PRESERVATION / PROTECTION OF ARCHIVES IN THE SLOVAK REPUBLIC

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PRESERVATION / PROTECTION OF ARCHIVES IN THE
SLOVAK REPUBLIC

• Jozef Hanus
• Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic
  Department of Archives and Registries
• Križkova 7, 811 04 Bratislava
• Slovak Republic
• Jozef.Hanus_at_mvsr.vs.sk

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Who am I?

• Chemical engineer - graduated 1973
• Chemical-Technological Faculty, Slovak
  University of Technology Bratislava
• Head, Department of Archives Preservation at the
  Slovak National Archives since 1974
• PhD. in macromolecular chemistry and technology -
  1987
• International Council on Archives - Committee on
  Preservation since 1980
• International Council on Museums - Working group
  for conservation of graphic documents since
  1995
• International Institute for Archival Science
  Trieste-Maribor
• External lecturer at the Comenius University
  Bratislava Preservation of archives
• Participant at the EU projects MIP, PaperTreat,
  COST D42
• Research stays - National Archives Canada
  Ottawa 1991, - CRCDG Paris 1998, 2000, 2002, -
  University La Rochelle 2004
• Director, Archives and Registries Department,
  Ministry of Interior of the Slovak Republic
  since January 1, 2009

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The Archives in the Slovak Republic are
controlled by two principal legal provisions

• the Act no. 395/2002 on Archives and Registries
  and on the Amendments of Certain Acts adopted by
  the National Council of the
  Slovak Republic on 17 May 2002
• the Decree no. 628/2002 of the Ministry of
  Interior of the Slovak Republic from 29 October
  2002 by which some provisions of the Act on
  Archives and Registries are executed

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BEFORE THE ACT 395/2002
Ministry of Interior of the SR
Other structures
Section of Public Administration
Legislative Department
Economical Department
Personnel Department
Department of Archives Registries
State Central Mining Archives 7 State Regional
Archives
37 District Archives, 2 Municipal Archives
(Bratislava, Košice) within the competency of
the local state district authorities
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AFTER THE ACT
Ministry of Interior of the SR
Other structures
Section of Public Administration
Legislative Department
Economical Department
Personnel Department
Department of Archives Registries
methodology
Slovak National Archives State Central Mining
Archives 7 State Archives with regional
territorial competence 37 branches of State
Regional Archives Archives of the City of
Bratislava
Archives of the City of Košice - self-government
municipality of Košice
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the Act no. 395/2002, Article 4 System of
Archives

• (1) Public Archives and Private Archives shall
  form a system of Archives.
• (2) Public Archives shall mean
• a) State Central Archives and State Archives with
  regional territorial competence
• b) Archives of state authorities, state budgetary
  organisations and state contributory
  organisations
• c) Municipal Archives and the Archives of
  self-government regions
• d) Archives of legal persons stipulated by law
• e) Archives of legal persons and Archives of
  physical persons that represent the public
  administration authorities.

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Network of the state archives SR
Branches 1. Cadca 2. Dolný Kubín 3. Lipt.
Mikuláš 4. Martin 5. Považská Bystrica 6. Žilina
Branches 1. Levoca 2. Poprad 3. Spišská Nová
Ves 4. Stará Lubovna
Branches 1. Prešov 2. Bardejov 3. Humenné 4.
Svidník 5. Vranov nad Toplou
Branches 1. Nitra 2. Bojnice 3. Komárno 4.
Levice 5. Nové Zámky 6. Topolcany
Branches 1. Košice 2. Michalovce 3. Rožnava 4.
Trebišov
Branches 1. B. Bystrica 2. B. Štiavnica 3.
Kremnica 4. Lucenec 5. Rim. Sobota 6. Velký
Krtíš 7. Zvolen
Branches 1. Modra 2. Skalica 3. Šala 4.
Trencín 5. Trnava
More than 400 employes 185 000 running metres
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Basic principles and conditions for protection /
preservation

• Legal provisions

• Practical preservation
• preventive measures
• conservation and
  restoration

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Legal provisions

• Declaration of the National Council of the Slovak
  Republic on preservation of cultural heritage
• from February 28, 2001

the Act no. 395/2002 on Archives and Registries
and on the Amendments of Certain Acts from 17
May 2002
the Decree no. 628 of the Ministry of Interior of
the Slovak Republic from 29 October 2002 by
which some provisions of the Act on Archives and
Registries are executed
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Protection in legislationArticle 2Definitions

• (8) Protection of archives, shall mean a complex
  of specialised activities intended for their
  preservation and protection against theft and
  destruction.
• (10) Conservation copy of archives (hereinafter
  referred to as conservation copy), shall mean a
  copy of the archives that is usually saved on
  microfilm in order to preserve the information
  that the archives contain.

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Protection in legislationArticle 3Basic
provisions

• (1) Archival heritage shall form an integral part
  of the cultural heritage of the Slovak Republic.
  The state shall be obliged to provide for the
  preservation of archival heritage and everyone
  shall be obliged to provide collaboration to the
  state with respect to it.
• (2) The acquisition of archives, protection of
  archives, their processing and access to the
  information contained in archives, shall be
  subject to public interest.

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Protection in legislationArticle 7Archives
obligations

• Archives shall be obliged
• c) to protect archives
• h) to develop a program for the execution of
  conservation copies and inform the Slovak
  National Archives about this program
• i) to provide and send one issue of the
  conservation copy of the most significant
  archives to the Slovak National Archives.

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Microfilming laboratories in State Archives
SA Bytca
SA Levoca
ŠA Nitra
SA Košice
SA B. Bystrica
SA Bratislava
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Article 12Conditions for access to archives

• (1) Everyone shall be allowed to access the
  archives located in Archives and the archival
  information system (hereinafter referred to as
  access to archives), if not otherwise
  stipulated by this act.
• (3) Archives shall only submit an original of
  archives for their study in exceptional cases,
  whilst it shall always submit a copy of archives,
  if
• a) it concerns archives created before 1526
• c) any damage or possibility of damage could
  occur upon their study.

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What is to be digitized primarily?
Survey of charters till 1526
TOGET- HER
Parch-ment
Paper
Hanged seals
Archives
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Slovak National Archives digitization
equipment Atlas
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Slovak National Archives Scanning back-side
Betterlight 6000
SA Levoca
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Slovak National Archives Microfilm scanner
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State Central Mining Archives Banská Štiavnica
Scanner Cruse for maps
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Article 12Conditions for access to archives

• (7) Archives shall only allow access to archives
  in the form of public exhibition in exceptional
  cases, upon a contract and the settlement of the
  cost incurred in the execution of copies of
  archives and their transport. The exhibitor shall
  be obliged to insure the archives.

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(No Transcript)
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• The extent of degradation reactions and thus
  the extent of damage depends on
• Ability of material to absorb the radiation
• The amount of absorbed radiation
• The energy carried by this radiation
• Cummulative effect of light (illumination)

radiation
transmittance
object
absorbtion
reflection
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• In archives premises and exhibition areas light
  sources of the following intensity illumination
  should be used
• a) up to 500 lux in search room,
• b) up to 200 lux in storage areas,
• c) up to 50 lux in exhibition areas.

Exhibits Exhibits Recommended values of illumination intensity (lx)
The least sensitivity Stone, metal, glass, ceramics, jewels, enamel, minerals No limits
sensitive Oil and tempera paintings, horn, bones, ivory, colourless leather, furniture, ebonite, bw photographs 150 200
Highly sensitive Water colours, textile, tapestry, drawings, prints, stamps, manuscripts, illuminations, wall papers, colour photographs and slides, natural and botanic exhibits, some minerals 50
Recommended maximum limits Proportion of UV -
75 µW/lumen Total UV - 20 mW/m2
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Article 25Protection of archives during
exhibition

• (1) Archives shall be exhibited in closed,
  dust-proof showcases. The total value of
  illumination must not exceed 18 000
  lux.hours/year, if concerning inks, dyes and
  light sensitive pigments. The temperature in
  showcases shall be kept within 16 C to 20 C and
  with relative air humidity from 45 to 55 .

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Article 13Access restriction

• (2) Archives shall restrict access to archives
  if
• c) upon their use, damage or the possibility of
  damage to them could occur

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RegistriesArticle 16Rights and obligations of a
registry creator

• (2) A creator of a registry shall be obliged
• c) to provide for the stability of a registry
  record if a registry record is made on paper,
  the paper has to comply with requirements
  specified by a technical standard
• e) to locate the registry in premises that
  guarantee its preservation

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Paper for documents STN ISO 9706
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The Decree no. 628/2002of the Ministry of
Interior of the SR by which some provisions of
the Act on Archives and Registries are executed

• covers also field of protection and preservation
  of archival documents and registry records
• in its second part PROTECTION / PRESERVATION OF
  ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS AND REGISTRY RECORDS the
  above mentioned Regulation specifies in details
  the subject and types of preservation, protection
  as well as rooms and storage space of archives
  and different precautions connected with them
• one of the most important articles within the
  Regulation is Article 24 defining the most
  important external and internal degradation
  factors (physical, chemical, microbiological)
  which may cause deterioration of physical
  conditions of archival documents and deals with
  protection against them

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Article 16Subject of protection

• (1) The protection of archives placed in Archives
  shall include activities and measures intended
  for their preservation and protection against
  theft and damage caused by
• a) the formation of a record on a carrier that
  does not allow its preservation
• b) placing archives in premises that do not
  comply with requirements pursuant to this Decree,
• c) handling,
• d) fire,
• e) water,
• f) degrading factors,
• g) exhibiting.

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Article 17Types of protection

• (1) The protection of archives against damage
  shall be ensured through preventive protection,
  conservation and restoration. The protection of
  registry records shall be ensured preventively.
• (3) Conservation shall mean a complex of
  procedures, technologies and means for the
  preservation of integrity and the stabilisation
  of the content and physical condition of
  archives, as well as procedures for eliminating
  and minimizing any degrading factors causing
  their damage.
• (4) Restoration shall mean a complex of
  procedures, technologies and means for the
  reconstruction of the original condition and
  improvement of the physical condition of damaged
  archives.

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The Decree no. 628 of the Ministry of Interior
of the SR

• Conservation and restoration treatment of
  archival documents are inevitable part of their
  active preservation which are provided by
  specialised workplaces.
• Archival documents cannot be treated by
  conservation and restoration processes outside
  the network of state archives system.
• The Regulation contains the basic rules also for
  this field of work.

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Present situation in conservation / restoration

• Slovak National Archives Department of Archives
  Preservation 11 persons (5 -university degree,
  6 secondary school level) .
• State Archives Banská Bystrica 2 (secondary
  school level)
• State Archives Levoca - 2 (secondary school
  level)
• State Archives Prešov - 1 (secondary school level)

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Further development in preservation / protection

• Government resolution n. 1201 from December 17,
  2003 - approved Strategy of development of state
  archives established by the Ministry of Interior
  according to the Act 395/2002 till 2010/2015
• To complete Department of Archives preservation
  in the Slovak National Archives as the whole
  Slovak competency work-place for complex
  preservation, conservation and restoration
  including mass conservation treatment of archival
  documents
• To create in the Slovak National Archives
  specialised workplace for
• conservation and restoration of photographic
  documentsko
• Preservation of electronic documents
• To establish laboratories for conservation and
  restoration (each with 2 persons) in the State
  Mining archives in Banská Štiavnica and in all
  (8) state archives with regional competencies

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Acidic paper one of the basic problems in
preservation of archives, libraries and other
cultural institutions
cca 1850

• Wood / woodpulp as the raw material for
  papermaking (lack of rags)
• Acid-rosin sizing demanding
• pH about 4,5 for good retention of rosins to
  fibres
• Auto-degradation of paper created at its
  production caused mainly by acid hydrolysis
• Bad quality paper just after its production

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Acidic papers - problems in Slovakia Archives

• Slovak National Archives
• Total 30 km
• Period 1850-present
• 23-25 km

Other Slovak State Archives Total 130
km Period 1850-present 85-95 km
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Libraries

• Slovak National Library
• Total 3,8 mil. volumes
• Period 1850-present
• 2,5 mil. volumes

Other Slovak Libraries Total 46,2 mil.
volumes Period 1850-present 44.5 mil.
volumes
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Preservation, stabilisation and conservation of
traditional information carriers in the Slovak
Republic KNIHA SK

• Long-term random cooperation (SNA, SNL, FCHFT
  STU, SAS)
• The problems of acidic paper degradation and
  necessity of their solution
• Awareness of endangered cultural heritage and
  necessity of its preservation
• resulted in

• State programme of research and development
• financed by the Ministry of Education of the SR
  within the framework of the State programme
  Current problems of the society development
  coordinated by the Faculty of Chemical Food
  Technology STU
• The principal aim - to propose optimal solution
  of the problem of preservation of traditional
  information carriers, especially of documents on
  acidic paper broader aspect preservation of
  cultural heritage
• Its first phase was realized from 10/2003 -
  12/2005
• The second 01/2006 12/2008

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• Structure of the Programme Some Results
• Coordination
• the scientific and technological potential of the
  key institutions in the field of cultural
  heritage preservation Slovak University of
  Technology / Faculty of Chemical and Food
  Technology, Slovak National Archives, Slovak
  National Library and Polymer Institute, Slovak
  Academy of Science - have joined into a
  consistent research-educational system and
  association "Consortium Book SK
• concentration of scientific capacity in the field
  of technology of preservation, stabilization and
  conservation of ligno-cellulosic (LC)
  macromolecular materials in the SR.

• Shared specialized national library of the SR for
  the field of cultural heritage preservation
  technology
• database of relevant literature information in
  the field search in patent databases (e.g.
  present database contains relevant american,
  european and canadian patents from 1968 up to
  now)
• digitization and full-text information retrieval,
  etc. all information available for all
  participants of the programme

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• National shared potential of instruments and
  devices for education and research of cultural
  heritage preservation
• it enables all partners to use all laboratory
  devices and equipments in each institution for
  the purposes of the project free of charge
• creation of central testing laboratory at the
  Faculty of Chemical and Food Technology for the
  purposes of the project
• it is supposed to be converted to the
  Technological centre for cultural heritage
  protection and preservation having a character of
  applied research laboratories in the 2nd stage of
  the project.

• Methods of classification and assessment of
  library and archival documents according to
  historical-cultural and technical criteria
• Document classification from the point of view of
  preservation priority and from the point of view
  of possible individual technological processes.
  Cultural heritage of the SR, stored on paper
  carriers of historical books, is partially
  classified not only from the cultural-historical
  point of view, but also according to
  technological criteria.

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• Development of new modification systems for
  deacidification and strengthening of acidic paper
• Research, development and testing of our
  modification systems (University research, new
  ideas, continuous cheap working power - students)

• New information on indoor quality environment
  for long-term storage of library archives
  materials
• Microbiological
• Air quality (air pollution)
• Volatile compounds from archives and library
  materials
• Behaviour of acidic paper in alkaline boxes
  during a long-term storage

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• Education
• As a consequence of the project KNIHA SK in
  20042005 the interest of young generation,
  scientists and teachers considerably increased
  also in the field of technical education for
  cultural heritage preservation.
• Conditions for academic education, bachelor
  projects, diploma works and dissertation theses
  are being improved.
• The interest of young generation is of key
  importance for qualified preservation of its own
  cultural heritage in the SR. The social
  importance of project KNIHA SK is strongly felt
  also in the field of intensification of education
  in chemistry and technology of preservation of
  traditional carriers of cultural heritage.
• Preparation of a new study course conservation
  technology

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Impact of KNIHASK on motivation and education of
university students in the field of chemistry and
technology of preservation of cultural heritage
in the Slovak Republic in period of 2002 (before
starting the project) to 2007
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CONCLUSIONS

• Selected articles presented not in the
  successive order but marked in the same way as in
  the original Act and Regulation - illustrate the
  main goals, changes and the scope of their
  application.
• Apart from other things, the new adopted legal
  provisions provide an excellent basis for quality
  improvement in the field of archives protection
  and preservation.
• Their practical application in real life,
  however, will need a lot of effort, energy and
  financial support as well in order to meet all
  the requirements given by the law.

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Acknowledgement

• The organizers of the conference for kind
  invitation

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Thank you for your attention