The National Archives of Hungary (Budapest, 2006)

THE ARCHIVES OF SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS - Open Society Archives by Iván Székely

By Iván Székely: Open Society Archives Galéria Centralis OSA has its own exhibition hall: Galeria Centralis, where not only documents but also objects and works of art, which interpret important historical events are on display. The Galeria has organized 37 exhibitions as of the summer of 2004, including The Gulag, The Prague Spring of 1968, The Commissar Vanishes (falsified photographs of the Stalin era), The Siege of Budapest, Sex and Communism. The most successful exhibitions have attracted more than 10,000 visitors; admission is free. International Relationships The Archives has developed a relationship with numerous foreign and international institutions through its programme 'Archival Bridge': for example, it gave a significant support for saving and cataloguing the materials of the Krasnogorsk film archives (Russia) and for making them available for research; as an associated member of INCOMKA it supported the electronization and categorization of the archives of the Communist International. OSA organized numerous international seminars, and has supported research in areas such as archival sciences, information politics and archival law. Besides its regular course on 'Archives, Evidence and Human Rights', it organized annual summer university courses within CEU. In 2000 the OSA successfully organized an international charity whereby the proceeds were used to purchase thousands of special storing boxes as well as computers, for the archives of the war-worn Kosovo. The Archives also took part in an international initiative Identity Restoration which was concerned with helping Kosovo refugees. Furthermore, the Archives was the leader of the international group which has worked out the framework of using and archiving DNA-related information for humanitarian purposes. Publications In 1999 the Archives published a book in English, with numerous photographs under the title of Open Society Archives, describing the history, the activities and the holdings of the institution. As of the summer of 2004, the website of the Archives (http://www.osa.ceu.hu) consists of about 70000 pages; it contains the description of the holdings and the online reference service of the Archives, information about research grants, training and conferences, digital versions of current and former exhibitions, the relevant examples of international archival regulations and information on the projects and partners so far. Besides, publications on exhibitions, leaflets and a series of reference booklets are available both in English and Hungarian to the prospective researcher.