ARHIVSKI VJESNIK 42. (ZAGREB, 1999.)

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J. Kolanović, Autonomija arhivske službe, Arh. vjesn., god. 42(1999), str. 29-42 eved: "Archivists should not allow people outside the profession to interfere in their practice and obligations". Archivists autonomy guarantee, accordingly, professionalism instead of political control; objectivity instead of redecorating of the past due to the particular political ideologies; comprehensiveness in the protection of archives instead of emphasizing only one segment of the past; and equal access to archives for all researchers instead of privileged access to i

nform

ation to some individuals. In one word, the autonomy of archives can be reduced to "objective protection and use of world archival heritage" so that archives keep historical evidences, and they not become tools of propaganda or some ideology. In the end, archival service can guarantee the truth about the past, for the future generations, only if autonomy will be realized - independence of archival servic

e - and also the full professionalization of the occupation. Because nobody has a right to hide the truth about the past by destroying tracks of historical memory or by reshaping the full truth about him. In the EU Draft Recommendations on access to archives it is said explicitly that a country has earned the fullness of democracy only then when its every resident has a possibility to inform himself about elements of his or hers history in the objective way. The idea about conference on "autonomy and integrity" o

f archival ma

terial, as I've already stressed, was in the first place inspired by the experience of transition countries of former communist systems. Totalitarian ideology did everything possible to have control over archives as sources of information. Let us mention only few elements of archival service organization and work in those countries. a) The first and basic element of archival control had been manifested in personnel policy. It was almost impossible to imagine that a person, who had not been a member of the party, could become a director of an archives. Political qualification has been put above the professional commitment and competence. This is not a question of a type of organization where managers carry responsible duties and coordinate work of professionals, but about a system of control implemented through, so called, personnel policy. Such system created a directed control and inspection over archival institutio

ns.. It seems that even after the collapse of totalitarian systems this matter has been left open even in the countries of developed democracy. b) The second element of control in totalitarian systems consisted of a selective approach to records, which has leading toward a system that can be called "a suppressed history". As history has been in the function of politics, documents - especially those regarding contemporary history - were strictly watched. A complete access had been enabled only to "state historians". Only future investigations will show what influence the policy of "suppressed history " have had on development of mentality but also on political development in some countries: hidden and suppres37