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@mvsr.vs.sk
Who am I?
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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
The Archives in the Slovak Republic
are controlled by two principal legal provisions
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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
Ministry of
Interior of the
SR
Section of Public
Administration
Personnel
Department
Economical
Department
methodology
Slovak National Archives
Independent budgetary unit
with legal competency
Department of
Archives & Registries
Other
structures
Legislative
Department
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
Ministry of
Interior of the SR
Other
structures
Section of Public
Administration
Personnel
Department
Economical
Department
Department of
Archives & Registries
Slovak National Archives
Legislative
Department
methodology
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
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.
Network of
the state
archives SR
SA Bytča
ŠA Nitra
Branches
1. Nitra
2. Bojnice
3. Komárno
4. Levice
5. Nové Zámky
6. Topoľčany
Branches
1. Čadca
2. Dolný Kubín
3. Lipt. Mikuláš
4. Martin
5. Považská Bystrica
6. Žilina
SA Levoča
Branches
1. Levoča
2. Poprad
3. Spišská
Nová Ves
4. Stará
Ľubovňa
SA Prešov
Branches
1. Prešov
2. Bardejov
3. Humenné
4. Svidník
5. Vranov nad Topľou
SNA
SA Košice
SA B. Bystrica
ŠÚBA B. Štiavnica
SA Bratislava
Archives of the Capitol
of the SR Bratislava
Branches
1. Modra
2. Skalica
3. Šaľa
4. Trenčín
5. Trnava
Branches
1. B. Bystrica
2. B. Štiavnica
3. Kremnica
4. Lučenec
5. Rim. Sobota
6. Veľký Krtíš
7. Zvolen
Branches
1. Košice
2. Michalovce
3. Rožňava
4. Trebišov
More than 400 employes
185 000 running metres
Basic principles and conditions
for protection / preservation
§§§ Legal
provisions §§§
Practical preservation
• preventive measures
• conservation and
restoration
§§§ 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
Protection in legislation
Article 2
Definitions
(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.
Protection in legislation
Article 3
Basic 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.
Protection in legislation
Article 7
Archives 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.
Microfilming laboratories in State Archives
SA Bytča
SA Levoča
ŠA Nitra
Slovak National
Archives
SA Košice
SA B. Bystrica
SA Bratislava
Article 12
Conditions 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.
What is to be digitized primarily?
Survey of charters till 1526
Archives
Parchment
23. – 25. 5. 2007
Hanged
seals
Paper
TOGET
- HER
Archívne dni Žilina
Slovak National Archives –
digitization equipment Atlas
Archívne dni Žilina
Slovak National Archives–
Scanning back-side Betterlight 6000
SA
Levoča
Slovak National Archives –
Microfilm scanner
State Central Mining Archives Banská Štiavnica
Scanner Cruse for maps
Archívne dni Žilina
Article 12
Conditions 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.
The extent of degradation reactions – and thus the
extent of damage depends on:
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Ability of material to absorb the radiation
The amount of absorbed radiation
The energy carried by this radiation
Cummulative effect of light (illumination)
radiation
reflection
object
absorbtion
transmittance
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
Recommended values of
illumination intensity
(lx)
The least
sensitivity
Stone, metal, glass, ceramics, jewels,
enamel, minerals
sensitive
Oil and tempera paintings, horn, bones,
ivory, colourless leather, furniture,
ebonite, b&w 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
No limits
Article 25
Protection of archives during exhibition
(1) Archives shall be exhibited in closed, dustproof 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 %.
Article 13
Access restriction
(2) Archives shall restrict access to archives if:
c) upon their use, damage or the possibility of
damage to them could occur;
Registries
Article 16
Rights 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;
Paper for documents
STN ISO 9706
Changes of folding endurance for alkaline and two
acidic papers during accelerated ageing at 105 oC
200
ALKALINE
ACIDIC 1
ACIDIC 2
180
160
Double folds
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
0
3
6
days
12
24
The Decree no. 628/2002
of the Ministry of Interior of the SR
by which some provisions of the Act on Archives
and Registries are executed
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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;
Article 16
Subject 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.
Article 17
Types 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.
The Decree no. 628
of the Ministry of Interior of the SR
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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.
Present situation in conservation /
restoration
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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 Levoča - 2 (secondary school
level)
State Archives Prešov - 1 (secondary school
level)
Further development in preservation / protection
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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
Acidic paper – one of the basic problems
in preservation of archives, libraries and
other cultural institutions
cca 1850
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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
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
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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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
“Preservation, stabilisation and conservation of
traditional information carriers in the Slovak
Republic – KNIHA SK”
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
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 researcheducational 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
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
Development of new modification systems for
deacidification and strengthening of acidic
paper
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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
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Microbiological
Air quality (air pollution)
Volatile compounds from archives and library materials
Behaviour of acidic paper in alkaline boxes during a long-term
storage
Education
• As a consequence of the project KNIHA SK in 2004–2005 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
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
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
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The organizers of the conference for kind invitation
Thank you for your attention