What documents are stored in the Vitebsk archive and how is the 'life' of the oldest ones extended?
– Tatiana Mikhailovna, what does your organization represent today?
– The State Archives of the Vitebsk Region is an institution that stores documents of organizations that operated in the territory of the Vitebsk Governorate, District, and Region from 1917 to the present day. Currently, we have collected over 1.3 million items (the 3rd largest storage volume in Belarus). The archive's zone includes Vitebsk with its district, Beshenkovichi, Gorodok, Liozno, Chashniki, and Shumilino districts. The remaining regions of the oblast are under the jurisdiction of zonal state archives in the cities of Glubokoye, Polotsk, and Orsha.
– And what exactly does the state archive do?
– We have several departments. For example, our National Archival Fund Formation Department handles acquisition. Additionally, there is a Scientific and Technical Processing Department. It organizes documents from 549 organizations and prepares them for permanent storage in the State Archives. Thus, we contribute to the replenishment of the National Archival Fund with documents from the modern historical period.
There is a Document Preservation Department, which manages the work of archive storage facilities, accepts documents, improves their physical condition, and provides them to users. Its employees carry out serious work on document accounting. Every acquisition in the archive is recorded, and a specific set of documents is processed. It should be noted that some documents are nearly a century old, so they require careful and attentive handling. We have 4 specialists who are involved in document restoration.
– How well are new technologies being adopted in your organization?
– Recently, all areas of activity have been automated to one degree or another. Looking back to the recent past, in 2002, the State Archives of the Vitebsk Region had only two computers.
Currently, there are 39 workstations, 4 of which are operational in reading rooms for users.
The catalog has been created exclusively in electronic format for some time now. The paper catalog is also being converted into an electronic format. Document accounting is also carried out in an automated mode. Today, we have not yet moved away from paper documents, and this is not an immediate prospect, but such work is underway. Inquiries from citizens and organizations, as well as their accounting, are also conducted in an automated mode.
The Republic has a State Holdings Catalog, which is annually updated with information about newly acquired documents from all state archives of the country, including ours. Currently, comprehensive information about the composition of documents of the National Archival Fund of the Republic of Belarus is available on the World Wide Web.
We also accumulate information about documents stored in the archive. This is the so-called free access system. Data on the titles of files stored in the State Archive is entered into it. This software module is currently being populated, and in the future, its information will be made available on the internet.
The "extension of life" of documents is facilitated by digitization. This is carried out in a specialized laboratory in Gomel. We cannot move forward rapidly in this direction yet, so priority is given to digitizing particularly valuable items. The possibility of working with this category of documents in reading rooms has been ensured.
– Is the use of the reading room a paid service?
– No. A person comes to the archive with a passport and a topic they would like to study based on our documents, writes an application, familiarizes themselves with the rules, and can then work. However, providing a copy of a document is a paid service.
– You also conduct active exhibition activities.
– Based on archive documents, 5 to 8 exhibitions are prepared annually. Joint projects, which accumulate the source studies base, intellectual resources, and financial means of all participants, are the most multifaceted and accessible. Among our partners is the National
archive of the Republic of Belarus, the National Historical Archive of Belarus, the regional local history museum, the Marc Chagall Museum, the Lenin Regional Library, and others. The State Archive of the Vitebsk Region has accumulated experience in preparing virtual exhibitions. Our portfolio includes the exhibitions "Vitebsk Region Liberated," "Spring 1945," and "What If Tomorrow Is War..."– With what mood are you approaching your professional holiday?
– We have very goal-oriented employees. However, the team not only works together but also rests and celebrates holidays. On the eve of the professional holiday, following established tradition, we go on excursions. This year, it was a wonderful knight's festival in Mstislavl.
We also hope that 2017 will be the starting year for the reconstruction of the former art crafts factory building transferred to us at 18 Griboyedov Street. This will allow us to relieve the archive storage. The design and estimate documentation has already been prepared. The main thing is that the regional authorities understand the importance of resolving this issue.
Ales Byньkov. Photos by Anton STEPANISHCHEV. "Vitebskiye Vesti".