“The policy of the G.S.A. regarding the promotion of its archival material: characteristic references” SPEECH OF DR. MARIETTA MINOTOS Director of the General.

“The policy of the G.S.A. regarding the promotion of its

archival material: characteristic references” SPEECH OF

DR. MARIETTA MINOTOSDirector of the General State Archives of Greece

28th conference of the European Board of National Archivists (EBNA)

15th meeting of the European Archives Group (EAG)8th - 9th October 2013, Vilnius

Session I: Changing Cultural Heritage Policy: Cooperation of Memory Institutions

Structure

1. Introduction2. General framework

General common characteristics of archives, libraries and museums

Differentiations Trends at international level: collaboration and/or merging of

Memory Institutions – Archives, Libraries, Museums 3. The Case of Greece

Historical background G.S.A Presentation

Legal framework Structure Brief History Main goals and activities Cooperation of the G.S.A with other Memory Institutions

4. Conclusions

1. Introduction

The recent years, there has been a trend and, in parallel, a need for Memory Institutions to follow the wind of changes, which can be located to the level of technological evolution and progress. Every new policy concerning standards, methods, encoding of data, exchange of data and metadata in a common “language” through different technological platforms are a wind of changes in the functions and the development of operations in every memory institution.

The rapid and continuous changes in the field of technology influence day per day the management of the cultural heritage and we experience that, both as citizens and as people who are responsible for managing cultural heritage and as people who participate from our institutional positions in constituting policies on the field of archives.

2. General framework

General common characteristics of archives, libraries and museums (1/4)

Already since the beginning of their appearance, archives, libraries and museums, at international and national level, constitute everlasting “interconnected areas” and lead “parallel lives” since they serve many common goals and concern the preservation, promotion and making use of the cultural heritage.

This is made clear in the creation and the aims of UNESCO and its close ties with the International Council on Archives (ICA- founded in 1948), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA- founded in 1927) and the International Council of Museums (ICOM-founded in 1946).

THE THREE PILLARS OF CULTURE

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF ARCHIVES

ICA

INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF LIBRARY ASSOCIATIONS AND INSTITUTIONS

IFLA

INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL OF MUSEUMS

ICOM

FOR

ARCHIVES LIBRARIES MUSEUMS

General common characteristics of archives, libraries and museums (2/4)

General common characteristics of archives, libraries and museums (3/4)

The International Committee of the Blue Shield which is the symbol used to identify cultural sites protected by the Hague Convention (1954) which was adopted by UNESCO.

The International Committee of Blue Shield (ICBS) covers museums and archives, audiovisual supports, libraries and monuments and sites. It brings together the knowledge, experience and international networks of the following non-governmental organizations dealing with cultural heritage.

General common characteristics of archives, libraries and museums (4/4)

It is taken for granted that archives, libraries and museums are strongly connected with the knowledge and memory as well and they are the roots upon which every people supports its present and future. A people that lose or do not have access to archives are in danger of “social amnesia”.

It is also commonly accepted that the preeminent need of every country, member of the international community is to try to preserve alive the memory of its past- active memory- and to activate appropriate mechanisms of functioning as a policy of management and many times of survival.

Differentiations (1/2)

Apart from the elements that connect archives, libraries and museums of course there are clear differentiations regarding the material they possess, the access to it and all of the above mentioned influence in an important way the methods that the bodies responsible for forming policies of each state follow in order to preserve and use them.

According to my opinion, the basic difference that characterizes the archives is that their birth is associated through time with the necessity to serve administrative needs and then they constitute sources of historical research.

In addition, archives include a huge dynamics which is part of their “power”, since following the latest technological evolution during the latest decades and from the transfer from paper to electronic document, they have another great role to play that is the development of policies for the management of electronic archives.

Differentiations (2/2)

The Archival Services are not only connected with memory and knowledge but they are also oriented towards the future in order to form the stable foundations to preserve and manage successfully the electronic memory that is being produced in the digital era. This new responsibility that becomes demanding due to modern developments in contemporary society adds new dynamics and connects archives in a particular way reinforcing their power.

In Greece the G.S.A are closely connected with the Ministry of Administrative Reform and e- Governance on this matter and the formation of policies that will be valid in all public sectors concerning the electronic governance of archives is being in progress.

Trends at international level (1/2)

Collaboration and/or merging of Memory Institutions – Archives, Libraries, Museums

During the last decades the model of close collaboration (which may lead to merging) among archives, libraries and museums is being observed internationally.

Trends at international level (2/2)

As to EU, this trend of close collaboration is mirrored on the project Europeana.

In the context of Europeana archives participate as a vertical action with the internet portal of archives APEnet that has already been concluded and the APEX project which is in progress.

3. The case of Greece

3.1 Historical backgroundThe progression of archives through time:

From the ancient past until today the archives have been strongly related to the safeguarding of memory and the power of the value of proof. The archives are produced mainly for administrative reasons and after this they obtain their historical dimension.

They had also had some basic and permanent functions such as to ensure rights, to participate in administration, to provide historical sources to disseminate culture.

Generally, a basic mission of the Archives is to safeguard and preserve the public and private “tekmhria” (documents) and items, ensuring that people can discover, use and learn for this documentary heritage.

Historical and Ethnological Foundation of Greece In the long history of the Greek State a prime institutional

example of the cooperation of memory institutions is the Historical and Ethnological Foundation of Greece, which was founded in 1882 and constituted a “tripolon” (archive, library and museum).

Its main aim was, and still is, the collection, protection, preservation and the presentation of relics and documentary evidence that illuminate the history of modern Greece.

Throughout the history of the newly founded state in 1831 a co-locations and a close collaboration between libraries and archives are being observed, as it is shown in action but also through the Greek and foreign language literature.

National Library of Greece National Library of Greece (NLG) was founded by

the decree, issued on 15th of May 1832 under the name "Public Library", and its Director was George Gennadius.

Under the current legislation (Law 3149/2003), the mission of National Library is to collect, organize and make available to the public in any possible form all the written products of science and culture associated with Greece.

National Library is housed to a classical building, designed by Theophil Hansen and was built with the general supervision of Ernst Ziller.

The General States’ and Libraries’ Directorate of the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs is responsible for the supervision, the control and the reinforcement of the National Library of Greece.

Cultural Foundation of Piraeus Bank

Another example of the modern reality in which archive, library and museum constitute a successful model is the case of the Cultural Foundation of Piraeus Bank in the private sector which during the recent years has proved in Greece, and continues to proceed with success, that the co-existence of the three pillars in the same body can be productive.

Lately it was merged with the Agricultural Bank and its activities have become more powerful.

Nowadays

Let’s see first of all whether libraries and archives in Greece have by law established a close collaboration or merging. The answer to this is no.

They operate independently with similar purposes

in many cases but also with clear differentiations.

The archives and libraries belong to the Ministry of Education and Religious Affairs and in particular to the Directorate of Libraries and Archives (budget issues, administrative flow of services). As to museums they fall under the Ministry of Culture.

Minister of Education and Religious Affairs

Deputy Minister

General Secretary

Special Secretary

Libraries and General State Archives Department

3.2 General State Archives of Greece (GSA):presentation

GSA: Legal framework (1/2)

The duties of the General State Archives (GSA) are regulated by the Law 1946/91. Restrictions posed by Personal Data Protection Authority are also kept.

2005: The Public Special Service of Greek Government’s Prime Minister, Ministers and General Secretary Archives (founded by the Law 2846/2000) was incorporated into the Central Service of the General State Archives of Greece.

GSA: Legal framework (2/2)

The G.S.A are governed by a special legal framework. This law, which gives them power on all public archives of the public sector has been signed by the Ministries of the Interior, Justice, Finance and Foreign Affairs. Because of the nature of the Service, the legislator has provided the direct report of the Service to the Minister of Education, due to the special national role of the Service.

That is why specific qualifications are required for the selection of the Director, while the G.S.A. Advisory Council, among other responsibilities gives expert opinion on documents related to the national interest and the foreign policy in close collaboration with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The enhanced role of the G.S.A. in Public Administration and Local Government is emphasized by a special circular of the Ministry of Administrative Reform and E-Government in September 2011.

GSA: Structure General State Archives of Greece (G.S.A.)

“Ephorate of G.S.A.”Advisory Council

Director

Central Service Prefecture/Regional Services

Indexing and Cataloguing Department

Appraisal and Disposal Department

Secretariat and

Accounting Department

Conservation and Reproduction

Department

Reading Room and

Library Department

Special Service of Government’s Prime

Minister, Ministers and General Secretariat

Archives

48 Prefecture Services

16 Regional Services

2 Regional Archival Collections

Planning, Coordination and Studies Department

Brief history 1914: “The Establishment of the Greek State Archiving Service” according to

the Law 380/1914 under the governance of Eleftherios Venizelos, thanks to the efforts of Professor Spyridon Lambrou and the historian-researcher Yiannis Vlachogiannis with the purpose of “collecting and monitoring documents included in all public archives dating 50 years back”. The first Director of the General State Archives was Yiannis Vlachogiannis who donated his valuable collection to the General State Archives and the first Chairman of the Advisory Council was Nikolaos G. Politis. 

1939: Law 2027/1939 is passed regarding the “Reorganization of the General State Archives”.

1991: Law 1946/1991 determines a new legislative frame which regulates the operation of the General State Archives to this day. The Central Service is structured into departments and Archives are established in prefectures which did not exist till then.

2005: The Public Special Service of Greek Government’s Prime Minister, Ministers and General Secretary Archives (founded by the Law 2846/2000) was incorporated into the Central Service of the General State Archives of Greece.

Main goals and activities (1/2)

The General State Archives in Greece, a center of national heritage whose main goal is to:

protect, preserve and disseminate the Greek cultural / historical memory.

The GSA is, also, a central repository providing access to public and private archives, documents and manuscripts collected throughout modern history (from the 13th century until today).

Main goals and activities (2/2) The GSA are the best consultant of the public administration in

terms of managing the public archives and following their life cycle, since the wider public sector is for the GSA the main provider of archival material. In parallel, the national archival service has since 2011 a fundamental and institutionalized role in terms of electronic records management. Besides, the national law has incorporated and is harmonized with the priorities and goals of the Digital Agenda 2020 and the European e-government Action Plan.

Nowadays that free access to information constitutes a fundamental right, GSA does not just store and preserve documents but also manages information issued in different types of material. The GSA ensures the usability of its records by making them available in the Reading Room area. By participating in digitization projects it also manages to make the records available to the public via the Internet. It also serves the administration and the public.

Trends of the Greek Governmental policy regarding the functions of the Memory Organizations in the 21st century

Referring to the development of a new national policy on archives and libraries, a National Conference for Memory Organizations was held under the auspices of the President of the Hellenic Republic, on 27 and 28 January 2011.

The ex-Minister of the National Education and Religious Affairs had set three main policy axes on:

The National Network Developmental Dimension In Transnational Cultural Action

Cooperation of the GSA with other cultural institutions : characteristic references

International Day of Archives in

June 2012 G.S.A and the Zongolopoulos Foundation co-organized an

event with the title "When archives and art meet"

International Day of Archives in June 2013“The Map of Rigas: from the archives to the digital world”

On the occasion of the merger of the National Cartographic Service in the General State Archives and the celebration of the International Day of Archives, this June 2013 the GSA co organized with the Municipality of Filothei- Psychiko (OKAPA) and event which aim is to present to the public the scientific activities of G.S.A. regarding the preservation of historical memory with parallel projection of the Archive for Cartographic Heritage, making use of new technologies and modern digital approaches to the cartographic heritage.

The event included an Exhibition titled: “The Map of Rigas: from the archives to the digital world” and was accompanied by speeches related to the topic. It was dedicated to the great Map of Greece of Rigas Velestinlis, which is not only the ultimate achievement of Greek Enlightenment and Greek cartography towards the end of the 18th century, but also a cartographic work of universal significance.

Publication of the G.S.A. The Acropolis von Athen “Acropolis in Athens” In a publication of good aesthetics the G.S.A

presented material kept at the Central Service related to the period of Otto and to the marbles of the Parthenon.

In the edition 21 unpublished documents in a facsimile form are reproduced which demonstrate the first claim of the Parthenon Sculprures. The event was welcomed by the Professor D. Pantermalis, President of the Acropolis Museum.

The file, a part of which is presented in this edition, derives from “the Secretariat (Ministry) of Ecclesiastical Affairs and Public Education” archive (1833-1862) and constitutes a typical sample of a structured file of the Ottonian period with the title Akropolis von Athen. Chronologically it covers the period from 1834 to 1842 and contains 223 documents.

A very important forthcoming event in collaboration with the Library of the Greek Parliament is the organization of an exhibition focusing on the archives which show the relationship of citizens with politicians and specifically how citizens interpret the power of politicians and rulers in their life.  

Collaboration with the Library of the Greek Parliament

The Regional Branches of General State Archives:• Hydra Museum and Historical Archives

• Prefecture Archival Service of Chios• Prefecture Archival Service of Zakynthos

Hydra Museum Historical Archives (IAMY) The Hydra Museum Historical Archives (IAMY) is a characteristic example of the joint cooperation of Archives, Libraries and Museums because it accommodates the substance of Archives and Museum together.

The museum has valuable documents such as letters by Ioannis Kapodistrias and other philellenists (Friends of the Greek People), various documents, traditional costumes of the time, navigation instruments, cannons, wood carved akrostolia (figureheads), lithographic impressions representing the Hellenic fleet in the 19th and 20th centuries and rich photographic material detailing the history of an island whose long maritime tradition and history are still attracting contemporary visitors. 

Furthermore, the Historical Archives possess a wealth of material for historians and researchers.  As regards manuscript documents, the Archives hold 17.000 to which must be added 122, handwritten in their majority, codes and community records with details of the period from the mid-18th to the end of the 19th century.

Another example of the joint cooperation of Archives and Libraries is the Prefecture service of Chios where the Archives and the Public Library of Chios not only collaborate harmonically but they are co-located since 1940 with the establishment of the Prefecture Archival Service.

Finally, an example of co-location under the same roof is the example of the Prefecture Archival Service of Zakynthos with the Public Library in the Cultural Center of the Municipality of Zakynthos.

Regional Branches of the G.S.A.: Chios and Zakynthos

Conclusions (1/2) All countries around the world during the last years are making an

effort to find the best way to respond to the new data that the enduring and the developing technology make it preeminent and encourage a closer collaboration between memory institutions. This has as a direct result, a new approach of policy regarding the management of cultural heritage is being formed.

Of course, the economic and political circumstances play a very

important role in forming these policies, the financial crisis that makes a lot of countries suffer such as mine brings about many administrative changes that lead, unfortunately in many cases, to merging and abolishment of bodies that are under the umbrella of cultural/memory institutions.

In Greece, as I have mentioned before, from antiquity until today, the three pillars of culture, archives, libraries and museums are progressing and collaborating in a harmonious way. In addition, it follows systematically the international trends and participates to programmes at European level towards this direction.

Conclusions (1/2) However, we strongly believe on the part of the field of archives

the following three points: in the collaboration between Archives, Libraries and

Museums, but they find important not to proceed with any merging because the areas have distinct boundaries.

the wind of changes to the level of technological evolution and progress should not be sweeping and destroying the particularities of every filed but it should be a refreshing wind that with stable steps these important bodies will be led to the new digital era.

in the current period we need within the fluid reality stable principles that will constitute sources of power and inspiration for the people. Under these constrained circumstances go to underline the importance of memory institutions such as our archives, that preserve the social, cultural and historic basis of our society for the benefit of future generations. In Greece, we are making every effort towards this direction.

Thank you!Thank you!

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