of archive preservation
and technical design.
Even so, although it is possible to devise buildings and construction
techniques capable of ensuring inertia and good
thermo-hygrometric conditions in temperate climates, this
is more difficult to achieve in tropical areas. The French
Space Agency’s (CNES) centre in Kourou, Guyana, has,
however, designed a building for the correct preservation of
its archives of 2.3 linear kilometres. Pascale Morel, a CNES
architect, took part in the planning and design of the building,
which had to be insulated as effectively as possible
against a climatic environment that is extremely
unfavourable for archive preservation (permanent very
high temperature and humidity). Various architectural
measures were devised for this, including airlocked buffers
to limit air entry, setting back the southern facade and topping
it with a kind of ‘peaked’ canopy, reducing or even
eliminating the windows on the western facade to protect it
against the sun’s horizontal rays, protecting the northern
and eastern facades against rain by using canopies or setting
them back, and finally using wide roof overhangs, gutters
and drainpipes to drain water away. In addition, the
area in front of the entrance hall is well ventilated and protected
from rain in the same way as the lofts, which are also
well ventilated and separated from the lower levels by an
insulating slab. The technical solutions chosen were intended
above all to insulate the walls as effectively as possible.
Thus all the exterior walls were lined with mineral wool
panels and covered with plasterboard. The ambient air had
to be controlled, however, and a centralised air-conditioning
system fed by the CNES chilled water plant was installed
for this purpose. The example of the CNES archives in
Kourou shows, if this is necessary, the existence of architectural
and technical solutions that make it possible to maintain
a stable climatic situation in the preservation areas, but
that decision-makers should be aware of the operating and
maintenance costs of these solutions.
Protection against damage
The next session of the conference dealt with the topic of
the protection of the buildings and the archives against
damage. With respect to fire regulations, it was interesting
to compare two different although closely related situations,
that of public archives, which was presented by
Agnès Masson, an archivist responsible for the archives of
the Health and Social Services — Hospitals of Paris, and that
of museums, which was presented by Serge Leroux, head of
the technical section at the Directorate of Museums of
France. With regard to the public archives, the following
paradox arises. In the case of buildings fitted or built in
accordance with the Direction des Archives de France’s recommendations,
there have been no serious fires for 30
years. Against that, intermediate archives, sometimes
stored by private archiving firms in industrial-type premises
(vast metal warehouses) prove to be much more vulnerable.
The museums of France, like the archives, have developed
specific regulations to limit the risks of fire spreading
and have made fire-detection systems compulsory in any
building programme. These systems, in addition to the
presence of fire extinguishers, have frequently made it possible
to extinguish outbreaks of fire.
Even with all these precautions, technical systems and
detection methods, various factors may cause an accident
that no-one could have foreseen. Large parts of eastern
Europe have, unfortunately, undergone such an experience
fairly recently. What methods and procedures should then
be used to salvage archive collections as successfully as pos-
sible?
Gilbert Le Guen, of the Book Preservation Centre (CICL,
Arles) endeavoured to give a detailed explanation, including
concrete examples, of the implications of implementing
an emergency plan. He emphasised the human, technical
and logistical resources, as well as the preliminary preparation,
needed for salvaging archival collections and objects.
Daria Nalecz, Director of the Polish National Archives and
Borivoj Indra, President of the Archive Construction Committee
at the Directorate of the Czech Republic Archives,
both added to this highly enlightening statement of
methodology by giving detailed accounts of the floods that
had affected their countries and organisations during the
summer of 2002. In the face of a natural disaster of this
extent, it was necessary to share material, infrastructural
and human resources, as Daria Nalecz so effectively pointed
out. It is also necessary to learn from the disaster so that
such a situation could be dealt with more effectively in
future and to carry out the huge task of restoring the documents
that were damaged by the flood waters.
Preservation and public access
The task of opening archives to the public is complementary
to the preservation function although it is often seen as
being in contradiction with it, and necessitates architectural
choices in the design and fitting of an archive building.
Christian Hottin, conservator at the CAMT (Centre for
Archives from the Working World), explained that this
requires reflection and his paper focused simultaneously on
the typology of the different areas, their internal links and
the facilities needed to accommodate visitors.
Housing the two functions of preservation on the one hand
and accommodating the public on the other in an archives
building calls for a concerted design allowing permanent
dialogue between the client, the user (when different) and
the project manager. In this respect, the related presentations
given by Denis Eburdy (Director of Operations at the
Hérault General Council) and Serge de Poorter (Director of
the Archives of the Department of Hérault) on the future
Hérault departmental archive building, and by Vivienne
Miguet (Director of the Archives of the Department LoireAtlantique)
and Bruno Gaudin (architect) on the LoireAtlantique
departmental archives, made it possible to grasp
the importance of such a dialogue. They also served to
underline the importance of the idea of an intelligent, functional
and adaptable building, which also, as Bruno Gaudin
effectively pointed out, takes account of its urban and architectural
surroundings. Finally, in light of their experience,
Hélène Viallet, Director of the Archives of the Department
of Haute-Savoie and Mr Gouyou-Beauchamps, who was
responsible for the departmental archives building project
(the building was completed in 2000), presented the strategic
choices made prior to the construction of the building
as well as the steps that had to be taken at the time of its
handover to overcome certain difficulties that were not initially
foreseen. All these presentations made it possible to
understand the extent to which choices made at the beginning
of the project could have important consequences for
the future and revealed the need to anticipate the cost of
operating and maintaining an archive building.
The effect of new technologies on archives buildings
There was also the question of the extent to which archive
buildings were affected by new technology. Concerning the
potential for the automated movement of records, the public
archive services in France can provide almost no examples
of successfully completed projects. Bernard Feypell, an
architect at the Seine-et-Marne departmental archives and
the designer of such a system was able to present his work
and the reasons for its rapid abandonment. Likewise,
Georges Mouradian, General Archivist and outgoing Director
of the Centre for Archives from the Working World,
explained the system set up at the Roubaix Centre, the initial
functions of which were quite different from that in
Seine-et-Marne, and the reasons for putting it aside. It finally
emerged, in the light of the example given by Gérard
Bailly, Director of Technical Resources at the French National
Library, that an automated transit system was only worthwhile
and viable in a very large building with technical and
human resources for its operation and maintenance. In any
case, at the present time the automated transit of records in
French archives is embryonic.
Catherine Dhérent, General Archivist, Head of the Department
of Technical Innovation and Standardisation, also presented
the situation as it is in its infancy. Only a few pioneering
services in the field take account, from beginning to
end, of the specific nature of the processing, preservation
and communication of electronic archives.
The archives building of the future
Having taken account of this information and, in the light of
projects still under way — such as that of the Bouches-duRhône
departmental archives, presented by its architect,
Corinne Vezzoni, that of the future archives of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs, presented by its Director, Yvon Roé d’Albert,
and finally that of the Meuse departmental archives,
discussed by their outgoing Director, Pascale Verdier — and
of experiences in the field of design, the question was
raised of how archive buildings of the future could be perceived
by archivists and architects. The round table organised
on this theme, in which the speakers referred to above
as well as B. Indra of the Archives of the Czech Republic and
the architect Alain Sarfati (project manager of the building
in Roubaix that houses archives from the working world)
took part, gave everyone an opportunity to express their
hopes and set out ways of envisaging a productive dialogue
between the worlds of archives and architecture.
The proceedings of this international conference with its
wealth of diverse and informative presentations are published
electronically on the Directorate of Archives de
France website. The conference serves as the starting point
of a wider reflection on the Archives de France’s recommendations
on the design and construction of archive buildings.
This reflection led, in 2004, to the publication of the
book intitled Bâtiments d’archives: 1986–2003 (éd. G.
Ermisse, E. Marguin-Hamon, F. Saïe-Belaïsch, Paris: Direction
des Archives de France, 2004). The Direction des
Archives de France has also introduced several main lines of
thought with the objective of updating previous recommendations
on points that now seem outdated or even
obsolete (air treatment of the preservation areas, design of
the reading rooms). In the end, it is essential to learn from
the recent (or less recent) past in order to prepare for the
archive buildings of the future.
Elsa Marguin-Hamon
Centre historique des Archives nationales,
Musée de l’histoire de France
60, rue des Francs-Bourgeois A.P.
F-75141 Paris cedex 03, 75003
http://www.archivesdefrance.culture.gouv.fr
elsa.marguin@culture.gouv.fr
TOWARDS THE CONSTRUCTION OF MODERN ARCHIVES BUILDINGS IN EUROPE
REPORT FROM THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE IN ANNECY, 26–27 MAY 2003
The facade of the building of the Archives Departementales in St. Lô, north-west France.
continued on page 8
continued from page 4
Continued on page 12
5
which pass through the centre of each repository
block, dividing them on each storey into two separate
areas from the point of view of fire safety.
The linking ‘neck’ plays a key role as a communication
hub for the repository block and the administrative-operational
block, while at the same time
separating them to allow for fire safety. The zone
in which members of the public have unlimited
movement is the lobby and the areas freely accessible
from it, which are located only on the ground
floor (reading rooms, conference hall, lecture hall
and exposition space) and the first floor of the
administrative-operational block (NA library).
The bearing structure and outer shell and
cladding
The bearing structure and outer walls of the repository
blocks is a varying combination of prefabricated
parts with monolith reinforced concrete. The
ceiling structure in the repository blocks has a
bearing capacity of between 10 and 12 KN/m2
depending on whether there is fixed or movable
archive shelving. The outside walls have 400 mm
thick brickwork. Outside cladding of the repository
blocks provides a favourable heat transfer coefficient
k = 0.25 W/m2
. The outer walls are clad
with insulation slabs, there is a 10 cm layer of
air and on a bearing grid of aluminium the ceramic
wall tiles are fixed. Due to this concept, the windowless
repository blocks easily maintain optimal
climatic conditions. On other parts of the building,
the ceramic tiles are cemented directly onto the
outer brick walls. The austere repository blocks
with their simple shapes contrast with the
dynamism of the shapes of the western entrance.
To provide a visual balance to this contrast, a glass
facade was chosen for the outer walls of the repository
blocks.
Construction design of the areas
On each of the storeys of the repository blocks
(one basement and 12 above-ground levels) there
is a total of 14 repository rooms, with square floor
plans of 11.7 x 15.7 m and a floor area of 183.7
m2
. In each centrally situated repository block,
there are six rooms and the other blocks have four
rooms, making a total of 182 repository rooms. All
the rooms are without windows and all are accessible
via only one fire door set in the central 2.7
m wide corridor. Fixed or manually movable shelving
are installed in 153 of the repository rooms
and this gives a storage total capacity of over
222 000 m of standard archive boxes. There is
over 88 000 m of standard archive boxes in the
NA and about 32 500 m in the RSA. There are 15
rooms dedicated to the use of the archive libraries.
There are four rooms dedicated to the storage of
maps and plans, which represent over 135 000
documented items. Two ground-floor depository
rooms are adapted for storing documents from various
holdings of NA. All eight rooms on the 11th
and 12th floors of the third repository block are
designed for photographic, film and audio archives.
The photo collection of NA exceeds 276 000 documented
items and 25 000 items in the RSA.
One room will be adapted for the storage of electronic
records and this specialised working space
will be used for all the electronic archives in the
Czech Republic. The repository rooms in the basement
are used for the temporary storage of records
that are awaiting disinfection after the damage
caused by the recent floods.
The layout of the two-storey acquisition and
arrangement block is sophisticated and it provides
the right sequence for the functional activities. It
opens up to the side street with loading ramps for
three trucks and there is access to the two acquisition
halls directly from the ramp. The larger hall
(146.5 m2
) belongs to NA and the smaller
belongs to RSA. The direct connection between the
acquisition halls and the disinfection device is quite
unique in the world.
This disinfection apparatus consists of two sterilisation
chambers with a total capacity of 6.4 m3
and
was constructed by a Spanish company,
Matachana. Wire cages are set on transport
palettes and they are tugged onto a roller track
and into one of the sterilising chambers (which
have a capacity of 11 m of archive boxes). After
sterilising the records with a mixture of 10 % ethylene
oxide and 90 % carbon dioxide under a
pressure of 160 kPa and a temperature of 25°C
to 50°C, the records proceed to the venting tunnel
with ambient conditions, where they remain for
six days until the amount of toxic substances drops
below the permitted level.
There are three well-illuminated arrangement halls
on the first floor of the same block and various
smaller rooms which are used for the sorting and
arrangement of records located on each floor of
the repository block.
Climatic control and fire prevention
Air conditioning maintains a standard climate. In
repository rooms which hold paper and parchment
based archives and books, the temperature is
15°C ± 2°C and the relative humidity is 55 %
± 5 %. In the rooms with black-and-white photographic
material, a temperature of 15°C ± 1°C
and a RH level of 27.5 % ± 7.5 % are maintained.
And in the rooms that hold colour films
there is a temperature of 5°C ± 1°C and a RH
of 35 % ± 5 %.
The fire extinguishing system by WORMALD, Sweden,
is installed in the repository halls. The system
uses an extinguishing medium which is an exact
mixture of carbon dioxide, nitrogen and argon
The tradition of preserving records in Poland dates back to the
13th century when the royal chancelleries and local authorities
started to gather records that were significant to the State and
its citizens. This was the origin of the Crown Archives of Cracow
and the subsequent Crown Archives of Warsaw, the
Archives of the Crown Register, the Archives of the Crown Treasury
and archives of municipal, estate and chamberlain courts.
Towns, villages, religious institutions, associations and individuals
also created their own collections of records. Furthermore,
as time went by, the archives of important families and in particular
those of the Radziwills, Zamoyskis and Potockis, grew in
size and significance.
The emergence of the Polish State archives
The archives as a central State institution started to emerge in
1764. Partitions of the country and its loss of independence
significantly jeopardised those efforts. The invading powers
took away a large part of the documents, preserving some of
them in their own archives and destroying others. The loss of
statehood, followed by transfer of documents and the emergence
of numerous institutions in exile, resulted in an enormous
dispersion of the archival collection. The consequences
of this dispersion are still visible.
World War II brought about the destruction of 90 % of the
holdings of the central State archives and of a significant part
of the current records of the State institutions. Local, church
and private archives suffered great losses as well. Significant
amounts of archival material were taken by the occupying
armies and these records have not yet been restituted.
Currently, the State archive network encompasses ca. 220
kilometres of files, grouped in 57 000 fonds containing 17
million archival units. These 220 kilometers of files are being
processed and handled by nearly 1 400 archivists employed
in three central, 29 local and 57 branch offices. The central
record offices comprise the Central Archives of Historical
Records which keep the old Polish and post-partition documents
up to 1918, the Central Archives of Modern Records
which comprise contemporary documents dating from
1918, and the Mechanical Documentation Archives which
specialised in the collection of phono- and photographic
documentation.
The network of State archives in Poland is headed by the
Director-General of the Polish State Archives. The latter is
the supreme body of the governmental administration and
holds direct responsibility for the national archives in the
name of the Minister of Culture. This office is currently held
by Professor Daria Nałęcz.
The legal basis for the State archives
The act of 14 July 1983 on the national archival holdings constitutes
a legal basis for the activities of archives services. Two
ministerial decrees refer to this act. The first concerns the principles
of classifying and appraising records and the principles
and mode of transfer of archival material to the State archives.
The second defines the precise scope of activity of the Director-General
of the State Archives.
The act itself defines the tasks of the State archives as follows:
— development and supervision of the State’s archival
holdings;
— cataloguing, processing and making accessible the
archival material;
— registering non–State archival holdings;
— providing authorised copies and reproductions as well
as certified copies of the preserved records.
The latest amendments to the law gave the archives services
the responsibility for personnel files and payroll records
in order to protect those files and enable citizens to obtain
retirement pay.
Organisation of the archives
Whereas records are generally transferred to the archives 25
years after the date of their creation, documents relating to
parliamentary elections are transferred much earlier, after five
years. A period of 50 years, however, is obligatory with regard
to court files and 100 years with regard to registry books.
The management of the current records of the central State
and local authorities is subject to the supervision of the central
and regional State archives.
The archives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs, the Interior
and National Defence, the State Security Office, the Seym
(Polish Parliament), the Senate and the President’s Office
have the status of State archives, but are at the same time
independent of the Head Office of the Polish State Archives.
These bodies collect records according to their own principles.
As far as the holdings of the Ministries of Foreign and
Internal Affairs are concerned their individual character
expires after 50 years and they are then transferred to the
Archives of New Records. The Ministry of National Defence
transfers its documents to the Central Military Archives.
Archives of political parties, trade unions, social associations
and organisations as well as those of churches and
religious unions are independent of the State Archives. The
Polish archives law, however, imposes the obligation on
State archives to accept records held by these bodies at
their request or in case of their liquidation. Due to this
A R C H I V E S I N T H E N E W M E M B E R S T A T E S
Overview
The Estonian National
Archives (Rahvusarhiiv) is
a government agency
which was founded on
the basis of the Archives
Act in 1999 that reorganised
the public archives
services. The National
Archives is a system of
State-owned public
archives under the administration
of a director-general
based in Tartu.
The National Archives
includes 13 archives in different
locations in Estonia
and holds 18 150 archival
fonds. Last year, 20 800
researchers visited the
National Archives.
Background to the development
of the National
Archives of Estonia
The Estonian National Archives were founded in 1999 on
the basis of the Archives Act but archival institutions have
existed in Estonia for many years and records have been
kept from early medieval times. Archives services have preserved
records of former administrative institutions on
Estonian territory, court and police authorities, materials of
knighthood (Baltic-German nobility) and the local governments
of towns and rural areas. They also preserved records
of churches and educational institutions as well as manors,
records of private individuals and records of societies and
enterprises. Amongst these collections, there are rare documents,
seals, original letters of governors, vellum manuscripts,
engravings, photographs, a large collection of historical
maps and many audiovisual records.
The beginning of the national archives service dates back to
the 1920s, soon after the Estonian declaration of independence
in 1918. Today the National Archives is made up of 13
archives services in different locations in Estonia, including
the State Archives in Tallinn founded in 1921, the Historical
Archives based in Tartu and founded in 1921, the Film
Archives based in Tallinn and founded in 1971 as well as 10
regional archives.
The legal basis of the National Archives of Estonia
The legal basis of the National Archives is the Archives Act,
which was passed by the Riigikogu (Estonian parliament)
on 25 March 1998, and came into force in 1999. The main
task of the National Archives is to preserve and protect the
national heritage in its custody as well as to grant access to
it. One of the underlying principles of the Archives Act has
always been centralisation, which is aimed at improving
and unifying the quality of archival services, reducing duplication
and ensuring optimal archival administration.
Based on the Archives Act, there are several other legal acts
which regulate the archival system in Estonia. The archival
rules (government regulations) are intended to elaborate
on the performance of archival procedures such as scheduling,
appraisal, disposition, archival processing, preservation,
protection and use of archival records, as well as the
acquisition procedures of public archives.
The public records in Estonia are, as a rule, accessible to the
public from the very beginning of their lifecycle. However,
for the first 20 years, public records are kept in the agencies
and members of the public can get access to them there.
Activities of the National Archives of Estonia
There are 18 150 archival fonds with 8 704 000 archival units
in the National Archives. This includes 44 819 items of film
materials, 454 685 photographs, 13 832 audio recordings
and 654 410 record units which have provisional archival
value. Overall, this archival material occupies just over
73 kilometres of shelving.
There are reading rooms in all the public archives that are
opened to the public six days a week. Last year, 20 800
researchers visited the National Archives. They requested
186 734 items and the archives treated a total of 8 200
requests from researchers. There were also 1 765 interarchives’
loans. Researchers can use microfilms and digitised
images of some frequently requested fonds in the regional
archives in Tallinn, Tartu and Kuressaare, Pärnu and Viljandi.
The National Archives is responsible for an archives register,
an electronic database, which is designed to obtain and
maintain information about the location, composition, quantity
and access conditions of public records. Private records
may also be registered in this database at the owner’s
request. The archives register is accessible on the Internet
through the website (www.ra.ee). Researchers can use various
electronic databases and reference literature, mostly also
via the website (http://ais.ra.ee/ais/).
The National Archives issues publications in the series’, Ad
Fontes, Ex Fontibus Archivi Historici Estoniae, Scripta
Archivi Historici Estoniae, Acta et Commentationes Archivi
Historici Estoniae.
Management of digital records by the National Archives of
Estonia
Living in the era of an e-state, e-government, e-citizen and
e-mail, the National Archives inevitably has acknowledged
that the effective management of digital archives is one of
its priorities in the near future. The year 2002 marked a
breakthrough in the long-term preservation of digital
records. A special department was created to further develop
this field. The requirements for the ‘handover’ of digital
records to the archives have now been legally fixed by government
regulations. As a result, the National Archives will
publish guidelines, aimed at the public agencies, that will
deal with digital records.
International contacts
International contacts maintained by the National Archives
have generally widened in recent years. Contacts with other
archive services and the International Council on Archives
(ICA) are worth mentioning. These international contacts
can in principle be divided into three categories: activities
connected with the ICA, archival meetings of the member
and candidate countries of the European Union (EBNA)
and regional cooperation, especially with Nordic and Baltic
countries.
Toivo Jullinen
Head of the Development Bureau
The National Archives of Estonia
J. Liivi 4, EE-50409 Tartu
Tel.(372) 738 75 08
E-mail: Toivo.Jullinen@ra.ee
More information about the National Archives of Estonia
can be found on the Internet at: www.ra.ee
STATE ARCHIVES IN POLAND
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF ESTONIA
The oldest document held in
the National Archives of
Estonia, dating from 1240.
In this document the newly
crowned King of Denmark
reaffirms a commitment that
was made by his father the
former king.
A document marking the Confederation of Warsaw.
6
On 6 May 2003, the EU Council of Ministers adopted a ‘Resolution
on archives in the Member States (1
)’. The resolution
invited the European Commission to convene a group
of national experts, including experts from the new Member
States, to examine the situation of public archives in the
European Union. The group was to take particular account
of the enlargement of the EU. The Commission was asked to
submit a report to the Council that would include orientations
for increased future cooperation on archives at European
level.
After the group of national experts completed its work in
the summer of 2004, the Commission submitted a ‘Report
on archives in the enlarged European Union (2
)’ to the
Council of Ministers in February 2005.
The report addresses the situation of public archives in the
Member States and the institutions of the European Union
and their probable evolution in the years ahead against the
background of enlargement. It suggests ways of improving
document and archives management and archive services
for the citizens of the European Union. The report contains
a number of orientations for increased cooperation
between archives as well as suggestions for priority actions.
The proposed priority actions are described in the executive
summary of the report. They include measures to promote
preservation and prevent damage as well as measures to
prevent theft and facilitate the recovery of stolen documents.
The report suggests strengthening European interdisciplinary
cooperation on electronic archives and promoting
the exchange of information with regard to national
and European legislation that is relevant for archives. It furthermore
proposes the creation of an EU gateway to the
archival heritage of the enlarged Union in order to provide
easier, transborder access to archives for EU citizens.
The priority actions will be implemented through enhanced
coordination, information sharing and exchange of best
practice. The report proposes the creation of a European
Archives Group with experts from the EU Member States
and EU institutions to help ensure enhanced cooperation
and coordination, on the basis of consensus and in full
respect of the principle of subsidiarity.
The text of the resolution of 6 May 2003 and the executive
summary of the report are published below.
Report on archives in the
enlarged European Union.
Opportunities for future
action: priorities
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY (3
)
A. BACKGROUND
In response to the request of the Council of Ministers of the
European Union through their resolution of 6 May 2003
(2003/C 113/02) on archives in Member States and in particular
points 8 (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) and 9, the executive
summary addresses the situation of public archives in the
Member States, taking into particular account the enlargement
of the European Union and the probable evolution of
documents and archives
management and archive
services in the future. It
suggests ways of improving
document and
archives management and
public services for the citizens
of the European
Union, taking into account
the new technologies.
Based on the evidence in
the chapters of the present
report prepared by the
national experts group,
the following priority
actions are proposed,
together with a number of
other proposed actions
which will also require
consideration and action
by the Member States and
the EU institutions over
the next three years. The
proposed priority actions
are at the beginning of
each chapter and are
amalgamated in tabular
form in Annex 3 of the
present report.
The proposed priority
actions are given here in
summary form. They
include measures to prevent,
limit or restore damage of documents to or loss of
archives through natural and other catastrophes, to improve
the preservation of documents and archives, including
archive buildings, to strengthen collaboration on the authenticity,
long-term preservation and accessibility of electronic
documents and archives. The summary also suggests measures
to be taken against theft and arrangements to be put in
place for the recovery of stolen documents. It emphasises the
importance of the contribution archives make to the democratic
functioning of our societies by means of appropriate
legislation and standards. It furthermore proposes the creation
of an EU gateway to the archival heritage of the newly
enlarged Union. All these actions are to be implemented
through enhancing coordination, information sharing and
exchange of good practice at European level and with Member
States through an official coordinating group.
Account has been taken of desirability of further integrating
these proposed actions with other European level action
plans.
B. SUMMARY OF PROPOSED MAIN ACTIONS
Proposed Priority Action 1
Preservation and damage prevention for archives in Europe
(Council resolution of 6 May 2003, point 8c 1)
1.1 Measures for the prevention of damage to archives
through natural and other catastrophes:
— develop a model action plan for preventing and recovering
from catastrophes;
— explore the possibility for setting up specialised central
laboratories for transborder emergencies;
— establish rapid response teams for damage assessment.
1.2 Preservation and restoration of documents and
archives:
— reinforce coordination measures and exchange of
expertise to establish an EU programme on the restoration
of damaged documents and archives in Europe;
— archives purpose buildings; standards and specifications
at national and European levels to be updated
and applied in the renewal of archival buildings and of
repositories in government buildings or in new buildings
by an interdisciplinary working group of the EU
Member States and institutions.
Proposed Priority Action 2
Reinforcement of European interdisciplinary cooperation on
electronic documents and archives (Council resolution of 6
May 2003, point 8c 2)
2.1. Implement Europe-wide collaboration for establishing
authenticity, long-term preservation and availability of
electronic documents and archives.
2.2. Update, revise and extend the present requirements for
the establishment of electronic document (records)
systems such as MoReq for better administration in the
public sector so that the document becomes the official
norm/and or specification in the European Union. This
is of particular concern to all Member States especially
the new States.
2.3. Reinforcement of DLM network and forum/ European
Economic Interest Group (EEIG). Funding is needed
both for further development and for translations and
the organisation of the DLM Forum in Budapest 2005.
Proposed Priority Action 3
Creation and maintenance of an Internet gateway to documents
and archives in Europe (Council resolution of 6 May
2003, points 8b and 8e)
3.1. To provide an Internet/web gateway to documents and
archives for EU citizens.
Given the development of the Internet and the web
and the success of some Member States (see part 6 of
the report) in providing such information for millions
of citizens, young people and children, a gateway
should be designed and implemented. This would be
in line with related developments in the European
information world.
This would provide improved access, in combination
with improvements in reading rooms, to these resources
for scholarship, and learning and information.
(1
) OJ C113, 13.5.2003.
(2
) COM(2005) 52, see also Bulletin EU 1/2-2005, pt. 8, Information
and Communication.
(3
) Commission of the European Communities,
COM(2005) 52 final, Brussels, 18.2.2005.
continued on page 7
Council resolution of
6 May 2003 on archives in
the Member States
(2003/C 113/02) (1
)
THE COUNCIL OF THE EUROPEAN UNION,
1. RECALLING the Council resolution of 14 November
1991 on arrangements concerning archives (1 (2
)) as
well as the Council conclusions of 17 June 1994 concerning
greater cooperation in the field of archives
(3
)),
2. RECALLING the report of the group of experts on the
coordination of archives in the European Union published
in 1994,
3. TAKING INTO ACCOUNT the ongoing activities related
to public access to documents and archives of the
European Union,
4. STRESSES the importance of archives for the understanding
of the history and culture of Europe,
5. STRESSES that well kept and accessible archives contribute
to the democratic functioning of our societies,
particularly during a period of major change in
Europe,
6. CONSIDERS that special attention should be paid to
the challenges for archive management in the context
of the enlargement of the Union,
7. CONSIDERS that further development is needed in
ICT applications and solutions in the field of archives,
8. INVITES THE COMMISSION to convene a group of
experts representative also of acceding countries,
appointed on the proposal of the relevant national
authorities, to address the following:
(a) the situation of the public archives in the Member
States of the European Union, including various
aspects of the probable evolution of archives over the
forthcoming years, taking into particular account the
enlargement of the European Union;
(b) the consequences of the developments which have
occurred in recent years in the field of archives,
including particularly the development of new tech-
nologies;
(c) promotion of concrete activities, such as
— the encouragement of appropriate measures to prevent
damage to archives through catastrophes like
flooding and to restore such documents and
archives, and
— the strengthening of Europe-wide collaboration on
the authenticity, long-term preservation and availability
of electronic documents and archives;
(d) enhancing coordination, information sharing and
exchanging of good practice between the archives
services;
(e) possibilities of further integration of the work of this
expert group with other relevant activities in this
field at European level, in particular the action plan
eEurope.
9. INVITES THE COMMISSION to submit a report on
this work, including orientations for increased future
cooperation on archives at European level, to the
Council before the middle of 2004.
(1
) Official Journal of the European Union, C 113/2,
13.5.2003.
(2
) OJ C 314, 5.12.1991, p. 2.
(3
) OJ C 235, 23.8.1994.Archives damaged by flooding.
Archival storage area: security compartments, compact
shelving.
REPORT ON ARCHIVES IN THE ENLARGED
EUROPEAN UNION
continued on page 9
7
Proposed Priority Action 4
EU and national legislation relevant to management and
access to documents and archives (Council resolution of 6
May 2003, points 8a and 8d)
4.1. As both proposals for EU and national laws often have
unforeseen implications for the management of documents
and archives, it is critical for the citizens of the
Member States that the full implications are known at
an early stage to facilitate the preservation of and
access to documents and archives. Therefore, draft legislation
on documents and archives and related laws at
European and national levels should be monitored,
with a view to allowing the European archival profession
to contribute its expertise where needed.
4.2. In order to support the above, there is a need to have
an in-depth study of archival and related legislation at
both EU and national levels; the creation of a database
on archival and related legislation within the EU; the
translation of national archival and related legislation
into English, French and German and, where needed,
into other official EU languages through the relevant
national archives in order to promote a better mutual
understanding of this legislation. This proposal takes
into account other ongoing work by the Council of
Europe and the European branch of International
Council on Archives (EURBICA) and seeks to systematise
it.
Proposed Priority Action 5
Theft of archival documents
5.1. Measures against theft of archival documents and the
recovery of stolen archives in the EU should be examined
and improved. Develop an action plan on the
basis of a questionnaire with a view to proposing
improvements.
C. CREATION OF AN OFFICIAL ARCHIVISTS COMMITTEE
(Council resolution of 6 May 2003, points 8d, 8e and 9)
6.1. Creation of an official Archivists Group of the EU Member
States and EU institutions. This committee should
exchange information and best practices and ensure by
consensus, and respecting the principle of subsidiarity,
the enhanced coordination of archival work in Europe
as described above. It should meet twice a year or as
necessary.
6.2 To set up a programme for an initial three years to
address the issues raised by the Council of Ministers’
resolution (6 May 2003) and to consider its progress
and disseminate the results and best practice improvements
for the use of Member States and institutions of
the European Union.
6.3. An evaluation to be carried out at the end of three years
with a view to reporting to Ministers of Council of the
EU on the results and the considered follow-up actions.
Whilst it is possible to trace the origins of some present-day
public archives back to the second half of the 19th century,
the basic structure of Slovenia’s current archival public service
is the product of the archival system that has developed since
World War II. In 1945, the National Government of Slovenia
established the Central State Archive, which prior to that
operated as the State archive within the Carniolan Provincial
Museum in Ljubljana. The Yugoslav Federal Act on State
Archives in 1950 gave rise to the establishment of the so-called
‘municipal archives’, which are nowadays known as regional
archives (Maribor in 1952, Ljubljana in 1955, Koper in 1956
and Nova Gorica in 1972). Between 1953 and 1990, the central
archive was renamed several times but since 1991, after
Slovene independence, it has been known as the Archive of
the Republic of Slovenia (ARS). In 1990, after the political
changes, the so-called ‘special archives’ were merged with
the national archives. These ‘special archives’ were the Historical
Archive of the Central Committee of the Slovenian League
of Communists (in 1990), the former Archive of the Institute
of the History of the Labour Movement (in 1992) and the
Archive of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (in 1998) which kept
records of the National Security Agency.
The structure of the public archives
sector
The present-day network of Slovenian archival public services
comprises:
— the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia
(http://www.gov.si/ars/)
— the Regional Archive Maribor
(http://www.pokarh-mb.si/)
— the Historical Archive Ljubljana
(http://www.zal-lj.si/index.htm)
— the Historical Archive Ptuj
(http://www2.arnes.si/~mbzgarhp1/GLAV1.HTM)
— the Historical Archive Celje
(http://www.zgarhiv.celje.si/)
— the Regional Archive Koper
(http://www.arhiv-koper.si/)
— the Regional Archive Nova Gorica
(http://www.pa-ng.si/)
The Slovenian Film Archive (SFA) is a department of the
ARS, established in 1968 on the basis of the first Slovenian
archival act that defined film material as archival material. It
was founded in the ARS due to the nature of the film material,
the expensive equipment required for its maintenance
and the need for the training of staff.
Within the ARS, there exists the Archival Centre for Professional
Development, whose duty is to carry out research
projects in archival science. It conducts international cooperation
with archival organisations and oversees the translation
of foreign scientific literature into Slovene. The publishing
activity of the Centre and the ARS (as well as of all
archival organisations in Slovenia) is very intense. The ARS
alone issues up to 14 independent publications a year and
some publications are produced in cooperation with the
Slovene Archival Association.
Special archives: The Archives and Archival Institutions Act
of 1997 allowed certain institutions to set up archival services
for their own needs. These include the Historical
Archive and Museum of the University of Ljubljana and the
Archive of the Institute for Slovenian Emigration Studies at
the Scientific Research Centre of the Slovenian Academy of
Sciences and Arts. The archives of the Roman Catholic
Church are also categorised as special archives and they are
housed in three institutions, the Archdiocesan Archives in
Ljubljana and the Diocesan Archives in Maribor and Koper,
respectively. The archival legislation of 1997 defines the
holdings of the archives of the Roman Catholic Church as
private archives. In view of their cultural significance, the
Ministry of Culture provides a part of the funds for their
activities.
The Archival Association of Slovenia (AAS
http://www.arhivsko-drustvo.si/) was established in 1954
and has over 250 members. It has organised around 40
archive conventions and the proceedings of these conventions
have been published. Since 1978, it has been a copublisher
of a professional journal ARHIVI (The archives)
which is the journal of the association. The journal VIRI
(Documents) contains reproductions of historical documents
with commentaries from experts. Since 1980, there
have been 17 issues published with each issue concentrating
on a different historical theme.
Status of archival organisations and
archival legislation
The ARS and six regional archival institutions constitute the
public archival service. The ARS is an administrative institution
within the organisational structure of the Ministry of
Culture, therefore its duties are imposed by the Organisation
and Competence of Ministries Act (1
). The six regional
archives were founded by the State and enjoy the status of
public institutions. They are dependent on the Ministry of
Culture for financial support and programmes. The ARS carries
out professional and administrative tasks relating to the
preservation of archives that are of national importance.
The ARS plays a crucial role in relation to professional guidance
and issuing recommendations.
Due to the complexity of archival activity which affects State
administration to a certain degree, it is necessary to have
separate, independent legislation relating to archival management.
The new law on archives, the Archives and
Archival Institutions Act (AAIA) (2
) is in compliance with
Unesco guidelines and with European recommendations
and follows the example of legislation of other European
countries such as Denmark and Germany. In line with most
European legislation on archives, the AAIA includes a disposition
making archival material accessible 30 years after it
was created.
The major change that was introduced by the new law was
the separation of public and private archives, leading to
changes in the organisation of the public archival service. In
the wake of the socio-political changes of 1991, there was a
need to redefine stipulations regarding the accessibility of
materials relating to the legal bodies and organisations of
the former Socialist Republic of Slovenia (the majority of
which were already stored in competent archival institutions),
taking into account amongst other things personal
data protection. The Minister of Culture adopted seven bylaws
in 1999, which provide detailed regulations for certain
specific fields of archival activity which include preservation,
use of public archives, maintenance of archival registers,
professional requirements for archival employees in
public institutions, selection and transfer of public archives,
dealing with private archives, rules on traineeship and proficiency
examinations.
The new Archives Act of 1997 changed the definition of
property. Public archives constitutes public property and
private archives constitutes private property. The term ‘public
archives’ does not imply that these archives are accessible
to the public, but that they were created in the public
sector (by entities under public law). The jurisdiction in the
public archival service is divided between the ARS and
regional archives. The ARS protects the public archives of
State authorities, of bodies exercising public authority
and/or public services provided by the State, of the Bank of
Slovenia, of State and public funds, of agencies and other
legal persons established by the State and/or whose activities
cover the entire national territory.
Regional archives have similar jurisdiction at regional level.
In order to preserve private archives, it is very important to
stimulate the private sector to protect private archival material,
especially if it is under a preservation order, as well as
to promote investment in cultural heritage, all of which will
provide tax benefits to the owners. The duties of private
owners are (besides those outlined in the AAIA), stipulated
in the rules on dealing with private archives material (3
).
Use and accessibility of
archival holdings
The use and accessibility of archival holdings depends on
the relevant archival legislation (AAIA), internal regulations
of archival institutions and, in the case of private record
groups and collections, the stipulations of the persons who
transferred them. The use of archival holdings is regulated
by the rules on the use of public archives in archival institutions
(4
). In accordance with those rules, archival institutions
have internal regulations for the operation of research
rooms. Archival material is available for use unless it is classified
as confidential. Archival material in Slovenia may be
used for scientific research, cultural, educational, legal and
business purposes. It is available to legal and natural persons
provided they prove legal interest. Foreign citizens can
obtain access to archival material under the same conditions
as the citizens of Slovenia.
There are access restrictions in force for personal data and
data pertaining to the privacy of individuals, as stipulated
by the Personal Data Protection Act (5
) and Article 41 of the
AAIA. The inaccessibility of archive material due to the sensitivity
of its contents is also stipulated by the AAIA.
Public archives that cannot be opened to the general public
at the time of their creation are available for research
after 30 years. Public archives containing data relating to
defence and international affairs, national security, including
the maintenance of law and order and economic interests
of the country are available for research 40 years after
their creation. These restrictions apply to the archives created
after the enactment of the Constitution of the Republic
of Slovenia, i.e. since 23 December 1991 (AAIA, Article 65).
(1
) Official Gazette of RS, No. 71/94 and 47/97.
(2
) Official Gazette of RS, No. 20/97. The act is available in English
on: http://www.sigov.si/ars/1a.htm (see: Legislation).
(3) Official Gazette of RS, No. 59/1999.
(4
) Official Gazette of RS, No. 59/1999.
(5
) Official Gazette of RS, No. 59/99, 57/2001 and 59/2001.
ORGANISATION OF SLOVENE PUBLIC ARCHIVES SECTOR
The building of the Archive of the Republic of Slovenia.
continued on page 11
8
continued from page 5
which is commercially available as INERGEN.
Research area
The operational part of the premises is located on
the other side of the depository blocks. Its communication
centre is in a huge lobby (610 m2
)
shaped like a right-angled triangle. All the spaces
designed for the public are accessible from here.
The spacious search room of the NA occupies the
entire north half of the storey. The search room
has a capacity to allow for 91 researchers and of
these reader spaces, 10 are larger tables where
large format archival material such as maps and
plans can be studied. In the search room, there are
also microfilm readers and places to allow for the
study of audio- and video records. Natural daylight
is provided through windows along two walls and
through ceiling windows. On the other side of the
entrance, there is an elevated consulting and information
desk and one area where scholars may
consult the guides to the collections. These finding
aids will be fully converted into digital form. When
that status is achieved, scholars shall be able to
send their requests for archives electronically.
The retrieval of archival materials from the repository
rooms is done through a corridor, which is
closed to the public, to one of the reservation storage
areas. Archives staff issue the archival material
to the researchers, they maintain a record of
what documents have been consulted and they
hold records until the researcher is finished with
them. There is a copy room directly accessible from
the search room and this is where documents that
are to be copied are delivered.
The search room of RSA is designed for 54 scholars
and there are 17 places at the reading
machines. It has an area of 187.2 m2
and it has
easy access to four stores.
Public areas
There are three other publicly accessible areas. The
conference hall which is arranged like an
amphitheatre (372.5 m2
) has a graduated
descending storey and it has a capacity to hold
more than 200 people. The lecture room of NA is
designed to hold 97 people (131.7 m2
) and is
freely accessible from the lobby. In contrast to the
conference hall, it only has artificial light. The exhibition
hall (206.5 m2
) also has artificial light and
here occasional exhibitions mostly of archival materials
are installed. The needs of RSA are satisfied
by one multi-purpose hall that holds 64 people
(113 m2
) and it is accessed from the lobby.
Reference library
The library of NA occupies the entire second storey
of the office-operation building. Readers may enter
the reading hall (428.4 m2
) and reference library
through the large lending room only. The reading
room has almost exactly the same triangular layout
as the lobby underneath and it offers access
to a reading area where there are newspapers and
new books. In the north wing of the building,
other workplaces of the library are not accessible
to the public. Various offices of different sizes are
located on the second, third and most of the
fourth stories. The office of NA director is also combined
with another small arrangement room.
Technical areas
On the third storey, there is a large room (49.2
m2
) which is used by the department that specialises
in the design of electronic archival finding aids
and the digital conversion of hard copy finding
aids. At present, this area is also being used for
the acquisition of electronic documents.
Part of the fourth storey and the entire fifth storey
are occupied by studios for conservation, restoration
and reprographic work of the NA. The idea of
these studios came from the Centre for Preservation
of the Unified Archive Holdings of the Czech
Republic. On the fourth storey, there are three
photography studios (27.9 m2
, 42.7 m2
and 51.7
m2
). The smaller of the two main laboratories is
equipped with an HERCO AR-100 device that allows
for the de-acidification and neutralisation of paper.
Conclusion
The building has been occupied for almost five
years and it has proven to be highly satisfactory.
There have been some disadvantages which have
become obvious e.g. the arrangement rooms could
have been larger. Also, the working conditions in
the acquisition rooms do not allow for a longer
stay than is necessary for the archivists. This has
meant that the functions of these arrangement
rooms are limited to the temporary storing of
archival material before they are moved to the permanent
storage areas or are sent to be decontaminated.
However, overall the building has proved to
be a success.
Dr Tomáš Kaline
State Central Archives in Prague
Archivní 4
CZ-149 01 Praha 4 — Chodovec
Tel. (420) 974 84 73 48
na5@mvcr.cz or na5a@mvcr.cz
http://www.nzcr.cz
The earliest references to archives in the Slovak Republic
relate to the municipal archives in the 13th century. The
archives of reliable posts (loca credibilia) that were established
at the beginning of the 13th century fulfilled the
function of notary public. The County Archives (a county is
an historical territorial unit that relates to an administrative
authority) are mentioned for the first time at the end of the
16th century and that of ‘county archivist’ at the end of
18th century. The most extensive collections of private
archives are those of landowner’s estates because these
records acted as an insurance with regard to their property
and rights. In Bratislava in 1765, the Queen of Hungary,
Maria Theresa, established the Archivum Regni as the first
official archives of the Kingdom of Hungary. These archives
were moved to Budapest in 1885.
The legal basis of Slovakian archives
services
The origin of the Czechoslovak Republic (1918) contributed
to the organisation of the system of State care for archives.
In 1919, the responsibility for the administration of archives
was granted to the State authorities within the structure of
Interior Affairs. In 1953, two bodies were established that
related to the administration of archives in the State. Firstly,
the Administration of Archives based in the Ministry of
the Interior in Prague and secondly, the Slovak Archives
Administration that was based in the Commissionery of
Interior in Bratislava. The first unified system of archives
administration in the Czechoslovak Republic was based on
the government order on archives in 1954. Since January
1969, when the Czechoslovak Republic became a Federal
State, the Slovak Archives Administration has been under
the authority of the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Repub-
lic.
In the Slovak Republic, the first act relating to archives
administration was passed in 1975 and it was amended in
1991. On 1 January 2003, a new act on archives and current
records and amendments to previous acts came into force.
At the same time, the regulatory text concerning the
appraisal of current records, the transfer of archives, the
protection of archives and access to archives that was issued
by the Ministry came into force (this text is accessible
online, there is no English language version
www.civil.gov.sk/Z_files/ZAKON.HTM).
The State authority that is responsible for archives administration
is the Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic. The
basic responsibilities and major functions of the Ministry
with respect to archives administration is to issue legislation
and professional standards and to control the application of
the legislation. The Ministry of the Interior also has the
authority to establish, organise and control the State
Archives and to coordinate the activities of other archives
services. In certain cases, the Ministry acts as the appellate
authority in appeal cases where a decision has been made
to limit or refuse access to certain archives. The Ministry
has responsibilities in the area of export and/or import of
cultural objects and in relation to the return of unlawfully
removed cultural objects. The Ministry has the authority to
impose penalties (fines) in cases where this act has been
violated.
The basic provisions of the new act characterise archives as
being unique and irreplaceable in the context of the cultural
heritage of the Slovak Republic. The transfer of archives to
an archives service, their preservation and providing access
to them is in the public interest. The State is responsible for
the care of archives and everyone is obliged to cooperate in
fulfilling this responsibility. Based upon these facts, a new
term has been introduced ‘Archival heritage of the Slovak
Republic’. To underline the significance of the records and
the records creators, the obligations and rights of the
records creators are described when the archives are transferred
to an archives service. There is an explanation of the
decisive role the State Archives plays in the appraisal of the
documentary value of the records and information is given
about the transfer of the archives.
There are descriptions of how the archives are structured,
the functions that led to the creation of the archives and
what the rights and obligations are of the records creators
and of those who possess records.
The organisation of archives services
in the Slovak Republic
In the Slovak Republic, there are archives collections from
both the public and private sectors. The public archives are
the State Archives, the local-government authorities
archives (local can mean both municipal and regional), the
archives of other public legal entities and the archives of private
entities that carry out tasks within the public administration.
Private archives are the archives of private individuals
or bodies.
The State Archives of Slovakia are the State central archives
and the State archives with regional territorial authority
whose offices (branches) have been established by the
Ministry. In the State Archives, there are 22 345 archival
fonds which occupy 157 000 linear metres. There are more
than 4 500 finding aids available and in the years 2000 to
2001, the guides to the archival fonds and collections were
published. The contact details of the archives services such
as addresses, telephone and fax numbers and lists of fonds
and collections can be found online at:
www.civil.gov.sk/ARCH/archivy1_03.htm and
www.civil.gov.sk/Z_files/ARCH.HTM.
There are two central State archives in the Slovak Republic,
the Slovak National Archives in Bratislava and the State
Central Mining Archives in Banská Štiavnica. There are
seven State archives with regional territorial competence
and they are located in Banská Bystrica, Bratislava, Bytča,
Košice, Levoča, Nitra and Prešov. These archives services
have 37 offices (branches) located in the districts. The
archives of the capital of the Slovak Republic, Bratislava is
also the State Archives with regional competence for
Bratislava.
The Slovak National Archives (http://www.civil.gov.sk/
SNARCHIV/) is the most important and the largest public
archives service in the Slovak Republic. Its main responsibility
is to acquire, preserve, process and make available to the public
the archives that originated from the activities of the central
government authorities of the Slovak Republic and its
legal predecessors. In addition, it provides storage facilities for
archives that are of nationwide importance, as well as those
archives that were acquired as gifts and purchases or as a
result of deposit agreements. At the same time, the Slovak
National Archives fulfils the function of being the main
research and training centre that specialises in archival studies
and the preservation of archives.
ARCHIVES IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC
A R C H I V E S I N T H E N E W M E M B E R S T A T E S
continued on page 10
Legal basis of Czech archives
Archiving in the Czech Republic is governed by various
pieces of legislation. Act No 499/2004 Coll. relates to
archives and records management and contains amendments
to previous legislation. In addition, there are also
two implementation norms, decree No 645/2004 Coll.,
concerning the realisation of some provisions of the act on
archives and records management and decree No
646/2004 Coll., which contains rules on the practice of
records management.
Public archives
The network of State-owned archives, which are administrative
offices and administrative units of State, are created by
the National Archives in Prague and the seven State regional
archives (1
). Within the organisation of the State regional
archives, there are also 72 district archives.
Specialised archives services also belong to the public
archives structure. There are currently 24 such services.
These include archives related to State administration such
as the Archives of the President of the Czech Republic.
There are also the archives of scientific institutions, archives
in the cultural sphere, archives services in the university and
higher-education sector, archives of the mass-mediaand
archives in the economic sphere, including the Archives of
the Czech National Bank.
Archives relating to security, established inside the Ministry
of the Interior, the National Security Office and the Security
Information Service and Office for International Contacts
are in a similar position.
The self-governing administrative units, communities, carry
out their own respective self-governing administrative
tasks. Only five cities have their own archives services,
Prague, Brno, Ostrava, Plzeˇn and Ústí nad Labem. All other
self-governing administrative units deposit their archival
material in State-owned archives.
Private archives
Within the sphere of private archives there are some 800
company archives, archives of non-Catholic churches and
archives of political parties. These archival collections
include a total of 144 475 archive groups amounting to
711 181 linear kilometres of records. The oldest archival
material is of foreign provenance and dates back to the sixth
century. The earliest archival records of domestic origin
date from the 10th century. All archival collections are centrally
recorded with the Archives Administration Department
of the Ministry of the Interior. This documentation is
accessible in electronic form at www.mvcr.cz/archivy/peva.
Information on the contents of these archival collections
can be acquired from printed guidebooks which have been
issued by all State regional archives. The latest such title is
the six-volume Guide to Archival Records and Collections of
the State Central Archives in Prague, National Archives Now
(Pruvodce po archivnich fondech a sbirkach Statniho
ustredního archivu v Praze), which appeared, one volume
at a time, between 1987 and 2003.
The National Archives
The National Archives in Prague houses archival records
arising from the activities of central State institutions. These
institutions are the supreme bodies of the old Czech State
ARCHIVES IN THE CZECH REPUBLIC
(1
) These are the Moravian Provincial Archives, the Provincial
Archives in Opava and State Regional Archives in Prague, Trebon,
Plzen, Litomerice and Zamrsk.
A folio from a medieval Slovak manuscript.
and the central organs of the Czechoslovak Republic, from
1918 to 1939 and 1945 to 1968, the Czech-Slovak Federal
Republic, from 1968 to 1992, and the Czech Republic dating
from 1968 to the present. It also includes the records
dating from the period of the Nazi Protectorate and the German
occupation administration as well as the Czechoslovak
government-in-exile in the period 1939 to 1945. Also kept in
the central archives is archival material obtained through
the separation of the country’s archives from those of Austria
after 1918 and archival records of State and self-governing
bodies of the Czech lands until 1949.
This institution preserves archives of families of European significance
such as those of the Tuscany branch of the Habsburgs
and the Metternich records. There are certain ecclesiastical collections,
for example the archives of the Prague archbishopric
(Archiv prazského arcibiskupství), archives of collegiate chapters
in Prague and archives of monastic provinces and Prague
monasteries. The most important collection of political-party
archives is known as ‘The Central Organs of the Communist
Party of Czechoslovakia’ and ‘The Sudeten German Party’. The
National Archives also holds a number of noteworthy collections
of private archives and archives from various associations.
The new building of the National Archives and central
Bohemia’s Regional State Archives in Chodovec, Prague.
continued from page 7
9
Stipulations regarding the accessibility of material
which were set by legal bodies and organisations
of the former SFRY as well as the stipulations
relating to the confidentiality of materials
from the period of the former SFRY are declared
null and void by the Archival Act. Archival material
relating to former social and political organisations
is equally accessible with the exception
of data pertaining to the privacy of individuals.
Other acts that relate to the archival field such
as the Classified Information Act and the Public
Information Accessibility Act (6
) apply to the
accessibility of State records that do not contain
classified information.
The changes in the socioeconomic system and in
property relations in the Republic of Slovenia
resulted in a massive increase in the use of
archival material, mainly for the purpose of issuing
various certificates for administrative and
legal procedures. The public archives have therefore
been heavily burdened in the last few years.
Data relating to the use of public archives
between 1996 and 2001 show a total number
of visitors numbering 108 537 and the total
number of issued certificates was 95 916. Annually,
there were between 13 000 and 29 000
visitors while 10 000 and 29 000 certificates
were issued. Certificates and certified copies
were issued for different reasons such as war
casualties and victims of the post-war period,
war damage, denationalisation, certifying years
of service, education, construction projects and
citizenship.
Film records in the Film Archive of Slovenia can
be used in compliance with the provisions of the
Copyright and Related Rights Act (7
). Users have
to observe moral and material rights as well as
other rights. The SFA, however, is obliged to
maintain a register of loans and researchers
have to pay appropriate copyrights fees. The SFA
offers the following services, the rental of
archival film material for screening at festivals
and congresses (the whole film), the rental of
selected archival film material (such as selected
quotations or inserts) for various purposes and
exchanges between film archives and cinematheques.
More information can be obtained at
http://www.sigov.si/ars/1a.htm (see Slovene
Film Archive).
What is kept in
Slovene archival
institutions?
The seven public archives services hold 10 238
record groups and collections or 50 207 written
records. As far as other records are concerned,
the public archives hold 4 547 films, 950 video
recordings, 22 817 rolls of microfilms and 7 394
microfiches, 289 599 photographs and 540
sound recordings. The oldest archival materials
are manuscripts from the ninth century and a
collection of charters from the 12th century
onwards which are preserved in the ARS, as well
as charters from the middle of the 13th century
which are kept in the municipal archives of
Piran. The archival material kept in Slovenian
archival institutions can be classified according to
time period, before 1848, from 1848 until 1945
and after 1945. As German was the official language
until 1882, the majority of the older
archives in most of the Slovenian archives services
are in German and written in Gothic characters.
More information can be obtained from the
ARS guidebook in Slovene on
http://www.sigov.si/ars/1a.htm (see data-
base).
Since 1992, the ARS has been a Category A
member of the International Council on Archives
(ICA) and the Slovene Archives Association is a
Category B member of the ICA. The Slovene Film
Archive is a founding member of the Association
of European Film Archives (ACE), and a member
of the International Federation of Film Archives
(FIAF).
Natalija Glazar, MA
Counsellor to Director Mr Vladimir ZUMER
Archive of the Republic of Slovenia
Zvezdarska 1,
SLO-1127 Ljubljana
Tel. (386-1) 241 42 12
E-mail: natalija.glazar@gov.si
www.gov.si
(6
) Official Gazette of RS, No.
87/2001 and 24/2003.
(7
) Official Gazette of RS, No.
21/95.
Cypriot archival law
The Public Record Office of Cyprus was established in 1978
under the Public Record Law, 1972 to provide for the preservation
of public records. In 1991, the Public Record Office
was renamed and it became the State Archives as a result of
the new State Archives Law, which repealed the Public
Record Law, 1972. The State Archives is a service which
operates under the authority of the Ministry of Justice and
Public Order.
Structure and function of the State
Archives service of Cyprus
The primary function of the State Archives is that it acts as a
place of deposit for public records that are transferred from
government departments and other bodies, which are subject
to the State Archives Law, and these records are permanently
kept for official use. The State Archives acts as a ‘common
service’ in relation to other government departments. It
also has the responsibility of holding and making available for
research these records to members of the public.
The State Archives, which operates under the overall direction
of the State Archivist, is organised in two divisions,
Records Administration and Records Services.
The Records Administration Division includes the services
which are responsible for supervising and coordinating
arrangements for the implementation of a Records Administration
Programme. This programme deals with the disposal,
selection and transfer of records, as well as other
aspects of records administration.
The Records Services Division includes all the services which
deal with the records that have been transferred to the State
Archives and these include:
Reading room Answering queries from official bodies
and members of the public, providing
guidance to researchers, both
national and non-national, who are
in the initial stages of their research
on how to conduct their research and
identify the records they need.
Editorial service Producing catalogues, indexes and
other means of reference for the
archival collections. Issuing publications
based on the records.
Repositories Ensuring the safety of the records
transferred and their availability.
Conservation unit Restoring decayed or damaged documents
to a usable condition.
Reprographic service Microfilming the original records for
safety and preventative conservation
purposes and processing orders for
photocopies placed by the researchers.
Training activities Participation in training programmes
for members of the civil service.
The quantity of records now stored in the State Archives
amounts to 3.88 linear kilometres of shelving. Some of
the principal archival holdings are the governors’ archives
and the secretariat archives dating from 1878 to 1960.
Other groups of records dating from pre and post 1960
are now permanently preserved in the State Archives.
Activities of the State Archives of
Cyprus
The State Archives of Cyprus has been a member of the
International Council on Archives since 1977 and of the
Association of Commonwealth Archivists and Record Managers
since 1986.
Since 1985, the State Archives of Cyprus, in an effort to
enrich its holdings with records of earlier historical periods
of the island, has been involved in an ongoing project
with the National Archives of England, Wales and the
United Kingdom, purchasing microfilms of colonial
records relating to Cyprus. Furthermore, in 1990 the
State Archives commenced a similar project, purchasing
microfilms and transcriptions of records relating to
Cyprus from the State Archives of Venice. This project has
now finished and a new one has commenced with the
Marciana Library in Venice.
With the beginning of the 21st century, we will all experience
exciting changes in our lives and work environment.
This is even more so for Cyprus who joined the united European
family and for the Cyprus State Archives that is about
to acquire a purpose-built premises. A lot has been accomplished
and yet a lot remains to be done in the new centu-
ry.
Efrosyni Parparinou
State Archivist
State Archives of Cyprus
Ministry of Justice and
Public Order
12 Ilioupoleos Street
CY-1461 Nicosia
E-mail: statearchives@sa.mjpo.gov.cy
The State archives system in Lithuania is centrally organised.
It is comprised of the Lithuanian Archives Department,
three State archives, two specialised archives and 10 regional
archives.
The Lithuanian Archives Department which operates under
the Government of the Republic of Lithuania is the highest
national authority in the field of records and archives management.
The Lithuanian Archives Department takes part in
the formulation and is responsible for the implementation
of national policy in the sphere of records management and
archives. It develops and issues mandatory and advisory
standards and regulations in order to ensure accessibility,
efficient management and control over public records
through the whole records ‘life cycle’, from their creation to
their ultimate disposition. Its director-general is appointed
by the prime minister.
Archives services in Lithuania
Although all archives services have to meet certain standards,
each archives service is unique and has its own tradi-
tions.
The Lithuanian State Historical Archives holds the most
important documents relating to Lithuanian history from
the 13th century up to the declaration of Independence of
Lithuania in 1918. This archives service also holds vital
records and civil registry records from 1918 up to the present
day. The archives holdings occupy over 16 kilometres of
shelf space.
The Lithuanian Central State Archives is the biggest archival
repository, which preserves records of State and local government,
religious communities, other public institutions
and individuals, dating from 1918 to 1990. The Sound and
Image Division preserves moving pictures, photographic
negatives and positives, sound recordings and videotapes.
This is the main repository of sound and image archives in
Lithuania. The archives holdings occupy approximately 31
kilometres of shelf space.
The Lithuanian Modern State Archives consults public sector
institutions with regard to records management and the
preservation of documents. It also accessions and preserves
documents produced by State institutions, public organisations
and individuals dating from 1990 onwards.
The Lithuanian Particular Archives preserves documents
that relate to the period when Lithuania was a Soviet
Republic. These include records from the former Lithuanian
SSR division of the KGB from 1940 to 1991, the Lithuanian
SSR Ministry of Interior from 1944 to 1990 and documents
of communistic and socialistic organisations that date from
the 19th century to 1991. These documents provide witness
to the genocide of the Lithuanian people during the period
of the Soviet occupation. These archives holdings occupy
approximately 18 kilometres of space.
The Lithuanian Archives of Literature and Art. This specialised
archives service acquires and preserves records that
were created by State institutions, public organisations and
private persons which reflect the development of culture
and art in Lithuania from the 16th century up to the present
day. The holdings comprise approximately 2.5 linear kilometres
of space.
Regional archives services, in accordance with the administrative
structure of Lithuania, preserve records of State and
local government, other public institutions and individuals
from 1945 up to the present day. Regional archives are also
involved in the supervision of records management within
local public institutions.
The legal basis of Lithuanian archives
services
The Republic of Lithuania’s law on archives was enacted in
1995. The law regulates the composition and structural
organisation of the system of State archives, the principles
of records management and regulations relating to the
preservation and access to documents. However, due to the
fast development of the information society and the reformation
of the public administration system in Lithuania,
this has necessitated a modernisation of archival and
records management legislation. A new law on archives
was passed in March 2004.
With a view to ensuring transparency and accountability of
the public administration, the State archives service plays
an important role in the processes of records management
in the public sector. In this respect, the State archives performs
control, in terms of the implementation of records
management regulations, in more than 2 300 institutions
and agencies. The annual acquisition of the State archives is
about 1 500 linear meters. Current holdings of all State
archives are comprised of over 102 kilometres of records.
Activities of the Lithuanian archives
services
Due to the different aspects associated with the restitution
of civil property rights, the State archives are heavily
involved in issuing certificates. Annually, they respond to
more than 70 000 enquires for official purposes.
The total number of staff (including technical and attendant
staff) in State archives is 496 employees.
Lithuanian archives are open to the public. Any person,
upon the presentation of an ID card, may have access to
archival records in the reading rooms. The total number of
seats for readers in State archives is 237. Researchers can use
finding aids to locate the records they are interested in and
the staff in the archives services provide assistance when it
is needed. Researchers can request copies, photographs,
digital images or microfilms of specified records.
In order to ensure faster access to archival information, it is
planned to launch the national archival database on the
Internet.
Mr Vidas Grigoraitis
Director-General
Lithuanian Archives Department
Mindaugo 8,
LT-2009 Vilnius
Tel. (370-5) 265 11 37
Fax (370-5) 265 23 14
E-mail arch.dep@archyvai.lt
Archives of Lithuania on the Internet:
http://www.archyvai.lt
THE STATE ARCHIVES OF CYPRUS
View of the ancient theatre of Curium at Limassol.
An enlistment notice for Cypriot men to join the army
during the Great War.
STATE ARCHIVES SERVICE IN LITHUANIA
The buildings complex of the Lithuanian Central State
Archives.
STATE ARCHIVES IN
HUNGARY
History of the Hungarian State
The Hungarian Kingdom was founded as a Christian power
in the Carpathian Basin in the year 1000, when Hungary’s
first King, Stephen was crowned. He established a Christian
hierarchy by founding 10 dioceses, two of which were archdioceses.
Among the heads of the dioceses, the archbishop
of Esztergom has remained the head of the Catholic Church
in Hungary ever since.
The organisation of the State was based upon the establishment
of the ‘counties’. Transylvania which was ruled by the
voivode along with Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmacia which
were ruled by the ‘banus’ belonged to the territory of the
Hungarian Kingdom. After the Mongolian devastation
(1241–42) a town developed on the Castle Hill on one of
the banks of the Danube, this settlement, Buda later
became the capital of Hungary.
In 1526, the Turks defeated the Hungarian army at Mohács,
and this started 150 years of Turkish occupation. In 1541, the
Turks also occupied Buda. Hungary was split into three parts.
The Habsburgs governed the western part of the country, the
central area was ruled by the Turks and the south-east Transylvanian
principality was for a long time the citadel of Hungarian
culture. After the Turkish rule, the Habsburg dynasty
reigned in the Hungarian Kingdom. In 1848–49, there was a
struggle for independence in the country but it was defeated.
In 1867, the Hungarians reached a compromise with the Habsburgs
and a double-centred monarchy
was established.
The sovereign States, Austria and
Hungary were ruled by one hereditary
Habsburg monarch. These
two States were to share three
‘common’ departments — Foreign
Affairs, Finance and Defence but
both States had their own defence
forces as well as a ‘common’ army.
In 1873, the three independent
settlements on the Danube —
Buda, Pest, and Obuda were unified
and the new capital, Budapest
became a European metropolis.
In 1918, Germany and its allies,
which included the Austro-Hungarian
monarchy, lost World War One
and the Habsburg monarchy disintegrated.
The ensuing peace treaty
reduced Hungary’s area by two
thirds and the population by one
third. After World War II, Soviet
troops occupied the country and in
1956 a revolution broke out against
the occupying power. The Hungarian
Republic was proclaimed in
1989 which meant the end of a 40year-long
totalitarian system in
Hungary and the withdrawal of the
Soviet troops. In 1990, a parliamentary
election was held. In 2004,
Hungary joined the European
Union.
continued on page 11
10
continued from page 8
The fonds and collections of the State Central Mining
Archives in Banská Štiavnica describe the historical
development of the mining and smelting industry. The
large collections of mining maps and plans that are
connected with the files are the most heavily consulted
archives.
In the seven State archives, there are the fonds of
regional importance that reflect the activities of the
State and public administration and there are collections
of archives from feudal domains and estates,
ecclesiastical archives, archives of forestry administration,
archives from economic and social organisations
and archives from societies. It is also worth noting that
their collections of parish registers date back to the
17th century.
The offices (branches) of the State Archives house
archives of district and local provenance. These
archives mainly come from the activities of the State
authorities and public administration. There are also
the historical archives of the towns and townlets, the
archives of the notary’s offices, courts of justice,
schools, organisations and societies that have local sig-
nificance.
The archives of the capital of the Slovak Republic,
Bratislava have a special position within the State
Archives because it is the keeper of great documentary
wealth and of a long archival tradition. This archives
service holds documents that date from 1245.
Researchers can study the medieval history of the
town by using the valuable collection of medieval
archives that date back to 1526 and by using the
series of official town books. These fonds provide valuable
information about the history of towns and
States of the central European area and countries that
are situated along the Danube.
The city of Košice has a municipal archives service. The
archive service holds well-known medieval fonds and
the earliest records date from the second half of the
13th century. The most valuable records are those
which relate to the Royal Chartered Town of Košice.
Within the structure of public archives, there are the
archives of public institutions, for example the Office
of the President of the Slovak Republic, the National
Council of the Slovak Republic, the Ministry of Foreign
Affairs of the Slovak Republic and the Ministry of
Defence of the Slovak Republic which holds the military
historical archives. Also in this category, there are
the central archives of geography and cartography, the
archives of the National Bank of Slovakia, the archives
of the Slovak Academy of Sciences, the archives of the
public universities, the archives of the Slovak National
Museum, the archives of the Slovak National Uprising,
the archives of the Slovak National Gallery and the
archives of public television, radio and film companies.
With reference to the act, private archives can be
established by private bodies or individuals. Within the
context of private archives, there are archives of the
churches, political parties and organisations that deal
with economics issues.
Access to archives
in the Slovak
Republic
In recent years, the rules that govern access to
archives have been heavily discussed within the international
archival community. Under the provisions of
the new Slovakian archival legislation, everyone has
the right to consult the archives and to request
extracts and copies from the archives. These equal
access rights have also been granted to non-national
users. There are no fees imposed in relation to the
consultation of the archives and the finding aids.
In general, the archives are open and they are not subject
to a closure period. All restrictions and exceptions
to access are strictly defined. These restrictions on
access are imposed to ensure the protection of significant
public interests, the rights of living persons, to
protect the archives and to fulfil access provisions that
form part of deposit agreements. The archives services
have the authority to refuse access to archives if
the researcher has broken any of the rules in force in
the reading room. Access to archives can also be
refused if the archives have not yet been professionally
catalogued.
The criteria that define the cases where access to
archives cannot be limited have also been outlined.
Access cannot be refused to the creators of the
archives or their successors, State authorities, self-governing
authorities and other legal entities that fulfil
tasks that have been granted by special acts. Access
cannot be refused to an applicant who is referred to
in the archives. Researchers can seek special permission
to gain access to restricted archives. If there is a
limitation or refusal to access certain archives, then
the archives service has to inform the researcher in
writing. The researcher has the right to submit an
appeal against the refusal to access the archives.
Dr Mária ˇSpanková
Slovak National Archives Administration
Ministry of the Interior of the Slovak
Republic
Krizkova 7
SK-81104 Bratislava 1
E-mail: archiv@mail.viapvt.sk
More information about the Slovak National Archives
can be found on the Internet at:
http://www.civil.gov.sk/SNARCHIV/
ARCHIVES IN
LATVIA
The starting point for the creation of a State archival system
was the foundation of the State Historical Archives of Latvia
in the autumn of 1919. The basis for this was the foundation
of an independent State, the Republic of Latvia, in 1918. The
Historical Archives successfully fulfilled its mission of gathering
the documentary heritage of the nation until the Soviet
occupation in 1940.
During the period of occupation, the management of the
archives of Latvia was included within the archival system of
the Soviet Union and subject to its regulations.
After the restoration of independence of the Republic of
Latvia in 1991, the archives of Latvia are developing as a
joint system. There is no national archives as a main archival
institution in Latvia. The State archival system consists of 15
State archives, a laboratory and a library and this system is
supervised by a directorate-general within the Ministry of
Culture (1
).
Of the 15 State archives mentioned above, four are situated
in Riga and 11 are regional archives. More detailed information
about the structure and other facts can be found on the
website www.arhivi.gov.lv.
The work of the Latvia State archives is based on the law ‘On
archives’, adopted on 26 March 1991 and amended on 4
November 1993, which defines the basic principles of
acquisition, preservation, access to and administration of
Latvia’s archives.
The State archives have accumulated a great number of
sources on political, social and cultural history, the oldest dating
back to the 13th century and totalling more than 135.6 linear
kilometers. To ensure the preservation and acquisition of
essential evidence, the archives oversee record management
within the State institutions and local administration.
The law ‘On archives’ foresees public access to the records.
Legislation provides for the opening of public archives without
any particular restrictions but with several exceptions in
the cases of national security, commercial sensitivity or personal
confidentiality. The most significant legislative acts
dealing with access to information are the law ‘On State
secret’ (1996), the Freedom of Information
Law (1998) and the Personal Data
Protection Law (2000). (English translations
of all these laws, except the law ‘On
State secret’ (1996), are available on the
website mentioned above). Documents
with a limited access can be used for
research purposes in accordance with the
existing regulations.
In the reading rooms of the State archives,
everyone can use the finding aids and
records without charge.
Each of the archives has an enquiry service
which deals with inquiries on social and
legal matters. These enquiry services can
provide certified copies of documents and
they undertake research and analysis of
archival files subject to set charges. There
are price lists in each of the archives that
outline the costs of these services.
The State Historical
Archives of Latvia
The Latvia State Historical Archive, which was founded in
1919, holds the majority of Latvian archives. The records of
the historical archives (more than six million files in 17 languages)
reflect the rich and dynamic history of this region,
a crossroads in eastern Europe, and can serve as a valuable
source for research of not only the history of Latvia but also
of Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and other nations.
The oldest record preserved in the Latvia State Historical
Archive dates as far back as 1220. The most valuable collections
are the collection of parchments and ancient paper
manuscripts, the documents relating to Livland and Courland
knighthood as well as the archives of estates, churches,
parishes and private persons. Attention should also be
given to the collection of cartographic documents dating
from 16th to 20th centuries.
The Latvia State Historical Archive also preserves the files of
the Latvian provisional government and the institutions of
the Republic of Latvia from the period 1920 to 1940, as well
as the documents issued by the administration of the Nazi
occupational regime during World War II (1940–44).
During the first 10 years of its activities, the archive was
located in Riga Castle. In 1931, it was moved to the building
on the left bank of the river Daugava, where it has been situated
ever since (2
).
In 1963, the State Audiovisual Archives of Latvia was founded
on the basis of the Department of Photo Documents that
was a department within the State historical archives. Since
its foundation, this archives service has accumulated approximately
24 000 films, 389 000 photographs and 28 000 audio
documents that date from the second half of the 19th century
up to the present day. The collection is constantly increasing
due to the close cooperation with mass media and other
producers of audiovisual documents (3
).
The State Archives of Latvia
The State Archives of Latvia is the second largest archive
after the State Historical Archives of Latvia. It was created in
1961 as a central archive for the accumulation of documents
created in the higher central State legislative and executive
institutions, as well as State enterprises. After the restoration
of independence of the Republic of Latvia in 1991, the
State Archives of Latvia continues to work with government
institutions and the municipality of Riga, overseeing the
process of record management and the acquisition of documents
in accordance with the legislative regulations. Furthermore,
the State Archives also deals with the appraisal
and preservation of the documentary holdings of privatised
and abolished organisations and enterprises from the Soviet
period. The State Archives also holds a group of sensitive
documents that relate to the previous repressive regime. In
the period 1991–92, files from the archives of the abolished
Latvia Communist Party and KGB were transferred to the
State Archives of Latvia (4
).
The regional archives
The regional archives were founded in the years 1963–64,
merging the small regional and municipal archives. The 11
regional State archives preserve the records of the local governmental
administration, enterprises, offices and organisations
that were created in the period of the Soviet occupational
regime (1944–91). An important part of the fonds
constitute the files of industrial and agricultural enterprises.
Today each regional archive continues to accept the files
transferred from the regional authorities to the centralised
archive depository. They also supervise records creation,
maintenance and disposal practices of operating agencies
within their regional administrative jurisdiction.
In 1993, special repositories were arranged for the preservation
of the personnel records from the privatised, abolished
and bankrupt State enterprises. This was to ensure that
these files were preserved and access to them was maintained
to allow for social guarantees. A special State
Archives of Personnel Files was founded in Riga in 1994 (5
).
Mrs Maija Aboltina
Senior Manager, Directorate-General of Latvia State
Archives
ˇS‚kūnu iela 11
LV-1050 Riga
Tel. (371) 77 21 25 39
E-mail: maija.aboltina@arhivi.lv
More information about the Latvian State archives can be
found on the Internet at: www.arhivi.gov.lv
A R C H I V E S I N T H E N E W M E M B E R S T A T E S
(1
) Director-General: Valdis Štāls, Šķūņu 11, LV-1050 Riga, tel.:
(371) 722 45 56, 722 65 32; fax (371) 721 39 94; e-mail: direk-
cija@arhivi.gov.lv
(2
) Director: Nikolajs Rižovs, Slokas 16, LV-1048 Riga, tel/fax (371)
61 24 06; tel. (371) 761 31 18; e-mail: histarch@com.latnet.lv
(3
) Director: Inta Kaņepāja, Šmerļa 5, LV-1006 Riga, tel. (371)752
98 22; fax (371) 752 99 54; e-mail: arhivs@arhivs.apollo.lv
(4
) Director: Daina Kļaviņa, Bezdelīgu 1, LV-1048 Riga,. tel. (371)
746 23 17; fax (371) 46 04 62; e-mail: lva@lvarhivs.gov.lv
(5
) Director: Dace Ozoliņa, Ata 1, LV-1012 Riga, tel. (371) 727 21
76; fax (371) 729 44 00, e-mail: pdva@arhivi.gov.lv
The building of the State Archives of Latvia.
The building of the National Archives of Hungary.
continued from page 8
11
Regional archives
The State regional archives hold archival collections
related to the district authorities of the State administration,
courts and State representative bodies. The
Moravian Provincial Archives in Brno preserves archival
collections arising from the functions of State and selfgoverning
bodies of the former Moravian and Moravian-Silesian
provinces. The Provincial Archives in
Opava holds archival material of the Silesian province.
The State Regional Archives in Litomerice retains
archival records of Roman Catholic bishoprics, chapters
and monasteries, as well as collections of parish and
civil birth and death registers. These archives services
also hold archival records of aristocratic families. From
an international perspective, there are archives of families
that originated in other countries, e.g. the Schwarzenberg
family archives are housed in Trebon, the
Coudenhove family archives are in Plzen, the archives
of the Rohans are in Litomerice which has a branch in
Decin, the archives of the Piccolominis are in Zamrsk
and the archives of the Dietrichstein family are in
Brno. In these regional archives, researchers will also
find records relating to aristocratic families’ landed
estates, State-owned enterprises, State-owned forests
and State-owned farms, dissolved production plants,
colleges, district branches of political parties and associations
and private archives.
Within the structure of the State regional archives,
there are State district archives which hold archival
collections pertaining to the county authorities of
the State administration, courts and State representative
bodies. With the exception of Prague, Brno,
Ostrava, Plzen and Usti nad Labem, communities
and towns deposit their archival records in county
archives. There are different types of archival collections
held in these county archives. These include
records from individual cooperative farms, community
enterprises and guilds; records relating to ecclesiastical
administration such as the archives of parishes,
deaneries and vicariates; archival records from all
types of educational establishments, except colleges;
records from hospitals and social services facilities as
well as archival collections of various groupings, e.g.
associations of volunteer firemen and of county and
local political-party branches.
Specialised archives
The holdings of archives services that have special
importance are reflected in the names of the individual
archives. Of particular interest are the Prague
Castle Archives which is a repository of the archive
and library of the Metropolitan Chapter of St Vitus
in Prague and possesses a rich collection of
medieval manuscripts and decrees. The National
Museum Archives holds large collections of medieval
and early modern decrees, folios and other documents,
as well as noteworthy collections of private
papers of 20th-century politicians and scientists.
Access to Czech
archives
The policy of Czech archives is that there is free
access to records which are over 30 years old except
for records that hold personal information of living
persons. To gain access to records which hold personal
information, the researcher has to obtain written
permission from the person to which the information
relates. Other archives which are not available
for research are those which have not been
processed by an expert or those which are in poor
physical condition and would be further damaged if
they were made available for research.
Czech and foreign researchers have equal access
rights to the archival records. To protect the most
valuable documents, micrographic copies are made
from which copies can be produced. If copies exist,
these are given to researchers in place of originals.
Only in justifiable scientific cases can the original
documents be given to researchers for research pur-
poses.
The National Archives, State regional archives and
some county archives, city archives and archives of
special importance are equipped with conservation
and restoration workshops and reprographic studios.
Each archive service has the facilities to make facsimile
copies of archival records for researchers.
The archives services have reference libraries. Some
of the services have extensive libraries and they hold
literature on history, archival science, auxiliary historical
sciences and related scientific fields and historical
book collections. The different archives services
undertake to publish miscellanies, yearbooks,
journals, editions and monographs from various disciplines
such as history, regional history, archiving,
history of administration and auxiliary historical sci-
ences.
Academic studies in the archival sciences at Bachelor
or Masters levels are offered at the universities
in Prague, Brno, Olomouc, Plzeň, Ceske Budejovice,
Hradec Kralove and Opava.
Dr Vacslav Babicka
Director of the Archives Administration
Ministry of the Interior of the Czech Republic
M. Horákové 133,
CZ-16621 Prague 6
Tel. (420) 984 81 11 11
E-mail: arch1@mvcr.cz
More information about the Czech archives can be
found on the Internet at:
www.mvcr.cz/archivy and
www.mvcr.cz/archivy/peva
Hungary’s archival holdings
The first Hungarian king, István I (Saint Stephen) issued
many charters, but only one original has survived, the
founding charter of the Benedictine monastery in Pannonhalma
(although its authenticity was questioned). The
Latin language was used in Hungary up to the middle of
the 19th century. The earliest extant written record in the
Hungarian language is the foundation charter of Tihany
Abbey dating from 1055.
From the 13th century onwards a respectable quantity of
archival material was created by the Royal Court. Included
amongst the records of the Royal Court are charters issued
by the king, by the Palatine and by the Lord Chief Justice.
Official records of the Royal Court were written in the Court
Chancellery and civil law cases were put in writing before
the ecclesiastical bodies entrusted with notarial functions.
Documents of the royal archives perished or were scattered
in the 16th century when the Ottoman Empire occupied the
greater part of Hungary. However, archives of families and
ecclesiastical bodies survived. This medieval archival material
was placed into a distinct collection at the end of the
19th century.
The National Archives of Hungary
The National Archives of Hungary was established in 1756
with the purpose of preserving the records of the prominent
families and the modern central state institutions. The
Archives was reorganised in 1875 and in 1923 the institution
moved into a newly built neo-Romanesque palace which was
specially designated for the storage of archives. Today the
three different buildings used by the National Archives hold
about 70 linear kilometres of records.
Finding aids (repertories, manuscript lists and indexes,
descriptive inventories and computer databases) help the
work of the researchers (for further details see the homepage
of the Hungarian National Archives: www.natarch.hu). The
National Archives has a microfilm collection, which mainly
contains safety and supplementary films of records the originals
of which are also held in the National Archives.
The National Archives publishes two archival journals, The
Proceedings of the Archives, and in cooperation with the
Association of Hungarian Archivists, The Archival Review.
The Central Library of the National Archives of Hungary has
about 100 000 volumes and it is widely known in Hungary
as the professional resource library for the archival sciences.
Other archives services
The records of public agencies which do not have a specialised
archives service belong to the competence of the
general archives service within the country. The general
archives are the National Archives of Hungary as well as the
public archives maintained by the local authorities of the
counties and the Municipality of Budapest. The ecclesiastical
archives hold more than 10 000 linear metres of documents
and these include valuable charters.
In Hungary, everyone can have access to archival material free
of charge according to the Hungarian legal regulation. The
research rooms of the archives services are open like other
public institutions in Hungary. The research rooms are closed
on 1 January, 15 March, Whit Monday, 20 August, 23 October,
25–26 December and for two weeks in the summer so
that control works may be carried out.
Géza Érszegi
National Archives of Hungary
Bécsi kapu tér 2-4
HU-1014 Budapest
Tel. (36-1) 225 28 00
E-mail: gerszegi@natarch.hu
Vision
The National Archives of Malta aim to preserve the collective
memory of the Maltese nation and to protect the rights
of citizens by providing ready access to essential evidence.
Mission
The National Archives of Malta aims to select, preserve and
make available the national written heritage of the nation,
in whatever medium, to the highest standards. This is
achieved through:
• Overseeing records management practices in government
departments and agencies
• Managing those records that hold enduring value
• Encouraging archival activities within the community
Records come in different forms and they include written
documents, seals, maps, photographs, moving images,
audio material and electronic records. Records are closed
for 30 years and after this time most of them are open for
public inspection. Anyone with proper identification can
inspect the documents.
The National Archives of Malta offers a number of services,
including reprographic facilities, reading room services and
staff who give advice on research procedures. The general
structure of the National Archives is subdivided into administration,
a cataloguing and records management unit and
public services.
Administration
The administration of the National Archives incorporates the
general direction of the services, the coordination of accessions
from government departments and the representation
in national coordinating bodies such as the National Archives
Advisory Committee. Specialised advice on research and
palaeography is offered and contacts with international
research institutions are also carried out.
Cataloguing and records management
unit
This unit undertakes different projects. One challenging
cataloguing project that was undertaken was the production,
in 2001, of a CD that listed more than 40 000 passport
applications. In 2003, a second catalogue of governor’s
GOV fonds was produced in CD format. New offices were
assigned to the cataloguing unit in 2002. Specialised training
on the use of computer software programmes and on
ISAD(G) (the International Standard on Archival Description
— General) has been given to the personnel who work
on cataloguing the collections.
Public services
The main aim of our services is to provide access to the
nation’s archival records. For this reason the public services
division provides research services and also collates information
about our patrons. A user’s survey is available in the
reading rooms and it can also be completed online.
Outreach
Outreach initiatives form an important element in the services
offered by the archives staff. The chapel of the old hospital has
been developed into an important cultural exhibition venue.
Its facilities are available to third parties who are involved in
the promotion of educational and cultural values.
Holdings
The main fonds of the National Archives of Malta consist of
the records relating to the British occupation of the island
from 1800 until 1964. Records of previous periods held at
the National Library of Malta in Valletta include the archives
of the Knights of St John and the records of the Universita’
of Mdina and Valletta. The archives of the Order of St John
of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta (A.O.M.) consist of
the documents produced and received by the Chancery of
the Order since its origins until the end of its rule in Malta.
After having undergone a series of transfers from one repository
to another, the collection of almost 7 000 volumes
found a home at the National Library of Malta in 1937 and
have remained there ever since. These archives contain the
title-deeds, privileges, correspondence and other documents
concerning the central authority of the Order.
Other extensive and important archival holdings in Malta
belong to the Catholic Church. These include documents
relating to the Roman
Inquisition in Malta and
extensive musical collections.
Other private
archives give evidence of
Malta’s extensive history
under various dominations.
The National
Archives is also responsible
for the records of the
Maltese government in
the post-Independence
period. This encompasses
the management of electronic
records which are
produced in today’s civil
service environment.
Banca Giuratale
Cases from the law courts
for the years 1530 to 1899
are housed at the Banca
Giuratale in Mdina. As
this repository is not
opened on a daily basis,
anyone wishing to conduct
research is asked to
contact the National
Archives for an appointment.
All other court
cases for the post-1900
period are still in the custody
of the law courts in
Valletta.
Maps
The National Archives is
in possession of thousands
of plans and drawings
originating from the
Royal Engineers Office.
These were transferred
from the Land Registry in
April 1995. Most drawings
relate to buildings
and sites that were formerly
under the Ordnance
Department.
Another set of plans
which were previously
kept at the Museum of
Archaeology are now preserved in the National Archives.
The National Archives does not hold any drawings that
relate to private property.
Photographic material
A group of albums depicting royal festivities and visits
forms the main nucleus of photographic material available
for research at the National Archives of Malta. Other photographs
that were accessioned from the Public Works
Department depict reconstruction works in various parts of
Malta. The compilation of an extensive catalogue of these
holdings is being carried out.
Mr Philip Borg
Director Libraries and Archives
36, Old Treasury Street
Valletta, Malta
E-mail: philip.borg@gov.mt
www.libraries-archives.gov.mt
The National Archives of Malta in Rabat.
THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES OF MALTA
12
Continued from page 5
EUROPEAN
ARCHIVES NEWS
INSAR
• Secretariat-General of the
European Commission
• Editorial Committee:
Ursula MITCHEL
Frank BRADY
Juan FANALS
Jef SCHRAM
• For further information and
a free copy of INSAR,
contact:
European Commission
Tel. (32-2) 29-50034
29-56721
Fax (32-2) 29-90962
E-mail: sg-insar@cec.eu.int
Address: rue de la Loi 200
Office: BERL 8/198
B-1049 Brussels
THE NEW BUILDING
OF THE GREEK
NATIONAL
ARCHIVES
History
The Greek archival service was established in 1914, under
the name ‘General State Archives’ (GSA). All archival services
existing in the Ionian Islands, Crete and Samos were
incorporated into this new entity.
In 1991, the GSA became a unified, self-sufficient government
agency under the Ministry of National Education and
Religious Affairs. It consists of the Central Service and 57
regional archives that were established in the capitals of
Greece’s prefectures and in cities with a particular historical
heritage.
Finding housing for the General State Archives was a significant
problem, which was solved satisfactorily for just a
small number of regional archival services. The problem has
so far been addressed in the traditional manner of restoring
and converting a variety of old buildings: residences, government
buildings, barracks, prisons, hospitals, and factories.
Despite the fact that these were the only realistic, feasible
solutions, the expenditure entailed was frequently disproportionate
to the benefits. A completely successful
adaptation of old buildings to the requirements of modern
standards for the preservation and management of archival
material was fairly rare.
For nine decades, the Central Service, i.e. the GSA headquarters,
was housed in totally unsuitable buildings. The fact that it
was not possible to accommodate it in one of the public buildings
in the centre of Athens and the great increase in the volume
of records handled led to the decision to construct a new
building in the suburbs of the capital city.
The process of building on a public lot in Paleo Psychiko
began in 1972, but bureaucratic and economic impediments
delayed the project until 1979, when the concrete
skeleton of the building was erected. The project remained
half-finished until 1998 when the School Building Organisation
(OSK) undertook to complete it. The new building was
inaugurated by the Greek prime minister in November
2003.
The architectural design of the General State Archives main
building was the product of collaboration between four
architects and won first prize in a nationwide competition
in 1978. The delay in construction raised issues of updating
the design to include the most modern technology. In 1997,
the amended section of the architectural design was
approved as well as that of virtually all the electrical and
mechanical installations. After the earthquakes in 1999,
despite the fact that the building was not damaged, its
load-bearing elements were reinforced.
The building
The building is located on the slope of a hill, and is accessed
by three roads. Its visible section is faced with white marble
and has large surfaces of glass. It has two entrances, 30
parking spaces and is surrounded by landscaping with
grass. Beside the main entrance there is a small pool and
fountain.
With a total area of 6 500 m2, the building is organised on
six levels (A–F, starting from the bottom). The main
entrance has been placed on D level together with the areas
for receiving and serving the public, the lecture and seminar
hall and some of the offices. E level is in the form of a
mezzanine (open balconies over D level) and accommodates
the remaining offices and the snack bar. On F level is
the permanent exhibition, the reading room and library,
and the director’s office.
The repositories are located on levels A, B, and C. Level A is
entirely underground and contains a special armoured area in
which valuable documents are kept, a large room for storing
records (745 m2
) and the electrical and mechanical installations.
Levels B and C consist of six (1 202 m2
) and four (745
m2
) archival storage areas, respectively. These two floors, following
the slope of the terrain, have only part of their surrounding
wall above the ground, while on the outside their
roofs consist of flat passable surfaces paved with marble that
blend into the natural terrain. At the back of level C (above the
ground) there is an entrance for archival matter, an insecticide
chamber, cataloguing rooms and the conservation, binding
and photography workshops.
Equipment
All the electrical and mechanical installations are state-of-theart
technology. They are monitored and managed electronically
through the automated building management system.
Energy
The building has a power substation and a generator capable
of meeting its power needs for about two days. It also
has a water tank (200 m3
) for the needs of the firefighting
system in the event that the water supply is cut off. Also,
there are tanks of drinkable water for daily consumption
(6 m3
).
Air conditioning, ventilation
Full air conditioning and ventilation exists (there are no
windows) to ensure constant conditions in terms of relative
humidity, cleanliness and air temperature. The system can
be operated manually either centrally or locally.
Fire protection
Fire-detection systems have been installed in all areas and
there is early warning fire detection in the repository rooms.
The firefighting systems include: FM 200 gas extinguishing
agent in all storage areas, CO2 in the electromechanical
machinery installations, and water in the work areas. In the
corridors, there are firefighting cabinets and portable fire
extinguishing equipment.
Lighting
In the repository rooms, provision has been made for special
lighting on vertical surfaces. The lighting is activated by
motion detectors so that only the relevant part of the room
is lighted. In areas for the storage and study of documents,
light fixtures have been installed with bulbs that limit UV
radiation. In the reading room, the lighting provided by the
fixtures is automatically adjusted to offset the natural (outside)
lighting.
Security measures
The entrances from outside and the doors of the repository
rooms are monitored by an alarm system. Traffic on the
interior corridors and in the surrounding area is monitored
by cameras that project the image on screens at inspection
points. To ensure the safety of the material, cameras will
also be located in the reading room.
Communication
The building has a structured optic fibre cable installation
for the transfer of voice and data. Telephone communications
are by ISDN lines. It will also be possible to communicate
by wireless and teleconferencing.
Repository rooms
For security reasons, the underground storage areas are
divided into large halls. The doors are made of special fireresistant
material. According to the static study, a weight of
1 300 kg/m2
has been calculated for B and C levels (the
issue does not arise for A level, because it rests on the
ground). In all areas, movable filing cabinets will be used,
most of them manually operated (shelves of 16.800 m). On
C level, electrically operated filing cabinets (shelves of
4.032 m) will be installed.
The collection of Giannis Vlachogiannis, founder of the
GSA, (including the records of the Greek War of Independence
in 1821) will remain in the wooden furniture in
which it is currently kept.
Exhibition — Museum
A permanent exhibition of GSA artefacts will be created on
F level, occupying an area of 200 m2
. The exhibition is
based on the view that ‘the archives constitute the ark of
our national memory’. Thus a shell (ark) was designed in
the pattern of a human brain (where memory is located); in
the corridors, there will be cases containing archival material.
It will be a modular structure that can be assembled on
the spot. In addition to the documents and objects, the
museum will also have a plasma screen, touch screens,
sound system, video projectors, CD player and television
monitors. It is interactive and designed to be used for educational
purposes as well.
The cost of setting up the permanent exhibition and the
greater part of the movable equipment throughout the
building is being covered by a donation from the Bodosakis
Foundation.
Reading room
The reading room and library are located on F level, at the
most privileged point of the building. On both sides of this
single area, large glass surfaces allow the visitor to look out
over the greater part of Athens. But although the natural light
provides a pleasant environment for visitors, it is harmful to
the archival materials they are studying. For this reason, the
glass will be covered by special membranes to minimise the
penetration of UV radiation. The room has been equipped
with elevated flooring with the wiring underneath it. Thus
outlets for power, telephone, and electronic data are available
at every point in the reading room. It will be possible for 70
people to study simultaneously in the reading room. Provision
has likewise been made for five places at the microfilm
reader printer, 10 at computers linked to the GSA network,
and six places for searching the electronic catalogue. All the
tables are provided with outlets to enable researchers to use
their laptops. The reading room equipment includes a special
piece of furniture for studying maps, drawings and blue-
prints.
Multiple-use hall
The lecture hall has a capacity of 150 seats. Its seats are
movable so that the area can be changed according to
requirements. It can become a conference hall, an exhibition
area, or a classroom for educational activities, and is
equipped with a simultaneous interpreting system.
***
This is the first modern building to be constructed for such
purposes in Greece, and will constitute a model in all its
aspects. The move of the GSA into this ultra-modern new
building will be a major event, which the Hellenic scholarly
community has been anticipating for decades. The archival
service has invested a great deal in this move to a place worthy
of its mission and its task. We hope that this impressive
new building will help make the State more fully aware of
the importance and utility of archives. The Greek people
have been called upon to pay an amount of EUR 4 million
for this building. This should, however, prove to be a productive
investment. The next major goal is for the essential
upgrading of the General State Archives so that its modern
facilities and enormous archival wealth can be managed
and utilised for the benefit of society as a whole.
Dr Georgios Giannakopoulos
Director
General State Archives of Greece
Dafnis 61
GR-15452 Psychiko
E-mail: director@gak.att.sch.gr
http://gak.att.sch.gr/
A R C H I V E S B U I L D I N G S
KA-AC-05-010-EN-C
stipulation, the files of the Polish United Workers’
Party were acquired by the State in 1990.
Access
Access to all the materials in all the archives services
of the State is free of charge. Each archives
service has its own premises where the archives it
holds can be consulted on the days and hours set
by the service. Access is free to all the archival
material that is over 30 years old after the date
of their creation, with the exception of the Communist
Party archives, which are fully available. In
some well-grounded cases, the director of the
archives may permit access to the documents
before the 30-year term expires. Charges are
imposed for the reproduction of the archival material
and it may be photocopied, reproduced on
microfilms or scanned.
State archives services provide archival research
services to institutions as well as to private individuals.
These services are usually provided free of
charge but in some cases of research for private
individuals (e.g. genealogical or property questions)
there is a charge in accordance with a price
list common to all the State archives institutions.
The Head Office of the State Archives has established
the Centre for Archival Information which is
responsible for the central catalogue of the archival
collections kept in the State archives and the
archival website: www.archiwa.gov.pl. The following
databases, amongst others, are available:
• SEZAM (archival holdings registration system),
where all the archival fonds preserved in the
State archives in Poland are registered. The
database gives access to information related
to any fond, such as the place of its preservation,
contents and existing finding aids. The
inventories of more than 5 000 fonds are also
included in this database.
• PRADZIAD (birth, marriage and death certificates
registration system), where birth, marriage,
death, and other civil registration certificates
and registers, preserved in State
archives, are registered. The database allows
users to find the place where records are preserved
and the chronology of records.
• ELA (population registrations in archive materials)
— the database contains censuses, population
registers and books.
• AFISZ — the database contains posters, bills,
and leaflets pertaining to the history of the
Holocaust that are in the holdings of State
archives.
The Head Office of State Archives publishes biannually
a scientific periodical Archeion, which is the
oldest Polish specialist periodical. Archeion includes
summaries of texts in English, French and Russian.
State archives services such as those in Cracow,
Rzeszów, Poznań, Siedlce, Szczecin, Gorzów
Wielkopolski, the Archives of Old Records and the
Archives of New Records also publish periodicals
describing their collections. The Association of Polish
Archivists has its own periodical, Archiwista
Polski.
Prof. Dr Daria Nałęcz
Director-General of State Archives of
the Republic of Poland
6 Dluga Street, PL-00-950 Warszawa,
E-mail: nalecz@archiwa.gov.pl
http://www.archiwa.gov.pl
The new building of the Greek National Archives.
ISSN 1606-1993