Education of Archivists in Hungary at the Beginning of the 21st Century

Abstract

Between 1867 and 1948 Hungary did not have any archivist education. Research positions existed only in the National Archives, either legal degree, or university degree, and later doctorate level, as well as passing the professional exam defined by the minister were the requirements for their fulfilment. The organisation of a course preparing for the exam was proposed several times during the era, however it was never realised. The archivist education started on the Faculty of Humanities of ELTE in 1949. First those history students were allowed to apply for the studies that wanted to learn archival studies from the third year of their education as their secondary subject, then it was organised into a four-year and then five-year education. The curriculum was continuously shaped upon the experiences and proposals of the teachers, students and the archivists. The 21st century archivist education basic feature is its continuous change; first the introduction of the credit system and then the Bologna system caused difficulties in the education. Currently the archivist education is mainly supplied by the MA education, however, the knowledge that had to be obtained in 6-8-10 semesters earlier, has to be taught within 4 semesters. The example subject syllabi reflect on the depth of knowledge provided by the education.