Skip to main content

ABC ...

Introduction to archival work

An archive is an institution or organisational unit in which analogue and digital documents that are no longer necessary for the ongoing fulfilment of tasks are recorded, indexed, preserved, evaluated and made accessible.

Introduction to archival work

Archive management

The term archive management refers to the collection of business management methods in the work of archives and information institutions, which have to deal systematically with the (super-)vital questions of personnel and resource planning, target and strategy development, project management and service marketing.

Archive management

Archive law

Many archival questions in daily practice are legal questions. Frequently, questions of responsibility must be clarified in the case of takeover, according to depository or contribution contracts or regulations regarding use and charging fees.

Archive law

Working Group "Recording and Evaluation of Electronic Procedures"

On the 6th of January 2017, a working group was established to deal with the evaluation, transfer and archiving of electronic records, initially focusing on electronic specialised procedures.

Working Group "Recording and Evaluation of Electronic Procedures"

Building files

The files created in the building permit procedure are called building files. These building permit files often contain building applications with building plans showing the ground plan, views and building section of the building to be erected.

Building files

Use and presentation

The use of the archival records is the goal of all archival work. The research concerns of present and future users must be taken into account from the outset in all archival activities in order to be able to design target group-oriented offers.

Use and presentation

Conservation

The preservation of archival holdings encompasses almost all areas of daily handling of archival materials, including site selection, structural design of the stacks, storage, packaging, climate control, mould prevention and control, emergency preparedness, digitisation, filming or mass conservation.

Conservation

Brandenburg archives day

The annual Brandenburg archives day of the Verband deutscher Archivarinnen und Archivare e.V. provides a platform for specialist information and professional exchange among colleagues.

Brandenburg archives day

Digitisation

The digitisation of existing archival holdings is playing an increasingly important role in the everyday work of many archives. In the context of preservation, it is a useful addition to other preventive measures to safeguard the archive's existence.

Digitisation

Development

Indexing is one of the essential core tasks of an archive and is the indispensable prerequisite for any form of use of archival records.

Development

Funding opportunities

In archives, project work increasingly complements and expands daily tasks. Emergency planning, digitisation, indexing - there is a project for many tasks! Here you will find an overview of the various funding opportunities.

Promotion

Newsletter

The newsletter of the Brandenburg State Office for Archival Consultancy informs you regularly about events and consultancy services, funding opportunities and news from the University of Applied Sciences Potsdam.

Newsletter

Emergency preparedness

Emergency preparedness is a central task to ensure the legal mandate of permanent preservation of the archival property.

Emergency preparedness

Online offers for archivists

Numerous information services that inform archivists about the latest developments, help them in their daily work and provide further technical information are now easily accessible online.

Online offers

Public and historical education work

Public relations work in the archive means active and convincing confidence-building on one's own behalf for one's own prestige.
Historical education work is characterised by the cooperation of the archive "as an extracurricular place of learning".

Public and historical education work

Civil status records

On the basis of the Personal Status Act (PStG) of 01 January 2009, the registry offices are obliged to hand over the closed personal status records to the archives.

Civil status records

Lore

The historical tradition in an archive is understood to be the totality of the historical sources stored there. The tradition is a result of conscious archival actions.

Formation of lore

Introduction to archival work

What is an archive and what tasks does it fulfil?

The term "archive" is not clearly defined in the German language. Colloquially, an archive is usually a place or room where materials that are no longer needed immediately are stored and kept for a longer period of time. This can be the basement room or attic of a public authority, where files no longer needed for daily use are stored as long as they may still be legally relevant (old registry), but also a storage space for electronic documents that are no longer relevant for current processing or information (e.g. press release archive in the internet presentation of an organisation). Scientific journals that are intended to keep their articles available for a longer period of time also traditionally like to have the word "archive" in their title. As a rule, the term "archive" is used in connection with written records, but occasionally also for places that store objects.

In the archival sense, the term could be defined as follows:

An archive is an institution or organisational unit in which analogue and digital documents that are no longer necessary for the ongoing fulfilment of tasks are recorded, indexed, preserved, evaluated and made accessible. In a figurative sense, it also refers to the building or a room.

This definition also designates the tasks of the archives.

Archive management

The collection term archive management refers to the totality of business management methods in the work of archives and information institutions. These methods consider the vital issues of staff and resource planning, goal and strategy development, project management and service marketing. Archive management helps to make archival and administrative processes transparent and to plan them systematically.

The tasks of archives as non-profit institutions relate to the perception of social and administrative interests. Archives operate in many different forms. On a higher level, they act as service providers for the provision of archival records as information objects. The successful and efficient operation of an archive thus requires strategic and operative management thinking in planning, organisation and control in addition to archival expertise.

On the archive product and archival key figures:

Archive law

Many archival questions in daily practice are legal questions. Frequently, questions of responsibility have to be clarified when taking over archives, according to deposit or contribution contracts, or regulations on use and charging fees.

The handouts and information provided on this page are intended, on the one hand, to give suggestions for the development of legal bases and regulations for smaller archives and, on the other hand, to point out current legal questions and archival literature.

On 24 February 2021, an event on "Legal Problems of Donations and Deposits" was held by the Landesfachstelle für Archive und Öffentliche Bibliotheken. We make the presentation available to you.

Here we provide you with a presentation on the event organised by the Landesfachstelle für Archive und Öffentliche Bibliotheken on 4 September 2019.

Further links:

The EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) came into force in 2018, the purpose of which is to standardise data protection law in the European Union. The regulation follows on from the regulations of the previous data protection laws. What is new is that, in contrast to the previous federal and state data protection laws, the GDPR also applies to archival records and is no longer superseded in its entirety by the archival laws. However, a number of exceptions are provided for "archival purposes in the public interest", which allow archives to continue to work according to the tried and tested principles of the archive laws. The impact of the GDPR on archives was summarised by Andreas Nestl from the General Directorate of the State Archives of Bavaria.

The presentations on the event organised by the Landesfachstelle für Archive und Öffentliche Bibliotheken on 5 September 2018 are available here:

The presentation for the event of the Landesfachstelle für Archive und Öffentliche Bibliotheken of 13 February 2019 is deposited here:

Working Group "Recording and Evaluation of Electronic Procedures"

On 6 January 2017, a working group was founded consisting of representatives of several Brandenburg municipal archives.

The working group deals with the evaluation, transfer and archiving of electronic records and initially concentrates on electronic specialist procedures. The aim was and is, in a first step, to record and evaluate all electronic specialist procedures used in the district administrations and administrations of the independent cities. An "internal list" is now available to the working group and will be further maintained.

In a second step, the electronic specialised procedures assessed as worthy of archiving are to be looked at more closely in order to analyse the records created in them.

Selected results from the work of the working group can be found here.

Building files

The files created in the building permit procedure are called building files. These building permit files often contain building applications with building plans showing the ground plan, views and building section of the building to be erected. In addition, however, these files also contain documents depicting the inspection and approval process, which take the form of minutes with inspection reports, statements, conditions as well as certificates for building approval or rejection. The documents often provide comprehensive information about the time of construction, the client, the architect, the trades involved in construction, the building materials used and the construction costs, as well as the style of construction and the type of use of the building.

However, building files are not limited to new buildings, but also document structural changes to existing buildings that require approval.

It becomes clear what a wealth of information the building files, many of which have been preserved in the archives, can offer for research into house construction and the history of settlement, among other things.

Use and presentation

The use of the archival records is the goal of all archival work. The research concerns of present and future users must be taken into account from the outset in all archival activities in order to be able to design target group-oriented offers.

 

Use means making the archive records available for a variety of research questions. This can be done in the reading room of the archive through personal consultation, in the form of written or oral information, or also through virtual presentations (virtual reading room of the archive).

Who is entitled to inspect the records? The provisions of the Brandenburg Archive Act (BbgArchivG) apply to the state of Brandenburg. According to the law, anyone who can credibly demonstrate a legitimate interest may use the archive records (§ 9 para. 1). Corresponding periods of non-use and restrictions on use must be taken into account (§§ 10, 11).

Law on the Preservation and Use of Public Archival Records in the State of Brandenburg (Brandenburg Archives Act - BbgArchivG)

 

Archival material is presented in the reading rooms and increasingly also outside the archive. In many cases, indexing data is presented online. Users expect the indexing data to be linked to digitised archive holdings. However, this expectation is not yet fulfilled because, among other things, the technical, financial and personnel requirements are lacking.

  • The German Digital Library is the central portal for culture and knowledge. It makes the cultural and scientific heritage of the Federal Republic of Germany freely accessible via the internet.
  • The Archive Portal-D offers sector-specific access to the data of the German Digital Library. It contains information on archival institutions from all over Germany. In addition, archival indexing services as well as digitised and digital archive material are made available for use.
  • "Work steps on the way to the Archive Portal-D of the DDB".
  • Tool DDBstudio of the Deutsche Digitale Bibliothek offers the possibility to curate and publish your own virtual exhibition.

Here you will find a handoutwhich helps archives to be able to answer English-language enquiries competently:

  1. Overview of selected vocabulary
  2. Suggested formulations for dialogue
  3. Suggested formulations for written correspondence

Making use accessible must be the concern of every archive. Barriers are manifold and must be recognised and removed.

Further recommendations:

 

Conservation

The preservation of archival holdings encompasses almost all areas of the daily handling of archival materials. It begins with an appropriate choice of location for the archive and the structural design of the magazines, and ranges from the problems of storage, packaging, climate control, mould prevention and control to questions of emergency preparedness, digitisation, filming or mass conservation.

Standards that are of particular importance in the context of conservation and can be ordered from Beuth-Verlag include:

  • DIN ISO 11799
    "Information and documentation - Requirements for the preservation of archive and library materials".
  • DIN 67700
    "Construction of libraries and archives - Requirements and recommendations for planning".
  • DIN ISO 16245
    "Information and documentation - Boxes, archive folders and other wrappings of cellulosic material for the storage of written and printed matter made of paper and parchment".

The following contributions are taken from the publication "Verwahren, Sichern, Erhalten: Handreichungen zur Bestandserhaltung in Archiven", Mario Glauert / Sabine Ruhnah (eds.), Landesfachstelle für Archive und Öffentliche Bibliotheken, Potsdam 2005."
(Publications of the Brandenburg State Agency for Archives and Public Libraries)

E-learning course on preservation in archives
Five regional and supra-regional archival institutions from Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg and the Netherlands provided the technical input and developed the course.
Click here for the course

The following links will take you to videos on conservation and emergency preparedness in archives and libraries:

 

 

Brandenburg archives day

Since 1998, the Brandenburg branch of the Verband deutscher Archivarinnen und Archivare e.V. has held the annual Brandenburg archives day. This shows the need for specialist information and the desire for colleagues to exchange specialist information with each other. Programmes and information on the archive days (from 2023) are deposited here.

In May, the 25th Archive Day took place in Seddin (district of Potsdam-Mittelmark). The topic "Upheaval as an opportunity - archives and records management in the digital transformation" met with great interest and attracted over 120 participants to the event, which was opened by Michael Scholz (FHP).

In his welcoming address, State Secretary Tobias Dünow spoke about the transformation of archives in the digital age and also highlighted personal references. Kristina Starkloff, who represented the overall VdA board in her greeting, highlighted the 25th anniversary of the Brandenburg Archive Day. There is still a great need for specialist information and professional exchange with colleagues. With a view to this year's Archive Day programme, she expressed the hope that the archives "will be able to curb so-called dark ages in the records in the future due to the great commitment of colleagues".

The content of the lectures focused on the one hand on the upheavals in the administrations due to the legal obligation to provide digital services and the introduction of the e-file, and on the other hand on the current and future role of the archives in these upheavals and problems in taking over the first digital documents.

In idyllic surroundings, after two digital archive days, the opportunity for personal exchange between colleagues and for discussions with the specialist exhibitors was also used intensively.

Digitisation

The term "digitisation" encompasses the digital reproduction, provision and publication of finding aids and archival materials on the internet. The digitisation of existing archival holdings is playing an increasingly important role in the everyday work of many archives. In the context of preservation, it is a sensible addition to other preventive measures to safeguard the archive's holdings. Archive holdings can thus be made available to users in digital form, which helps to preserve the originals. Digitisation therefore offers the possibility of effectively providing preventive preservation of the originals (preservation, protection and use digitisation) and is a partner of preservation and protection filming. In the future, replacement digitisation will play a further role, since in the case of information carriers that are extremely affected by decay and cannot be preserved in the long term (e.g. thermocopies, Ormig prints, magnetic tapes), the replacement medium (digital copy) will take the place of the original. The replacement digitised copy must therefore meet high quality criteria and must then be permanently preserved.

Digitisation offers a multitude of further additional possibilities for a contemporary and competent fulfilment of tasks, which, among other things, can meet the expectations of present and future archive users. Thus, users expect the presentation of indexing data as well as the presentation of selected digitised archive holdings. The way into the Archive Portal-D of the German Digital Library offers, among other things, suitable possibilities for this.

Digitisation is an opportunity, a challenge and an additional task at the same time. A task that requires a conceptual approach. Questions need to be answered in advance: What is to be digitised, how and with what, and how can permanent preservation, maintenance, user-friendly research and presentation of all digital documents be guaranteed?

Coordination Office Brandenburg-digital
at the Department of Information Sciences at the Potsdam University of Applied Sciences.
The aim of the coordination office is to improve the digital presentation of cultural assets from the state of Brandenburg. It therefore supports cultural heritage institutions to participate in digitisation projects and cooperative presentation platforms.

The German Digital Library is the central portal for culture and knowledge. It makes the cultural and scientific heritage of the Federal Republic of Germany freely accessible via the Internet.
Steps on the way to the Archive Portal-D of the DDB

The Archive Portal-D provides sector-specific access to the data of the German Digital Library. It contains information on archival institutions from all over Germany. In addition, archival indexing services as well as digitised and digital archival materials are made available for use.

Development

Cataloguing is one of the essential core tasks of an archive and is the indispensable prerequisite for any form of use of archival materials. Nevertheless, it often takes a back seat in the daily work of smaller, understaffed archives, which often leads to backlogs in indexing that are difficult to make up. The guidelines and information on this page provide tips for professional and efficient indexing and point to supra-regional guidelines and indexing aids.

Funding opportunities

In archives, project work increasingly complements and expands daily tasks. Emergency planning, digitisation, indexing - there is a project for many tasks! The diverse offers of project funding are additionally boosting this boom. This page aims to give an overview of the various funding opportunities.

A funding guide for archives in Brandenburg, created by the Brandenburg State Agency, aims to provide orientation on funding opportunities that are particularly worth considering.

Archives in municipal and independent sponsorship are supported by a digitisation programme in transferring their offers and services into digital form and in creating contemporary applications and forms of mediation. The following projects are available from this programme, which are carried out by the German Library Association for libraries and archives:

Project "User-oriented restructuring of the German Digital Library (DDB) portal" Aim: To make German cultural heritage digitally accessible to the public free of charge and at any time. For the associated sub-project "Targeted digitisation funding for cultural institutions from the DDB network" / funding programme of digitisation projects, there is a funding opportunity for the digitisation of objects and their inclusion in the DDB portal.

Applications can only be submitted via the online application form of the German Library Association. The application form will be activated from 25.02.2021, 10:00 am.

WissensWandel. Digital programme for libraries and archives within Neustart Kultur The funding programme aims, among other things, to secure access to the offers and holdings of archives independent of on-site use. It is possible for archives to receive funding for digitisation projects and the procurement of technical equipment. Funding can be applied for once. The maximum application amount is between 50,000 and 200,000 euros. The institutions' own financial contribution of 10% of the total costs in the form of their own cash or third-party funds is required. Applications will be accepted on an ongoing basis from 15 September 2021 and will be processed in the order in which they are received. The selection procedure ends when all funds have been awarded.

From the EU - Reconstruction Aid for European Cohesion and Territories (REACT-EU), the Ministry of Science, Research and Culture (MWFK) has launched a funding programme to support the expansion of digital infrastructure in cultural institutions in the state of Brandenburg with 8 million euros as part of this initiative.

The aim of the funding is to support cultural institutions in the state of Brandenburg in coping with the crisis in connection with the COVID 19 pandemic. The cultural sector is to be supported in improving its performance, growth dynamics and innovative strength through digital visibility and usability of its cultural offerings. A further aim of the funding is, among other things, to support operational and process innovations of cultural institutions through digitalisation. Funding is provided for measures that modernise existing operational processes and cultural offerings through digitisation: the planning, acquisition and implementation of digital infrastructure as well as the training of the institution's own staff that may become necessary in connection with this.

The funding is granted for a specific purpose in the form of project funding of up to 100%. The minimum funding amount per project is 200,000 euros.
The funds must be settled by 31 December 2022.

Applications and grants are submitted via the: Investitionsbank des Landes Brandenburg (ILB) Babelsberger Straße 21, 14473 Potsdam

The Ministry of Science, Research and Culture of the State of Brandenburg provides annual project funding in accordance with the state budget for the purpose of digitising cultural assets.

  • Objective Digitisation of cultural assets: digital availability of cultural heritage from institutions in Brandenburg.
  • Goal Cultural Education: Promoting innovation in cultural education in Brandenburg

Notes:

No applications can be submitted at present, but there is the possibility of project consultation for this funding purpose:
University of Applied Sciences Potsdam Coordination Office Brandenburg-digital
E-mail: kbd@fh-potsdam.de
Telephone: +49 331 580-1530

Funding programme for the digitisation of cultural heritage

Cultural heritage is part not only of Brandenburg's but also of Germany's history and is therefore of overarching interest. It is particularly suitable for promoting cultural and regional identity. It plays a role in cultural education. The cultural heritage preserved in institutions is a factual source of Brandenburg's history. The MWFK supports the production of digital copies of cultural heritage. The aim of the funding is the digital availability of cultural heritage.

Applications are submitted via the:
Ministry of Science, Research and Culture
Department 31
Dortustraße 36
14467 Potsdam

The Coordination Office for the Preservation of Written Cultural Property (KEK) offers two funding lines annually. Project applications could be submitted for both lines until January 2021. The application deadline has therefore passed.

Further information at: www.kek-spk.de/start

Conservation. Funding lines of the Coordination Agency for the Preservation of Written Cultural Heritage (KEK)
It is expected that the CEC will again be able to provide the following two funding lines in 2022:

  • BKM Special Programme 2022
    Moisture, acid corrosion or mould: many historical manuscripts and books in Germany's archives and libraries are acutely endangered. In order to preserve this nationally valuable heritage for future generations, the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) will probably provide funding for the Special Programme for the Preservation of Germany's Written Cultural Heritage again in 2022.
  • CEC model project funding 2022
    In 2022, the CEC will support selected model projects for the preservation of the written cultural heritage throughout Germany with funding from the Federal Government Commissioner for Culture and the Media (BKM) and the Cultural Foundation of the Federal States (KSL). The funding of model project projects contributes to the sustainable preservation of the written cultural heritage in archives and libraries on various levels. The promotion of original preservation on the basis of exemplary model projects makes the results reusable as good practices. The call for applications for KEK model project funding in 2022 is expected to be open again: The applying institutions can thus determine for themselves in which areas of original preservation they want to gain theoretical or practical experience and build up know-how. To a limited extent, funding for projects lasting more than one year is likely to be possible.

Application instructions for the financial year 2022 will be available here shortly. The steps for successful project implementation are available on the CEC website. The project list, which can also be viewed there, provides suggestions for your own project ideas.

The regional office is available to answer questions about all the funding opportunities mentioned and to provide individual advice.
Contact: Sabine Stropp

Newsletter of the Brandenburg state specialist centre for archival advice

Newsletter on archival topics 2020:

Emergency preparedness

Emergency preparedness is a central task to ensure the legal mandate of permanent preservation of the archival property.

Emergencies happen all the time. The spectrum of possible dangers is very wide. Examples include natural forces, technical defects or human error. Every danger carries the risk of developing into an emergency or disaster. These in turn can lead to the cultural property stored in the cultural institutions being damaged or even destroyed. Therefore, precautionary measures must be taken! One measure is emergency planning (from risk analysis to the creation of an individual emergency plan ...).

A risk always has a negative connotation because it indicates the possibility of a hazard causing harm.

A hazard represents a threat that can have various causes and trigger an emergency.

An emergency is a "minor" event that indicates imminent danger and requires defensive measures. If the emergency gets out of control, it can lead to a disaster.

Emergency planning focuses on emergencies! In the event of a disaster, the fire brigade, THW, etc. are deployed. Only after they have been released do the emergency measures come into play.

see Christoph Wenzel: Emergency Prevention and Planning for Museums, Galleries and Archives, Cologne 2007.

The stages of emergency planning:

1. risk analysis
2. prevention
3. emergency plan
4. response
5. recovery

Recommendations and procedures for creating an emergency plan from the Berlin University of Applied Sciences:

Recommendations and procedures for creating an emergency concept from the HTW Berlin:

The project SiLK - SicherheitsLeitfaden Kulturgut, financed by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), offers a free online tool.
SicherheitsLeitfaden Kulturgut, offers a free online tool on questions of security and protection of cultural property. Self-evaluation can be carried out with the help of questionnaires:

 

The aim of cultural property protection according to the Hague Convention is to protect nationally significant cultural property and preserve it for future generations. Accordingly
Cultural property of outstanding value should also be protected in the event of armed conflict. Comprehensive information on the protection of cultural property according to the Hague Convention is available on the website of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance:

A project group from the Archives nationales de Luxembourg, the Saarland State Archives and the LVR Archive Advisory and Training Centre has developed an e-learning course "Emergency Prevention" in cooperation with the Open University of the Netherlands (Open Universiteit Heerlen). It is intended as a building block for establishing emergency prevention and is available on the e-learning portal www.bestandserhaltung.eu.

The portal of the emergency associations for the protection of cultural property in Germany provides information on emergency preparedness. Among other things, it contains further recommendations, samples and literature references on the subject. The portal also serves as a platform for exchange and networking between the emergency associations.

 

Public and historical education work

Public relations work in the archive means active and convincing confidence-building on one's own behalf for one's own prestige, among other things through open days as well as press and media work. The production of publications is also a possibility of public relations work, to which the archives are legally obliged. Every citizen has the right to know what treasures are hidden behind the walls of the archives. Public relations work serves as the basis for the archive to be recognised as a respected member in its social environment. To be effective, it must be firmly integrated into the archive's work and systematically carried out.

Historical education work is characterised by the cooperation of an archive "as an extracurricular place of learning" with schools, but also with the historically interested public.

Public relations work should be well prepared and planned in order to be successful. A conceptual approach is therefore recommended:

Public relations - conceptual approach

Civil status records

On the basis of the personal status act (PStG), the registry offices have been obliged to hand over the closed personal status records to the archives since 01 January 2009. An essential core point of the PStG is that the continuation of the civil status registers by the registry offices is limited. Subsequently, the closed registers are subject to the obligation to offer them to the competent archives. Archive users are thus given the opportunity to research these records, e.g. for family and local history research, on the basis of the provisions of archival law.

On the 21st of March 2024, the Berlin State Archives in cooperation with the Brandenburg State Office for Archives and Public Libraries organised the expert information event "Do you have anything on my grandpa? – Civil status records and other personal sources in archives".

Formation of lore

The historical tradition in an archive is understood to be the totality of the historical sources stored there. The archive's records are the result of deliberate archival actions. The creation of records includes the recording of the records in the archive's area of responsibility in the case of official records as well as the development of a collection or documentation profile in the case of non-official records.

The activity of archival evaluation is closely connected to the formation of records. As a rule, only about 3% to 10% of the total amount of written records in an archive's area of responsibility are evaluated as worthy of archiving and taken over as archival materials.

Questions about the formation of records and their evaluation arise for every archive in its daily work, be it in dealing with masses of uniform records from its own administration, or in deciding on the acquisition of unofficial archival materials. The state office regularly initiates working groups to deal with these questions. Representatives from municipal archives agree on theoretical and methodological evaluation principles for selected archive holdings, which are made available to other archives as recommendations.

The guidelines and information on this page are intended to give advice on how to plan the formation of records, especially in municipal archives. In addition, practical aids for the evaluation of individual groups of records are provided.

Contact

Brandenburg State Agency for Archives and Public Libraries

Sabine Stropp
Staff Member of the Brandenburg State Office for Archives and Public Libraries
Lecturer