The National Archives of Hungary (Budapest, 2006)

THE ARCHIVES OF SCIENTIFIC INSTITUTIONS - Archives of History of Politics and Trade Union by Katalin Zalai

comprehensive analyse of the people's democratic period from 1945-1948 is unimaginable without knowing the documents of coalition parties. Writing the societal history of the 19

th and 20

th century mainly the history of workingclass cannot be presented completely without the material of trade unions. However, scientific researchers do know this topic well as reflected in the increase in interest during the last few years. Our archives were visited 1103 times, we made 6614 copies and we issued certifications in affairs of retirement and compensations for 47 clients. In our archives there is one retired guardian in the research room, one main archival employer and two archivists work, one is the director of the archives. Despite the small number of employees, we do everything to make research easier and smoother, to ensure improved and more modern facilities and to always employ creative methods so as to raise the level of our service. In order to achieve these goals, we have been assiduously working on applying these principles for several years for several years. We continuously modernize our research finding aids, including those that have been in use for a long time. We prepare finding aids at least at middle level for recent materials and publish them. Accordingly, we published our first public fond and holdings registers in 1997 Fr example, the repertory of the collection of 1956 in 1998 and the repertory of the documents of Hungarian Social Democratic Party and Social De- Part of the store room mocratic Party, 1890-1948 in 1999. We are about to publish the repertory of the documents of Hungarian Communist Party, 1944-1948. We are planning to publish our extended fond and holdings register by 2002. We intend to publish the most valluable source groups. The Napvilág publisher published the records of Central Board of MDP between 23

rd October and 4

th November 1956 in 1997 the so-called short-hand written notebooks. The introduction was written by Zoltán Ripp, one of our co-workers who knows this topic very well. Similarly important document collection is expected to be published at the end of this year or at the beginning of the next: in the third volume of our publication it will be entitled Tnter-Party Meetings 1944-1948'.