Arhivski vjesnik, No. 42, 1999.
Conference paper
Financing of archives
Patric Cadell
Abstract
The International Council on Archives brings together over 150 different countries, and when their national archivists meet and compare what there do, there seem to be as many different ways of running national archive services and managing their funding. Much of this variation derives from national traditions, from the general level of prosperity and development, from the size of the archive service, from the department of which it is a part, and although this is always less obvious, from the range of government activities for which the archive is in fact responsible. The same is true at a local Ievel, though here the matter is complicated by the extent to which the national archive service is itself responsible for regional or local archives. In many ways the interest in discussing this subject at an international meeting is precisely the extent to which the practices of one country differ from those of another, and therefore in examining what one country can learn from another. In the United Kingdom, all the national archive services are financed directly by government, in the case of England and Scotland through the equivalent of the Department of Justice, and in Northern Ireland through the Department of the Environment (though responsibility there will shortly pass to the Department of Culture). All three archive services are government agencies with a measure of independence. I shall examine the nature, the extent and the reality of this independence, at the same time I shall look at the ways in which a number of these activities are financed in other countries, and at the degree of autonomy that they enjoy. There is also the difficult question of the extent to which archives should be able to raise their own funding. In Europe it is generally considered that access should be free, though in some countries there is a cost attached to a reader's ticket, and in at Ieast one other a charge on each researcher is an important part of a national archive's revenue. It is generally accepted, however, that where value has been added, reprographically or electronically for example, a charge may reasonably be made. But where does this start, and should archive services have to depend on funding from such sources? Finally I shall give some thought to the benefit of the development of "standards" in this area, so that it is possible to compare one archive with another. Do we all mean precisely the same thing when we speak of a researcher? When we produce statistics for a number of items taken off the shelves for consultation, do we always collect statistics in the same way? When we cost a service, what elements are allowed for the service itself, for the administration that lies behind it, for accommodation, and perhaps even for the general preservation of the records? No firm answers will be offered, but I believe it will be helpful to raise these issues, and to open them up to discussion.
Keywords
Hrčak ID:
10584
URI
Publication date:
18.2.2000.
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