Work report of the Executive Board of the Archival Society of Slovenia in the term of office 2018-2020
On March 22, 2018, an executive board was elected at the electoral assembly of the members of the society as follows: Hana Habjan, MPhil, President, Matej Muženič, Vice President, Jernej Križaj, Secretary, Dr Zdenka Bonin, Editor-in-Chief of the publication Viri, Nataša Budna Kodrič, Marija Čipić Rehar, MPhil, Nina Gostenčnik, MPhil, Aleš Jambrek, Dr Gregor Jenuš, Editor-in-Chief of the publication Arhivi, Vesna Kočevar, Lilijana Vidrih Lavrenčič and Dr Žiga Zwitter.
At the regular assembly of members on March 14, 2019, Tanja Žohar was elected secretary of the society, as Jernej Križaj completed his second term of office as secretary.
The Executive Board held ten meetings during its term of office, two of which were held in correspondence.
Promotional activities
Archival heritage awards: the Aškerc Awards and Aškerc Recognition Awards
In 2018, the Aškerc Award and two Aškerc Recognition Awards were presented. Ivan Nemanič was awarded the Aškerc Award for his lifetime work and outstanding contribution to the preservation of the Slovenian film archival heritage. Aškerc Recognition Awards were awarded to Marija Čipić Rehar, MPhil, for the preparation of quality finding aids for the use of archives and the publication of archival records in two volumes of the regestas of the Archdiocesan Archives of Ljubljana and Dr Dejan Zadravec for the publication Ptujski meščani do uničujočega požara leta 1684: biografsko-prosopografski priročnik.
The award ceremony, held under the honorary patronage of the President of the Republic of Slovenia, Borut Pahor, was on October 17, 2018 at the Great Hall of the City Hall in Ljubljana.
Promotion of the Society’s Activities: new Society’s Website
At the beginning of October 2019, the Society established a new website with a more modern content and design, also adapted to smartphones, while at the same time making the website available in English for the needs of (necessary) international communication.
The website highlights the achievements and development of the Society since its founding in 1954, illuminates the activities and purpose of the Society, lists all recipients of archival heritage awards, while at the same time directs visitors to the websites of Slovenian archival institutions and explains the basic terms of archival profession. In 2019, 7612 visitors visited the site.
The old site was archived before the new website was officially launched, while at the same time we have included the new site as a pilot acquisition within the e-ARH.si Project, whose goal is to set up Slovene Electronic Archives.
Educational activity
29th Convention of the Archival Society of Slovenia in Maribor
On 3 and 4 October 2019, a convention of the Archival Society of Slovenia was held in Maribor, prepared by the society in cooperation with the Regional Archives Maribor.
The topic of the convention was “Establishing the Register of creators of archival records”. The topic highlighted the challenges in identifying legal entities under public and private law, and natural persons who are holders of public authority or public service providers and thus qualify as creators of archival records, the issue of their identification, potential appraisal and eventual procedure of entry into the Register of creators of archival records.
In the afternoon part of the program there was a discussion with guests from abroad, Dr Gernot Peter Obersteiner, Director of the Styrian Regional Archives, Vladan Vukliš, MPhil, President of the Management Board of the Archival Society of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Dr Silvija Babić, president of the Croatian Archival Society, and Tamás Polgár, director of the Somogy County Archives at the Hungarian National Archives, discussed their practices of categorizing archival records creators.
The second day of the convention was dedicated to current issues of the archival profession, which included a presentation of inter-archival groups’ activities in the past two years as well as a round table discussion on current issues.
In the late afternoon or evening, a tour of the Maribor National Liberation Museum was organized. After visiting the museum, the staff of the Regional Archives of Maribor also opened the doors of their archive and prepared a small welcome for the participants of the meeting.
The program of the second day began with the presentation of the work of the inter-archival working groups in the last two years, followed by a round table discussion on current issues of the archival profession.
At the end, five decisions and two initiatives were formed, which were adopted by the participants of the convention. They are published on the Society’s website and in the publication Arhivi. The initiatives were as follows:
- An initiative to establish a new inter-archival working group on information science is to be addressed to the Ministry of Culture.
- Training for archival workers on understanding and interpreting legislation should be organized.
The Executive Board has committed itself and taken an active approach to implementing the initiatives. The Minister for Culture has been addressed with an initiative to set up an inter-archival working group on information science, which will be considered by the Archival Council at its next meeting. We also organized a colloquium for archival staff on the topic of understanding and interpreting archival legislation.
Colloquium on understanding and implementing archival legislation
At the conclusion of the 29th Convention of the Archival Society of Slovenia, ther was an initiative to organize training for archival workers on the topic of understanding and interpreting archival legislation. To this end, on February 5, 2020, the Society organized a colloquium on the understanding and implementation of archival legislation at the premises of the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia, where following topics were discussed:
- definition and register of creators of public archives,
- transfer of archives to a competent archive,
- private archives,
- use of public archives in archives.
High participation – 80 participants from Slovenian archives – indicates the necessity of the colloquia and the relevance of the topics covered. Due to the large number of questions posed and the extent of the topics, the Executive Board decided to organize a cycle of colloquia in order to address the issues in depth. Due to unforeseen events, the 2nd colloquium, scheduled for March 25, has been postponed for better and above all more healthy times.
International activity
An important task of the association is to cooperate with the archival associations of neighboring countries and to monitor the development of the archival profession abroad. The archival profession in the neighboring countries deals with the same challenges as the Slovenian one. Both sides show similar and comparable directions of development, so we can continue to look for common solutions in the future. At the same time, international conferences bring together experts and researchers in the field of archival science from all over the world. Reports on international activity are published in the Arhivi.
In 2018 Society members have attended the following events:
- the Congress of the Association of Hungarian Archivists, Pécs (Hungary), 9-11 July 2018.
- the 31st International Conference “Archival Practice 2018”, Tuzla (Bosnia and Herzegovina), September 26-28, 2018.
- the 50th Meeting of Croatian Archivists, Osijek (Croatia), October 24 – 26, 2018.
- the conference 28th International Archives Day, Trieste (Italy), November 19-20, 2018.
In 2019 Society members have attended the following events:
- the 89th German Archival Day, Suhl (Germany), September 17-20, 2019.
- the 40th Austrian Archives Day, Salzburg (Austria), October 23-24, 2019.
- the 51st Consultation of the Croatian Archival Society, Slavonski Brod (Croatia), 23-24 October 2019.
- the 29th International Archival Day organized by the International Institute of Archival Sciences Trieste-Maribor, Koper (Slovenia), 21-22 October, 2019.
Publishing
Publication Arhivi
The publication Arhivi has been published in two independent issues per year each year (2018: 596 pages; 2019: 438 pages). Let us point out that the first issue in 2018 was on the topic of health and wider social history in connection with this kind of archival records in Slovenian archives (the purpose is a comprehensive presentation of health records as a versatile source of scientific research), and the idea was provided by the Interarchival Working Group in the Field of Health and Social Care.
Arhivi has been successfuly reintroduced in the categorization of scientific publications in 2018, led by Slovenian Research Agency of the Republic of Slovenia (ARRS), which is a great incentive for those who would like to publish in the journal.
Publication Viri
In 2018, the 41st issue of Viri by Nataša Budna Kodrič, entitled Korespondenca Josefine in Fidelija Terpinc 1825–1858 (Correspondence of Josefina and Fidelij Terpinc, 1825–1858; Ljubljana, Archival Society of Slovenia, 2018, 384 pages) was published. To this end, the Society organized a public presentation of the publication on 14 March 2019 at the premises of the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia.
In 2019, 42nd issue of Viri was published, entitled Ko zatonejo sanje romantičnega Jugoslovana – izseljenski dnevnik dr. Bogumila Vošnjaka (When the Dreams of a Romantic Yugoslav Decline – The Emigrant’s Diary of dr. Bogumil Vošnjak) by Aleksandra Gačić (Ljubljana, Archival Society of Slovenia, 2019, 502 pages).
Renewal of regulations of the Society
Pursuant to the transitional provisions of the Non-Governmental Organizations Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Slovenia, No. 21/18), associations and other legal entities in the public interest had to harmonize their instruments of incorporation and operation with the conditions that apply for the granting of the status of a non-governmental organization in the public interest according to the NGO Act, and to submit to the Ministry of Culture, by 31 March 2019 at the latest, renewed instruments of incorporation. To this end, the Executive Board of the Society has prepared new Rules of the Archival Society of Slovenia. In the period from 4 to 11 March 2019, a public hearing of the rules of the Society took place, which was adopted by the Assembly of Members at the regular assembly of members on 14 March 2019.
Pursuant to Article 34 of the Rules of the Society, the Honorary Tribunal, as the body of the Society, conducts proceedings and imposes disciplinary measures in accordance with the disciplinary rules. Since the Society did not have disciplinary rules so far, on May 22, 2019, a committee was formed, who drafted the Disciplinary Rules of the Archival Society of Slovenia. At its 8th regular meeting, held on 17 September 2019, the proposal was approved by the Executive Board and set for public hearing, which took place between 21 and 28 February 2020. The regulation was adopted by the Assembly of Members at the regular assembly of members on 30 March 2020, which was took place correspondently between 27 and 30 March 2020.
The Executive Board of the Society, has prepared, between February and March 2020, in cooperation with the members of the Commission for the Aškerc Awards and Aškerc Recognitions Awards, a proposal for the Rules on the Aškerc Awards and Aškerc Recognitions Awards. The draft proposal supersedes and integrates the existing award rules and the rules of procedure of the commission into one legal act. The draft regulation was in public hearing between 9 and 16 March 2020 and was adopted by the Assembly of Members at the regular assembly of members on 30 March 2020, which was took place correspondently between 27 and 30 March 2020.
All legal acts were forwarded to the members of the Society for the purpose of public hearing before their adoption.
Also, with the entry into force of the General Data Protection Regulation (Official Gazette EU 2016/679) on 25 May 2018, all members of the Society were informed of the manner in which their personal data were processed, and at the same time we harmonized the membership application form with the regulation.
Resolving open professional issues
Public debate on determining and pricing of archival materials reproduction and its use in Slovenian public archives
The tasks of the Society also include resolving outstanding professional issues and conducting research activities in the field of the Society’s activities. To this end, the Executive Board, on behalf of the Society, opened a public debate on the pricing and methods of pricing of reproductions of archival materials and its use in Slovenian public archives via the e-chat archival forum on 18 February 2020.
In the past, regional archives have repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to dispense with the practice that applies to state administration bodies, namely that the prices of services or the compensation of material costs is determined by the competent minister.
Appointment of representatives of the Society to cooperate with other related institutions and associations
In 2019, on the basis of the 15th indent of Article 28 of the Rules of the Society, the Executive Board of the Society appointed its representatives to the professional councils of the Historical Archives Ljubljana and the Regional Archives Maribor.
Professional excursions
One of the certainly more relaxing tasks of the Executive Board is the organization of professional excursions and social gatherings for members of the Society. The excursions used to take us abroad, but for the last two years the participants of the excursions were acquainted with the known and unknown beauties of Slovenia.
2018
The Society organized a one-day professional excursion to Posavje with the travel agency Oliver (June 1, 2018). The first stop was at Sevnica Castle with its rich interior, on the castle slope the participants of the excursion visited the Lutheran cellar with an interesting painting, and then tasted the famous Melania cake (that of the Trump fame) in the cafe there. This was followed by a visit to the permanent exhibition Slovene Exiles 1941–1945 at the Raichenburg Castle. The follow-up was in Krško, where the participants of the excursion visited Jane Vajkard Valvasor’s house. This is where the famous polyhistor last lived, today the house is museum. The day ended with a tasting of homemade delicacies from the family vineyard at Straža pri Krškem.
2019
In cooperation with employees of the Regional Archives Koper, the Society organized a one-day professional excursion to Koper and northwestern Istria (June 7, 2019), highlighting the rich history of Koper, the archaeological collection at the Provincial Museum of Koper and the Roman archeological site – villa rustica – in Izola, In Kaštelir nad Kortami, a visit to the Bronze and Iron Age archaeological site was followed by a late but well-deserved lunch with local Istrian specialties of the local Korte tavern.
* * *
In 2018 and 2019, the Archival Society of Slovenia fully implemented the set programs, and we fulfilled all contractual obligations towards co-funders. Funds were used primarily to implement a regular long-term program, which is in the public interest in the field of research, science and culture. The vast majority of the funds went to cover the cost of printing publications, paying royalties to researchers, translators and proofreaders, and towards archival heritage award fonds and the 29th convention, as well as to perform the general duties of the Society.
Thanks
Finally, I would like to thank all of you who have in any way helped the Society achieve and exceed its intended activities in the past two years.
I am grateful to the Ministry of Culture of the Republic of Slovenia for the financial support that enables the implementation of our program. Special thanks to Nina Zupančič Pusavec, MPhil, Head of the Museums, Archives and Libraries Division, for her tireless support of Society’s program and financial content. The quality of the program content is also due to the sponsors and donors, which enabled us to carry out our major events (29th convetion and the awards ceremony) were easier.
I would like to thank all the directors of the Slovenian archives who support the activities of the Society, and especially thank the Regional Archives Maribor for the excellent co-organization of the 29th Society Convention in Maribor.
I thank the Executive Board, the editors-in-chief of the Arhivi and Viri, Dr Gregor Jenuš and Dr Zdenka Bonin, and other members of the editorial boards, the Commission for the Aškerc Awards and Aškerc Recognitions Awards, and members of other bodies of the Society for the smooth running of the Society’s work over the past two years. However, the activity was not limited to members of the bodies. There were many more members of the Society and also some non-members, who enabled for the Society to progress. A big thank you to all of you!
But most deserving of all are the two secretaries with whom I have had the honor of working for the past two years. Jernej Križaj, who helped me to get to know the work of managing the Society, and Tanja Žohar, who with exceptional organizational skills enables the contents of the society to come directly to the members. They both made sure that the Society’s activities had been going according to program and in accordance with regulations for the past two years. Thanks to both of you!
Ljubljana, March 26, 2020
Hana Habjan, MPhil, President of the Archival Society of Slovenia