COMPETENCES AND TASKS OF THE STATE ARCHIVES OF THE REPUBLIC OF NORTH MACEDONIA

PRESERVATION OF ARCHIVE MATERIALS AT THE HOLDERS

One of the key obligations of the State Archives of the Republic of North Macedonia is regular monitoring of the condition of the archive material at the holders or creators. These tasks are realized by the Archives through the Sector for Inspection and Preservation of Archive Material at the Holders and Arranging and Processing the Archive Materials, consisting of the Department for protection of archive material at the holders and arrangement and processing of the archive material, and the Department for inspection with authorized inspectors.

The Department for protection of the archive material with the holders keeps records and continuous monitoring of the creators and holders of the archive material. Holders are classified into two categories - priority and non-priority and a file is created for each holder separately.

Visits to the holders and professional-methodological assistance consist of: professional assistance in making plans and lists, archival signs of office work, selection, recording and receipt of material, etc. Minutes of the visits are prepared for each visit, by ascertaining the conditions and measures and deadlines for elimination of ascertained irregularities.

The classification and valorization of the holder is done through the adoption and application of the plans of the archival signs and the lists of documentary material with storage deadlines as well as the lists of the archive material. For the application of the plans and lists, the Archive issues a consent for their application. In the Republic of Northern Macedonia, starting from 1968, a General part of the plan and lists is prescribed, which is the same for all holders, and a special part of the plan and lists is prepared according to the specific position of the holder, which arises from its functional structure.

The recording of the archive material is followed by the selection. The selected archival material of permanent value, in accordance with the lists, is recorded analytically, by making a description and inventory.

For the separated documentary material, which has passed the storage deadlines, the holder prepares a separate sheet and informs the Archive, which gives Consent for its destruction. In accordance with the established legal deadline, the holder is obliged to hand over the archive material to the Archive in original, defended, arranged and recorded condition.

The Department for Inspection of Holders for the performed inspection of the condition of the documentary and archive material, compiles a report. The minutes provide proposed measures that the holder is obliged to take in order to eliminate the identified shortcomings and omissions with deadlines for their implementation. If during the inspection, the inspector determines that the holder has committed a misdemeanor or a crime, he submits a request to the director of DARSM for initiating a misdemeanor or criminal procedure against the responsible person.

PROTECTION OF ARCHIVAL MATERIAL IN THE ARCHIVE

The Department for protection of archive material - Depot, works on the receipt of archive material which is done by: taking over from the holders, redemption, gift, deposit and archival research in archives abroad.

The recording of the archive material in the archives depots in the Republic of Northern Macedonia is according to the Instructions for unique and obligatory recording of the archive material and funds in the archives in the Republic of Macedonia. Archival funds and collections are classified into 3 categories, depending on the time of occurrence and the significance of the archival material.

The archive material from the depot is issued for: processing and production of information aids, technical-technological protection (microfilming, conservation and restoration and bookbinding), use, exhibitions, etc.

The protection of the archive material begins with the reception in the State Archives, where after the undertaking protective measures are performed: de-dusting, disinfection, microfilming, conservation and restoration.

Preventive protection consists in placing and storing archival material in purpose-built depots, provided by direct sunlight by regulating the temperature and relative humidity within approximate limits, according to the prescribed archival standards. They consist in regulating the temperature and relative humidity within the limits that allow the possibilities of the Archive and disinfection of the contaminated archive material in a special vacuum chamber and in the laboratory for conservation of the restored documents. Disinfection is performed depending on the contamination that is determined based on regular microbiological analyzes. From the obtained results, measures are taken to remove the causes of damage: disinfection of individual documents, peeling of blind sheets, bathing, bleaching, stain removal, rinsing, neutralization on dry and wet roads, drying and leveling, preparation of adhesives for manual restoration, reinforcement of documents with carboxyl methyl and hydroxyl methyl cellulose, manual restoration and machine restoration and lamination.

The microfilming is performed on arranged and processed funds with developed scientific-informative means. The funds are microfilmed on tapes and microfiches; the quality of the recorded material is checked on a micro-reader and a decanter, and the older microfilm tapes are washed and regenerated.

The bookbinders bind and bind the archival books and make appropriate archive boxes for storing the archive material in all depots of the State Archives of the Republic of Northern Macedonia.

The Technical Documentation Service takes over the technical documentation from the facilities of special interest to the Republic (strategic facilities). The downloaded technical documentation is recorded, prepared for recording and the recorded material is processed. Three types of microfilm are made from the recorded material: negative, positive and diazo.

ARRANGEMENT AND PROCESSING OF ARCHIVE MATERIAL

Due to the unique methodological approach in arranging, recording and processing the archive material, general and special professional-methodological instructions for work are used. The general guidelines regulate the methodology of certain phases and processes in the work, and the special professional-methodological guidelines regulate the methodology of arranging-processing of individual funds or collections, or group of funds-collections, the manner of recording and the type of scientific information means to be made.

The professional-methodological guidelines contain the following elements:

  1. Brief history of the fund creator (fund maker)
  2. Organizational setup and internal reorganizations
  3. Classification plan with work instructions
  4. Lists of archival and documentary material.

The process of arranging and processing the archive funds takes place in stages.

The arrangement of the archive material is carried out on all funds and collections that have been received in a disordered and unrecorded condition and includes:

  • classification, processing, signaling and foliation of archival books,
  • classification of acts by funds and years,
  • classification of the material of a particular organizational unit (from lowest to highest year) or classification within each year,
  • internal systematization of the files within the subject, foliation and final valorization of the archive material - chronological or thematic arrangement, completion, etc.
  • preparation of internal descriptions of each archive box - as an integral part of the summary inventory, summary review of the archive material of the entire fund, ie collection and list of archival material for conservation and restoration.

The arrangement of the fund ends with the preparation of the summary inventory for the funds and collections that are not of special importance, and the more significant funds and collections are processed.

The processing of the archive material includes the preparation of short content data for each individual document in the form of register, analytical inventory and guides through the microfilmed archive material. Registers are prepared for the funds until 1918, for the period of the national liberation movement (1941-1944), family and personal funds and funds of revolutionaries. For the other significant funds, an analytical description (inventory) of the items is prepared.

  • Analytical inventory is prepared on the objects - the archive units in a concisely expressed content of the object according to chronological or alphabetical order.
  • The register is a concise presentation of the content of a document or object with data on external features (for very important and old documents) by stating data on the date, addressee and addressee.

Description elements:

  1. Archive signature, which contains the archive number, the number of the fund (collection), the ordinal number of the lower descriptive unit in the fund (or the number of the box), the ordinal number of the item within the lower descriptive unit, the ordinal number of the document within the subject and sheets "from-to" continuously, within the lower descriptive unit (example: 01.0159.0215.110 / 0215-0226).
  2. Date of occurrence
  3. Place of occurrence
  4. Title of the case, ie the document
  5. Addressee and addressee
  6. Short content of the case or document
  7. External features of the document - note on originality, language, letter, dimensions, ink color and number of sheets.

The microfilms also state the fund, the signature from the microfilm collection, the number of recordings and (or) the serial numbers of the recordings from the tape.

The guides through the microfilmed archival material refer to the microfilmed funds brought from research in foreign archives and are made to guide the user in the content data for a certain microfilmed fund in the fastest way. They are supported by thematic, geographical and directory registers, with the appropriate microfilm signatures.

At the end of the processing of the fund, a historical note is made, a short content of the entire fund and the file of the fund is completed. The working card of the fund monitors the movement of the fund from its receipt in the Archive to the final processing and undertaken interventions of the fund - microfilming, conservation and restoration.

RESEARCH, USE AND PUBLICATION OF ARCHIVE MATERIAL

In order to supplement the archival funds available to the State Archives of the Republic of Macedonia, research is carried out to discover, record and supply documents that are in private ownership or in various archives, libraries and other institutions in several countries.

In the country, the research is carried out by hiring archivists from the State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia, so that correspondence is made with possible holders, personal contacts are made and the conditions under which the archive material that is in private ownership can be left are agreed.

Abroad, special attention is paid to the conclusion of bilateral agreements for cooperation with the relevant archival services in countries where there is interest in mutual research. So far, the State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia has concluded agreements with the archive centers in Bulgaria, Turkey, Poland, Austria, Slovenia and Russia, Italy, the Russian Federation, Serbia, Montenegro and others.

After the researches in the country, the reception of the archive material is organized in the State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia.

The use of the archive material in the State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia is regulated by the Law on Archive Material and other acts of the Archive, as well as by the deadlines and conditions determined between the holders of the material and the State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia upon its receipt.

The archive material can be used, if the funds and collections that are of interest to the users, are in an arranged or archived state. In principle, copies of the material (xerox copies or microfilms) are used. The State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia in all buildings has dedicated rooms - reading rooms for the use of the material.

The use of the archive material in the State Archive of the Republic of Macedonia is initiated by submitting an Application for the use of archive material, in which, in addition to the personal data, the topic is also reported. The selection of the archival material is done through a review in the scientific-informative means for the material. At the moment, the selection of archival material can be done in part through the Archive Information System. The request for use of the archive material is based on the title or the collection and the signature.

At the request of users, copying (xerography, photocopying, microfilming or scanning) of the material they are interested in is performed.

A file is created for each user of archival material, which contains the applications for use, the mutual sheets and the requests for copying.

The publication of the archive material takes place in accordance with the publishing policy of the Archive. The main determination is the publication of the archive material that is in the Archive in the original or has been brought reproduced from the researches abroad. The planning primarily follows the established series (Turkish, English, Austrian and others) of the documents on the history of the Macedonian people and the celebrations of important anniversaries of the Republic of Macedonia and important personalities from the national and local history.

Proposals for publication come from archivists and other scholars. Two reviewers are selected for the accepted papers - experts in the field and the period, whose opinions are important in the definitive printing.