ARHIVSKI VJESNIK 44. (ZAGREB, 2001.)

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J. Kolanović, Arhivska služba Republike Hrvatske: stanje i izgledi razvoja, Arh. vjesn., god. 44 (2001), str. 11-32 Summary THE ARCHIVAL SERVICE IN CROATIA: CURRENT SITUATION AND PROSPECTS OF DEVELOPMENT Following a brief presentation of the development and of the current status of the archival service in Croatia, at the First Croatian archival congress, we shall present the prospects of its further development. Its development is the main topic of the Congress, which is why our presentation may serve as an introduction to the topic. Croatia's modern archival service is a result of a long and continuous development which, from the institutional viewpoint, we can trace back to the beginning of the 19th century. During the period, the development of the archives was subject to many different influences of European archival services - French, Italian and Austrian in Dalmatia and Istria, while Austrian and Hungarian in Banska Hrvatska (Civil Croatia) and Vojna krajina (the Croatian Military Border). The service has been developing within a unique system as of 1945, when an organizational and theoretical base is created alongside with the foundations to a modern understanding of the archival service which does not concentrate exclusively on the past, guarding the archives as a part of the World's cultural heritage and a historical reference, but rather on the care for new archival material being created as well. The legal terms related to the archival service in Croatia are determined by the Law on archival records and archives (1997), which sets a series of regulations for implementing and regulating the protection, processing, usage and appraisal of the records. Croatia opted for a unique system of archival service. For it to be efficient it is necessary to create an administrative, supervisory, expert and scientific center (the archival administration), which will co-ordinate, direct and promote its development through expertise. Simultaneously, it is necessary to strive towards the decentralization of the service and the creation of specialized archives, in charge of various areas of activities (universities, the economy, the audiovisual media, etc.). The modern understanding of the archival records as a continuum requires tight connection, co-operation and coordination on the part of the creators of the archival records and the archives. When saying that, we take as our basis the modern understanding according to which archivists and record managers belong to the same profession while having different responsibilities. A unique program of education with the possibility of specialization, and the responsibility of society to employ professionals - records managers - where the most important records are created - are also based on that. The path of development leads to expert record managers, who will manage records from their creation to the transfer to historical archives. 31