The voice in the wilderness? Archivists, their knowledge and the public

The voice in the wilderness?

Archivists, their knowledge and the public

Keynote at KVAN studiedagen 2015

Dr. Irmgard Becker

www.archivschule.de14.04.2023 – I. Becker - 2 KVAN

• scientia potentia est• kennis is kracht• knowledge is power

Motto


• Archives are the base of social memory• Archivists have a wide range of knowledge to

create this base of social memory– records management– digital archiving– knowledge of history

Knowledge of archivists


• Three levels1. Level

• Offering archivist’s knowledge to administration agencies

• Offering archivist’s knowledge to the public

2. Level• Cooperation and Networking

3. Level• Influencing the political sector

• Conclusion

Outline


Nürnberg city archive• responsible for the municipal records management since

1961• ELAN (Elektronische Akte Nürnberg) project to implement

electronic records• city archive was involved in from the beginning of the

project• Consequences

– a unique document management software in administration– correct electronic records in the archive

Offering archivist’s knowledge to administration agencies


Hamburg State archive • Evaluation of records to be disposed of in administration• Need to improve records management in administration

of the state of Hamburg• Hamburg state archive established a records

management unit to advice administration• Consequences:

• Partnership with financial department to implement an information management system

• responsibility for the transparency portal of Hamburg

Offering archivist’s knowledge to administration agencies


Transparency Portal

Hamburg state archive


Nürnberg city archive, Oral history project immigration

Offering archivist’s knowledge to the public


Nürnberg city archive, encyclopedia



Heilbronn city archive• Basis of strategy: enthusiasm• online information management system• presenting the history in an entertaining way for adults

and children



Heilbronn city archive



Heilbronn city archive• Consequences:

– funding form foundations and companies for projects– The archive is anchored very well in the municipal

society



• Nestor - Network of Expertise in long-term Storage and availability of digital Resources in Germany

Cooperation and Networking


• AUdS - Team of experts for archiving records from digital systems



state archive of Baden-Württemberg



• state archive of Baden-Württemberg• Levels of cooperation

– cooperation with other states of Germany– cooperation to support the use of the software DIMAG– cooperation as a service partnership– cooperation to preserve data in the digital archive of

Baden-Württemberg

• Other cooperations– German archives portal– Research project to digitise archival material



• On a municipal level• On a regional level• On the federal level

– Fostering connections to politicians– Influencing political debates– Commenting draft bills and political decisions

Influencing the political sector


• Offering archivist‘s knowledge to administration and the public– To be a respected partner of administration – To be linked into the local or regional society– To get additional funding

• Cooperation and networking– To share knowledge– To spread standards– To manage complex issues like digital archiving

• Influencing the political sector– To put through archival requirements– To build up the legal prerequisites for the tasks of archives

Conclusion


Thank you for your attention!

The voice in the wilderness? Archivists, their knowledge and the public

Data & Analytics

kvan nrnberg city archive

kvan state archive of

irmgard becker

kvan studiedagen

kvan archives

kracht knowledge

municipal records management

kvan auds team