strategy of the national archives service of finland 2015

Making documentary cultural heritage
available
ensuring preservation
• The preservation of material has been ensured under an action plan for conservation,
digitization and microfilming, which is based on an assessment of the condition
of material in every unit of the National Archives Service. Preservation practices
and methods are developed in cooperation with the National Archives. Planning
for catastrophic situations will be enhanced.
• The National Archives Service is responsible for the processes of receiving and storing
electronic materials. The technological environment for storage of material
and software expertise has been outsourced.
• The storage of electronic material constitutes a permanent item of expenditure in
the budget of the National Archives Service.
• Creators of records get assistance through centralised arranging and renovation
projects aimed at the State administration when the required funding is granted.
peab oy
at the start of 2010 the holdings of the
National Archives Service exceeded 180
shelf-kilometres of permanently stored
documentary material from eight centuries
as well as approximately 1.7 million
maps and drawings. These holdings were
in largely varying shape. The large transfers
of records in the coming years to the
National Archives Service will enhance
the need for proactive measures that ensure
that the materials are in good condition
and arranged satisfactorily.
Preservation of original material in
the National Archives Service will be safeguarded
in accordance with an action plan
for conservation, digitization and microfilming
based on the review of condition
of materials completed at the beginning of
the strategy period. The plan will consider
the processing and protection of material
and the quality of storage facilities. Storage
development in the National Archives
Service is a sectoral activity with objectives
decided upon annually as part of performance
agreements concluded with the units
of the National Archives Service.
Plans for catastrophic situations are
developed together with the National Library.
Establishing sufficient capacity to
quickly protect and conserve damaged
material is extremely important. The protection
of special material, development
of mass deacidification and plans for catastrophes
are included in the planning for
new central archives of the National Archives
Service. Planning for catastrophic
situations will be enhanced through increased
international cooperation.
Particular attention is paid to storage
conditions and protective materials,
especially archival boxes. At the start of
the strategy period, the possibility of replacing
boxes made of material unsuitable
for storage will be looked into. New
boxes with attached barcodes or some corresponding
system would improve space
management and facilitate the efficient
use of material in information service operations.
Guidelines of the National Archives
Service to creators of records will
be updated. The expertise in conservation
will be enhanced through increased international
cooperation.
The National Archives Service is preparing
for the launch during 2011 of
the reception, storage and service system
(VAPA) for electronic material. Implementation
of the system requires the termining
of the project phase and adaptation
to normal operations of the National
Archives Service. The amount of electronic
materials will increase dramatically,
and they will be received for permanent
storage at a considerably earlier date than
paper materials.
Maintenance and development of the
electronic reception, storage and service
system will require considerable resources,
permanently, also after the introduction
of the system. External providers will
maintain the availability of electronic material
as well as the equipment and storage
capacity required for electronic storage.
These services and necessary technological
expertise provided by external partners
will be bought. The VAPA system will be
developed as part of the entire system for
public information management.
There are still many risk elements related
to the storage of electronic materials
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