Digitalization of Archival Professional Procedures – A Necessity or a Desire of Individuals

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to define the concept of digitization in the context of archival professional procedures. These are changing with the development and implementation of information technology solutions in archives. As a result, archival theory and practice do not have clearly defined methods for measuring and determining the achieved level of digitization of the results of archival professional work in a precisely defined time and space. From this point of view, it is necessary to develop and implement sufficiently robust methods at the level of procedures or individual archival professional workers, as well as at the level of institutions, with which it will be possible to measure and define these values. However, since digitization depends on the standardization of archival professional work products, the paper also highlights the requirement to define a method for determining the achieved level of standardization of archival professional work products. In this context, the hypothesis is developed that only accurate and systematically collected data can serve as a basis for strategic decision-making and for the further implementation of digital automation in archives and for decisions regarding digital transformation in the field of archival theory and practice. Methodology: Several research methods were used in the preparation of the paper. The following should be highlighted: study of online and other sources, descriptive and statistical method, case study method, empirical method, method of summarizing obtained results, contents and insights. Results: Understanding the basic aspects of the digitalization of archival professional processes serves as a starting point for the implementation of new technologies in archival professional work. In this context, the generally applicable generic term "digitalization" must be distinguished from the term "digital automation" and from the term "digital transformation" in archives. In this context, the discussion develops starting points for the implementation of complex mixed, i.e. quantitative-qualitative methods. Based on the implementation of such methods, the stages of digitalization and standardization of archival professional processes could be more precisely defined, and the characteristics of archival professional work could also be better defined and verified over time. The research showed that in some areas, solutions have already been implemented that can be defined as "digital automation" of archival professional processes. Their further development depends, among other things, on the achieved level of interoperability, which will need to be systematically upgraded in practice by standardizing the products of archival professional work. Conclusions: The digitization of archival professional procedures and the standardization of archival professional work products are no longer just the desire of individual archivists but are a necessary stage in the development of information support towards digital automation and digital transformation of archival theory and practice. The key here is good control and management of the ever-increasing volume of archival metadata and related archival materials in digital environments.