restauracija knjigeThe book binding unit of the Archives makes the covers of the damaged books and journals and binds them and, when the old and rare books are concerned, performs the restoration. In a year, some 150 books and protocols and 15 old and rare books are rebound. Hundreds of boxes are made for storing the documents. These activities are performed for the needs of other institutions as well, under market conditions.

konzerv01Deteriorated and diseased archivals are subjected to operative preservation measures in accordance with the priority plan. These activities are carried out in the Archives laboratory (established and equipped in 1972) where they are treated through the application of the accepted principles of conservation and restoration, by manual or machine methods. Because of the conservation and restoration process, which takes a long time to complete, it was necessary to introduce new methods of restoration and apply state-of-the-art technology which would halt the sudden piling up of deteriorated documents. A considerable number of instruments, machines and accompanying equipment has been provided for the needs of the laboratory as well as large quantities of the work material all of which has contributed to a faster, easier and more effective performance of the restoration activities. In addition to the traditional method of manual restoration (manual filling of the deterioration and wrapping the documents with Japanese paper), the filling method used now is suitable for very damaged pages. All damaged places are filled with cellulose fiber pulp at once and the thickness of the paper and the colors can be set so that, after the restoration, the page maintains its original appearance. As the machine method of restoration using laminate has already been superseded in the world, for the restoration of the documents needing this method a vacuum press has been provided which will speed-up and make easier the restoration of the maps, plans, posters and other types of large-size archival documents.

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The library of the Archives has a rather large number of books: old, rare and others which do not require total restoration so that a vacuum table was purchased, an instrument also used as a foundation for manual restoration of loose pages and the covers of bound books. The ease of operations was helped by the provision of an ultrasound steam instrument used to separate the pages stuck together and can be used for other purposes. Every year, the Archives laboratory restores about 6 000 documents. Since the preservation of the documents of the Archives is of great importance for history, the conservation and restoration service is given a task and a challenge to discover new possibilities for implementing new technologies. To be able to do that it is necessary, first of all, to enlarge the premises and improve their equipment, as well as to train new personnel.

 

The archives performs its primary function - the preservation of the cultural resources - through different aspects of protection of archivals. Beginning with the preliminary protection of a cultural resource in its coming into being stage, through preventive measures, all the way to operational techniques of conservation and restoration.

Records Management in the Archives Creating Agencies Service

Repository Services

Conservation and restoration laboratory

Book binding

 

depokutije2A depot is an area where the totality of documents handed over to the Archives, is kept and is the treasury of the written documents for the history of Belgrade. The depot of the Historical Archives of Belgrade has an area of 2,400 sq meters and is separate from the Archives premises. It is provided with an electronic lock with the cards enabling access to the depot to authorized persons only. The door is made of metal and the total area is covered with fire sensors and instruments measuring the temperature and air humidity. An air conditioning system has been installed and the windows have roll down Venetian shutters. This way the conditions have been created for the protection from the greatest enemies of the documents – fire, water and sun's rays. The documents are filed in cardboard boxes and folders made in the Archives itself, placed following a previously determined location on metal shelves accepting 20,000 shelf meters of documents.

Since formal setting up in 2003, Information center got a long way, from getting computer and communication equipment to development of modern and functional information center, which significantly improved work of all archive services and enabled direct access to information on archive materials kept in the Archives. With it's own forces Center projected archives information system called Janus, which lives in heritage practical and theoretical experiences of modern archivist science, but its own too. It made a network of 45 computers, located on 3 levels of the Archive building. System is projected for work in Intranet and Internet environment, on J2EE platform, with 3-layer structure (WEB client, JAVA application server, MS SQL base server). Archival applications in Janus system are modular type, based on work processes in organizational units of the Archives. Until now, Center developed 5 basic modules with suitable number of sub modules: Registry office, Reading room, Depot, Preservation service and Fonds.

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Module Fonds has it's sub modules: Processing fonds and collections which is designed according to international archivist standard ISAD (g); Searching information of fonds which were processed before implementing system and has unstandardized form of finding aid; Inventory of Fonds and Collections. It is possible to search 504 fonds/collections with different levels, which are searchable within the Janus information system and in web site with 173.311 records.

Work of many fonds is being processed, collections, personal and family fonds (BITEF, Glavinić family fond, Personal fond of Miroljub Todorović, Collection of photographs, Personal fond of Novak Novak, Administration of the City of Belgrade, Board of ladies of Kneginja Ljubica Association, Personal fond of Jovan Ćirilov, National Board of III district of the City of Belgrade, Chambers of Commerce in Belgrade etc).

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Within the module Depot is a sub module Accessing Inventory containing 2983 unit of information, searchable by name, date of receiving, year. Further development of this module will include Files of fonds and collections and be in direct connection with projected and active sub modules: Fonds of Historical Archives of Belgrade, Fonds search and Fonds and collections inventory.

Module Registration Office solves the problem of efficient evidence of clients, applied applications and its categories, dynamic of forms being processed, employee in charge of it, statistics in accordance with form category, date, etc. It consists of 8 sub modules: Clients update, Applications entering (projects, work internship, certificates, habitants, etc.), Applications processing, Register protocol. Base registered 26.510 applications.

Module Reading room is conceptualized on the same principle, which absolutely satisfy efficient work demands, evidence of researchers, daily visits evidence, subjects and purposes of researching and evidence of archival materials used for research. Search is enabled in few segments, statistics overview as well.

Module Preservation service consists of 5 sub modules: Creating agency, Record of expert supervising, Approval of Category list, Disposal Record, Assuming Record, Plan of creating agencies detour. The base is searchable by creating agency number, personal number of creating agency, name, municipality, place, category and status. The base is searchable also by the Archive supervisors, frequency of detour, which makes easier writing the annual plan of creating agencies detour. File of creating agencies includes information of creating agency, changes, obligate legal acts which creating agency makes and submit to the Archives.

Special validity of Janus represents its applicative solution for processing archivals, based on international standard for archive service ISAD(g), meeting all requirements of the standard and providing the archivists for the first time, technical tools which allows creation of archival description from the fond up to the level of document as the lowest descriptive unit, storing it into appropriate levels representing the fond or collection structure.

Finding aids provides access to the descriptions in the real period of time, which virtualy connects the locations relating to the given query which represents realisation of the permanent efforts of the archivists and researchers of archivals, to come, easy and quick, to the information on the research subject.

Development of the module for those who poses and create archivals in accordance with the module for creating archive description and due to ISAAR standard is in preparation, which completely includes processing tools and, in the same time, provides integration of the archivals, so the connection of the researchers with the archivals stored in the different locations within the fond. On that way, idea of connecting information on archivals and its creators will be closer.
Janus is now chaining point of employees in the Archives, the main source of the information, which is searched by numbered, located far away users, at every moment, but relief so big for the managers in the Archives when is the issue statistical overview.