© ATLANTI + (ISSN 2670-4560, E-ISSN 2670-4579) as the International Scientific Review for Contemporary Archival Theory and Practice is a peer-reviewed journal, published two times a year by International Institute for Archival Science Trieste – Maribor. The journal is co-published by Alma Mater Europaea – European Center Maribor.
Visible and Invisible Boundaries of Access: The Case of Private Archives in Turkey
Purpose: Private archives occupy a distinctive position in that they have the capacity to reflect individual lives and actions in an unfiltered and uncensored manner. This study aims to identify and categorise access restrictions applied in private archives by tracing their underlying rationales, and to examine whether the restrictions imposed on personal and family archives are consistent with ethical principles, legal frameworks, and professional standards. Method/Approach: Using a qualitative approach based on document analysis and comparative case studies, the research examines international archival guidelines alongside access practices in five private archives in Turkey to classify restrictions through content analysis. Results: The findings reveal that access restrictions in private archives cluster around three interrelated domains; legal, ethical/privacy-related and operational practices, and that the absence of formal access policies results in inconsistent and opaque implementations. Conclusions/Findings: The study concludes that access restrictions in private archives are multi-layered phenomena and that clearly defined institutional access policies are essential for ensuring transparency, accountability, and alignment with professional and ethical standards.
Trump(eting) Evidence Concealment: Recordkeeping Turmoil in the United States of America and Lessons on Presidential Records within the Eastern and Southern Africa Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (ESARBICA)
Purpose: Presidential records define and amplify the relationship that exists between the governing and the governed. As such, they should be treated as public records in the broad interest of transparency and accountability to promote good governance. The tumultuous events recently witnessed at the National Archives and Records Administration in the United States of America should be an eye opener to the global archives community and provide a window of opportunity to advance the cause for archives. Evidence management has been at the epicentre of the archival profession since time immemorial as this defines who we are as archivists and this piece attempts to highlight this as it dissects this watershed moment in archival discourse. An attempt is also made to draw lessons from this incident for the benefit of archival institutions within the East and Southern African region and to reignite the contentious debate on archival ethics. Methods: This is a desktop study that qualitatively draws on a review of relevant archival scholarship and online publications. A desk top study also knows as a desk study is a research method that involves collecting, reviewing and analysing existing information and data from secondary sources without fieldwork. Results: The findings highlight the vulnerability of the records profession to the whims of politicians in view of the evidence that recordkeepers protect in these records. These insights underscore the broader challenges faced by the recordkeeping profession in managing records of a country’s leader. The sanctity of evidence is what makes our calling as archivists as we are guardians of the 1 Assoc. Prof. Francis Garaba, Information Studies Department, University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), email: garaba@ukzn.ac.za. 2 NB. This paper attempts to provoke discussion of archival issues (presidential records) and re-ignite the debate on archival ethics and is an original article not submitted to any publication. truth. Enacting specific legislation that informs the management of presidential records could help solve this conundrum especially for archival institutions within ESARBICA. Discussion: By interrogating President Trump’s destabilization of the recordkeeping profession, this article assesses the seismic professional impact it has had. The incident highlights several lessons that can be drawn from this event which inter alia include the need to enact specific legislation that informs their stewardship and re-ignites the contentious debate on archival ethics. Lastly, it is argued in this article that this incident provides a window of an opportunity from an advocacy point of view for us to defend the recordkeeping profession as we need an evidence management campaign in this regard.
Archiving Beyond Documents: Health and Sports Data from Wearable Sensors in a Data-Intensive World
Purpose: Wearables in the health and sports domains have spread significantly over the past period, and this article analyses several wearable devices and systems used in the treatment of diabetes and in tracking endurance sports. Method/approach: The theoretical framework this research uses is a Foucauldian analysis of datafied reality, alongside both discursive and materialist views of data. Results: The author examines data generated by users and wearables as material-discursive phenomena that rely on data imaginaries and enable specific users’ actions over data. After analysing threats to the continued use of data from wearables, the author emphasises the importance of preventing data loss. The author explores whether wearable data should be archived as data or as documents. Conclusion/findings: The author discusses the value of data, recommends using archival strategies to restore user control over their data, and proposes developing a data-driven archival apparatus.
Evolution and Implementation of the Delphi Method in Archival Theory and Practice
Purpose: The article examines whether, and in what ways, the Delphi method is methodologically appropriate for addressing contemporary challenges in archival theory and practice, particularly those arising from digital transformation, technological change, and the growing complexity of archival decision making. Method/Approach: The study adopts a qualitative, exploratory research design based on a systematic review and analytical synthesis of methodological and empirical literature. Sources were identified through the Scopus, Emerald Insight, and Springer Nature Link databases and complemented by foundational literature to capture the theoretical origins, development, and variants of the Delphi method. A comparative analysis of major Delphi variants (classical, modified, policy, decision, real-time, argument, and disaggregative) was conducted to assess their methodological characteristics and applicability to specific archival research domains. Results: The analysis demonstrates that the Delphi method is well suited to archival research problems characterized by uncertainty, limited empirical evidence, and normative judgment. Different Delphi variants address distinct research needs: classical and modified Delphi support consensus building, policy, and argument Delphi structure normative and legal debates, while real-time and disaggregative Delphi facilitate rapid iteration and scenario-based analysis. Evidence from published applications confirms the method’s relevance for appraisal, preservation, access, governance, and technology-related archival research. Conclusions findings: The article concludes that the Delphi method constitutes a flexible and robust methodological framework for archival science, offering practical guidance for selecting appropriate Delphi variants in future archival research and interdisciplinary studies.
Guidelines for the Creation of Descriptors within the Archival Databases
Purpose: Descriptors represent an important tool in the process of creating objective information about archives, as most of the modern information processing systems are based on the descriptor system, which plays a key role. Descriptors represent an important access point for retrieval of information from archival information systems. They are the starting point for searching within the content and descriptions of archives therefore they must allow users the continuation of inquiries in archival information system. Practical experience gained through archival description, together with searching and retrieval within the Slovenian archival database has demonstrated a clear need for a more systematic treatment of the question of creation of headings. In particular, there is a need for guidelines governing the creation of subject headings and thesauri for archival content that can be applied consistently across different archival information systems and software platforms. Method/approach: To investigate this need, a comprehensive research project was conducted. Its primary objective was to develop practical guidelines for the formulation of subject headings and the establishment of thesauri applicable to archival records of enduring value, regardless of the software environment used for archival description. To identify the requirements for such guidelines, two complementary studies were undertaken. The first focused on users and patterns of use within the Slovenian cooperative archival database. The second study employed a qualitative research design based on content analysis. Selected domestic and international archival databases were examined using a predefined coding framework, which provided the basis for the analysis. The central research question was as follows: “Is the subject indexing of archival records implemented in a manner that enables users to conduct independent searches of archival databases and facilitates faster and easier access to archival records?” 1 Dr. Zdenka Semlič Rajh, Archival Councillor and Assocciate Professor at Alma Mater Europaea University, zdenka.semlic@almamater.si. GUIDELINES FOR THE CREATION OF DESCRIPTORS WITHIN THE ARCHIVAL DATABASES ZDENKA SEMLIČ RAJH 12 Results: The importance of names was confirmed not only by the analysis of Slovenian archival database but also by our examination of foreign archival information systems. Of the fifty-four systems analysed, only thirty-three supported descriptor-based searching. Among these, 89% enabled searching by personal names, 45% by family names, 63% by corporate body names, and 88% by geographical names. The results unequivocally confirmed the need for formal guidelines governing the formulation and application of descriptors. Conclusions/findings: On the basis of the analysis of records contained in Slovenian archival information systems, together with the identification of common theoretical principles, a set of guidelines was subsequently developed for the formulation of subject headings, thesauri, and classification structures within the Slovenian archival environment, particularly for the description of documentary and archival records.
Enhancing Information Security Through Secure Document Disposal: A Case Study
Purpose: This study examines the role of secure document destruction in safeguarding sensitive information and supporting institutional security strategies. It reviews the theoretical framework of document life cycles, relevant regulations, and the connection between secure destruction practices and corporate security management. Methods: An analytical methodology was applied, combining a review of legislation and international standards (e.g., NIST SP 800-88) with practical case studies. Institutional experiences, including the secure document destruction lab in the Sultanate of Oman, were analyzed to assess operational effectiveness, cost reduction potential, and reputational benefits. Results: The findings demonstrate that secure destruction significantly mitigates risks of unauthorized access to confidential data, ensuring compliance with data protection laws such as the Personal Data Protection Law. Adherence to these regulations reduces institutional exposure to fines and legal actions. Environmentally conscious destruction methods, including recycling and material repurposing, were identified as viable alternatives to traditional burning or landfilling, offering sustainable benefits. Discussion: Secure document destruction is essential for organizational risk management and regulatory compliance. Institutions should adopt comprehensive destruction policies, supported by regular reviews, employee training, and awareness initiatives to ensure effective implementation. Periodic assessments of destruction operations are recommended to identify areas for improvement, inform strategic decisions, and enhance overall performance. Integrating sustainability considerations into destruction practices further reinforces institutional responsibility and reputation.
Systematization of the Audiovisual Archival Profession in Television in the Digital Era
Purpose: The digital transformation of the television industry has significantly altered the professional landscape of audiovisual archiving. Traditional job classifications no longer reflect the competencies required for managing digital content, prompting the need to revise existing frameworks. This study aims to analyse the evolving professional roles and emerging competencies within audiovisual archiving, with a focus on the impact of digital transformation on job classification structures at Radiotelevizija Slovenija (RTV Slovenia). The objective is to develop a revised classification model that reflects the current demands of digital archival practice. Method/approach: A qualitative, descriptive, and analytical approach was used, combining normative analysis of legal and institutional documents (e.g., the Employment Relationship Act and Job Classification Act) with a critical review of scientific and professional literature. Existing job roles were assessed in relation to technological changes and international best practices. Results: The findings revealed significant discrepancies between existing archival roles and the requirements of digital workflows, such as metadata management, digital preservation, and the application of artificial intelligence tools. Based on this analysis, a new classification model was proposed, comprising seven professional and three technical levels, differentiated by educational attainment and task complexity. Conclusions/findings: The proposed model addresses the need for a modernized job structure that supports the integration of digital technologies and interdisciplinary collaboration. It ensures alignment with both institutional needs and international standards for archival competence. The framework promotes sustainable human resource development and enhances the strategic role of audiovisual archivists in the digital era.
Archival Practice and Artificial Intelligence
Purpose: The purpose of this article is to present the fundamental questions that potential users of artificial intelligence should ask themselves when deciding to adopt AI-based tools. It also examines which AI solutions can already be applied in archival practice today, along with the main obstacles that may prevent their wider use. Method/approach: The study applied content analysis and survey method. Different use cases and practices were examined, as well as approaches for implementing AI tools. Results: The analysis showed that the use of artificial intelligence is primarily driven by the core motivations for adopting such tools: the potential benefits or advantages they offer, weighed against possible drawbacks. Conclusions/findings: The approach and analysis highlight certain fundamental questions that should be addressed when deciding to adopt AI tools or systems within archival practice. These questions determine whether the use of such tools is feasible, sustainable, and understandable.
The Use of Blockchain Technology in Archival Management: Toward Secure, Transparent, and Decentralized Records
Purpose: This paper examines blockchain technologies as instruments to strengthen archival management by providing verifiable authenticity, tamper evidence, and resilient traceability for digital records. It situates blockchain within Oman Vision 2040 and evaluates how distributed ledger technology (DLT) can be piloted and integrated with existing archival infrastructures. Method/Approach: A qualitative case-study approach synthesizes three evidence streams: international pilot project reports such as ARCHANGEL, peer-reviewed literature and technical white papers (2017–2024), and semi-structured expert interviews and institutional readiness analyses from Oman. Thematic analysis examined three domains: integrity & authenticity, transparency & access, and institutional readiness & governance. Results: Blockchain provides a cryptographic chain-of-custody and tamper-evident anchoring model for archival objects by writing content fingerprints to distributed ledgers while storing content off-chain. International pilots show feasibility; however, challenges include governance design, legal recognition, interoperability, cost, and capacity building. Conclusion: Blockchain is a promising augmentation to archival toolkits but is not a substitute for core preservation practices. Recommendations include staged pilots in Oman, a hybrid architecture, standardized hashing and metadata practices, training, and regional consortia for governance and cost distribution.
When AI Meets Archives: Testing Commercial General-Purpose LLMs for Technical and Content-Related Description
Purpose: To test the usability and examine the limitations of general-purpose large language models (LLMs) in archival description. The study was designed as a quantitative/qualitative assessment to monitor trends in this rapidly evolving field. Methodology: The experiment involved testing five AI services on a set of archival records. The set of questions and tasks was divided into two categories: technical tasks (page counting, structure recognition, optical character recognition – OCR) and content-related tasks, such as language detection, content summarization, and title suggestions. Performance was evaluated using quantitative and qualitative methods, along with archivists' assessments. Results: A significant discrepancy was found between the models' performance across different types of tasks. The tested models proved unreliable in seemingly simple technical tasks, such as determining the number of pages or detecting graphical elements, while showing greater utility in complex content-related tasks. Discussion: The analysis highlights that the tested LLMs are currently unsuitable for automating precise technical description processes but represent a useful analytical and generative tool for producing content summaries and descriptions. By observing how AI systems perform, archivists also gain better insight into potential difficulties faced by users.
DIGITAL AGE: TIME TO TRANSFORM OF PUBLIC ARCHIVES
In this paper, the author points out that the challenges of long-term preservation of digital records are giving the public archives the inevitable requirement of revolution in their archival practice. The author believes that digitalization and digital transformation are not something that only companies should be thinking about, so they could be as efficient and competitive as possible, but the author believes that the time has come when public archives also need to rethink their business processes. In the paper is thus briefly presented the evolvement of public archives during the different periods of social and technological changes. It presents that public archives can also be transformed into modern digital archives using existing digital technologies.
ARCHIVAL SCIENCE AND IMPACTS OF SOCIAL CHANGES TO ARCHIVES/ARCHIVAL SCIENCE
Archives as definition is a collection of historical documents or records providing an information about a place, institution, or group of people. All the information that archives provides are recognized as a national memory, at the same time these information do not refer only to physical records but also include electronic records. The author discuses about archival science and different ideas or theories and views. The paper gives the overview over the issue, how the society recognizes archival science through certain period of time and what impact had social changes on the archival science, especially in Oman. Furthermore, paper focuses on challenges that include new regulation of accessing the archival record in various countries, the introduction of further education that has modified and improved archival science discipline to educate modern generation scholars on how and why they create archives. The author discusses the emerging the network-based information and communication system and what and necessary changes affecting dealing with records.
ORAL HISTORY AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY: DOCUMENTING REFUGEE VOICES AND THE CHALLENGES OF ARCHIVAL REPRESENTATION
This paper will explore the concept of preserving refugee rights in the records that we keep, and will explore how we have undertaken civic engagement and outreach work with refugees and asylum seekers in London and beyond to explore ways of documenting their stories through the us of bottom-up oral history methodologies and the use of objectives and textiles as a means of preserving collective memories and a new modes of representation beyond the traditional written word. It will also consider the role of ethics and the role of archives in documenting under-represented communities. The Refugee Council Archive at UEL is a growing collection of archival materials documenting the refugee experience. This paper will reflect on our work exploring the very nature of what we mean by the concept of an “archive,” and explore the challenges of bottom-up methodological approaches for helping to preserve the collective memory of refugees, migrants and asylum seekers in way that enables their voices to be heard in a positive way and is documentation along the best methodology to achieve this.
The archival science in the Czech Lands started to develop until after the establishment of the Czechoslovak Republic in 1918, and, more significantly, after the WWII. When theoretical issues were being discussed the term “archivistics” was coined, first for the archival theory as the opposite of practice, namely under the influence of Slovak archivists, later as a complex term for archival science in its theoretical and applied form; the term “archiving”, however, is still preferred in the Czech Republic. Currently, the archival science (or theory) is limited primarily to some problems, which are the subject of the present text: the definition of important archival terms and setting up the archival terminology, questions of selection and reception of archival material and, most recently, namely the recordkeeping of archival material.
In this paper the authors submit some general considerations about the absolute need of a translation of the archival terminology, in order to obtain an unambiguous identification of the concepts daily used during the archival activities, and a perfect coinciding of meanings in the different languages. After a general introduction about the matter, a case study is presented, a case study regarding the Afrikaans language, underlining what a challenge it is to translate archival terminology into this “young” language. On the one hand, the opportunity constantly arising to create new appropriate terminology, on the other hand, the tendency and temptation to use English terminology as is. Many items are analyzed to serve as an example.
ARCHIVAL SCIENCE AS AN INFORMATION SCIENCE
The paper argues that archival science is the science of contextual transfer. Contextual transfer takes place when information is transferred from one place and point in time (context) to other places and points in time. Archival science examines this transfer: what makes information usable across contexts; what information should be transferred; how the information should be organized, managed, and preserved; what the transferred information is used for and what are the impacts that the information has for individuals and the society. This view to archival science connects it explicitly with other information sciences and opens possibilities for both the records profession and its research.
THE FUTURE OF OUR PERSONAL DIGITAL MEMORIES: IT’S TIME TO START THINKING ABOUT IT
AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVES IN LIGHT OF SUSTAINABLE SOCIETY: CURRENT STATE AND OBJECTIVES OF DEVELOPMENT
METHODS OF LINEAR AND HIERARCHICAL SEQUENCES IN ARCHIVES
There are more and more data collected and captured in the archival repositories and in the archival information systems and organized in different ways. Therefore, legitimate archival professional dilemmas and related discussions arise about ensuring their integrity. To solve this problem it is necessary to check the suitability of existing methods or develop and establish new methods of managing data in the archives.The paper presents two archival methods for managing the archival data consistency and integrity on the base of linear and hierarchical sequences and the method of cardinality of sets of sequences. In archival professional procedures all three methods are already used in various forms.In some areas, their use is systematic, in other sporadic. They are often carried out by inertia and with the limited archival practical experience. The main intention of that paper is to present and theoretically ground these methods with intention of better and systematical implementation in everyday archival professional procedures.
In this paper the author is convinced that today is the time when archival science can be defined in detail or even redefined. In professional archival literature we can find many definitions of archival science, which we can accept or take knowledge of without problems. If we analyze these definitions, we will, as a result, determine whether these definitions are still really appropriate for present time. The new definition of archival science was primarily referred to by the results of the preparation of materials for the accreditation of study programs in archival science (Ist degree - Bachelor's degree), archival science and records management (2nd degree - master of archival science and documentology) and archival science (3rd degree-doctor of archival science) at Alma Mater Europaea - European Center Maribor. The author in this paper is trying to redefine the basic definition of archival science. Therefore, the author makes the following statement: "Archival science is an independent, academic, multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary science". Historical overview of definitions is interesting because of the prespectives it gives on archival science. Often, archival science relies on historical or social sciences, and recently to information science.
THE ROLE AND IMPORTANCE OF ARCHIVES IN THE TRANSFORMATION OF MODERN UKRAINIAN SOCIETY
The article is devoted to the analysis of the role that archives played in the process of state and national building in Ukraine at the end of 20th – at the beginning of the 21st centuries. The crucial moment in the modern history of our country – proclamation of the Ukrainian independence in 1991 – was closely connected with democratization of society and liberalization of memory policy as well as access to archives. New democratic organization of the Ukrainian nation guarantees the right to information. Thousands of archival files were declassified and became available not only for scientific research but also for wider use. There is an accent on the importance of free access and openness of archives of totalitarian regimes’ repressive institutions. In this respect particular attention is paid to the analysis of the Law of Ukraine “On Access to the Archives of Repressive Bodies of the Communist Totalitarian Regime of 1917–1991” (2015). Archives are the essential sources of collective memory which represent a multifaced nature of the historical development of the state, nation, and society. Furthermore, they give an opportunity to preserve and reproduce the images of different epochs, trace people’s fates. The transformation of society set new challenges for the Ukrainian archival community. The role of archivists evolved from the custodians of the records to mediators between their institutions and society. It has been pointed out that modern technology in archiving open up new possibilities for democratization in communication and free dissemination of information. Nowadays, the establishment of the databases for archival documents, preparation of on-line documentary exhibitions as well as support of public relations is among the main activities of archivists. Ukrainian archivists made significant contribution to the collection and preservation of documentary evidence of the Orange Revolution (2004–2005) and Revolution of Dignity (2014). It should be emphasized that social responsibility of archivists is growing, particularly in open democratic society, because they have to satisfy the right to know, to access to information as well as to protect state security and personal rights of citizens. Finally, it is necessary to mention that archivist is an extremely important, noble and always relevant profession, designed to keep and update the documentary evidence of the past in the modern world for the sake of the future, for historical development continuity, genetic links of generations.
DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNATIONAL RECORDS AND ARCHIVES MANAGEMENT STANDARDIZATION SYSTEM
THOUGHTS OF INTRODUCTION OF EDITOR-IN-CHIEF