ARHIVSKI VJESNIK 42. (ZAGREB, 1999.)

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J. Kolanović, Autonomija arhivske službe, Arh. vjesn., god. 42(1999), str. 29-42 about the autonomy of archival profession: autonomous education and professiolization of archival service at all levels: at records creators and in historical archives. That first claim requires autonomously organized archival education and affirmation of independent profession different from those of a historian or an informatician. Complex "scientific and professional autonomy" includes also defining autonomous policy of appraisal and disposal, acquisition policy, and finally policy on ac- .„ cess to archives. Policy concerning appraisal and disposal asks to define the one who should be responsible for the final destiny of documents. Approach to autonomy of archives selection requests the definition of professional criteria and creation of standards which would determine as much as possible objectivity in the selection of archives as a part of national memory and evidence of past. Profession must have final word in appraisal and disposal of archives in an autonomous archival service. In that respect, it should have all competencies, even the possibility of sanctions, in case of an unauthorized destruction of archival records. Acquisition policy is based on systematic, scientific and professional evaluation of all functions of a specific country and protection of the integrity of documentation as a part of national archival heritage. Final decision on acquisition policy belongs to professional archival service. Wide privatization process of many sectors of public life puts new challenges for archival service. Finally, in the complex of professional and scientific autonomy goes an equal freedom of.a

ccess to archives. Access to archives should not depend on subjectivity but must be based on objectivity, equal for all. Here the issue related to declassification of documents, which should be regulated equally for all users, is especially significant. b) Administration autonomy. Scientific and professional autonomy of archives is not possible without the autonomy of archive administration and professionalization of archivists. In most of the European countries, archival service is under the jurisdiction of ministries of culture. Since archival records are created in all sectors and it is not important only and exclusively for cultural purposes, it is impossible to realize total autonomy of archive service without autonomous administration of archival service. Such autonomous administration is responsible to create professional archive policy and national archival programs. It looks like that development of archival administration should gravitate toward inter-ministerial, which means that the archive administration should be in explicit jurisdiction of prime minister or an autonomous administration like is for example Geodetska uprava (Geodesy Administration) and similar. It should be useful to reexamine present European and world 40