ARHIVSKI VJESNIK 42. (ZAGREB, 1999.)

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J. van den Broek, Current developments in the archival network in the Netherlands, Arh. vjesn., god. 42 (1999), str. 103-112 The State Archival Service As I said, the recent development will put an end to the State Archival Service as we know it. In the future it will concentrate on the custody of the National Archives (records of the central government and records of private provenience with a national impact). The management of the regional record centres will no longer be directly subordinate to the central authorities in the Hague. This means the loss of the advantages of central steering. This problem is the more urgent as the rapid developments in the field of information and communication technology require more and more standardisation. When the breaking up of hierarchical lines will do away with the possibility of enforcing standardisation and adjustment through a nation-wide network of state archives, it will be necessary to look for other instruments with which a desired level of co-operation can be ensured. One of these is already there: recently a co-ordinating board has been established in which representatives of various kinds of archival institutions take part and which will act as the official counterpart of the Ministry of Culture. In addition to that, much can be gained by the establishing of a comprehensive set of quality standards for the functioning of archival institutions, in combination with a new system of archives inspection. The role of the Provinces In the opening of my contribution I said that we are returning to the organisational picture of the 19

th century, the one that was in place before the state took over the regional archives. It will be clear to you that the similarity between the new and the old situation is not more than a small one, especially in a formal sense. In fact the only similarity is that in the management of regional archives the regional element will once again play a leading role. The difference with the 19

th century however is great. In the management of the new Regional Historical Centres there is no substantial role for the provincial government. The reason is that, according to Dutch archival legislation, the provinces have no task of lasting care for their (and other regional records), or in other words: they have no public repositories of their own. At the same time the province is the authority responsible for regional culture. In the new constellation a province might decide to take part in the local Regional Historical Centre and bring in some additional features. In some provinces there is a lively attention for the work of archives, in others there is no interest at all. But common to authorities of all levels and all places is the fear for new structural expenses. So what may be expected is largely unclear. As a matter of fact, it is hardly possible for a Regional Historical Centre to function optimally and to meet the high expectations without an active participation of the provincial authorities. The Minister of Culture has set up a working part which 111