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UNESCO
Archives Portal
Spread the word! "An international gateway to information for
archivists and archive users," this excellent site, maintained by UNESCO's Communication, Information, and
Informatics Sector (CII), is the first web site with the potential to
become an Internet portal for archival information. In addition to links to specific archives
around the world, it includes links to internet resources for primary
sources online, archival education, preservation
and conservation, international cooperation, associations, conferences
and meetings, and more. It even has changing feature stories about
archival issues and an email newsletter! This site deserves the
profession's support. Help develop it by adding your archives and
associations to its listings.
Repositories
of Primary Sources
This invaluable
site describes itself as "a listing of over 5000 websites describing holdings
of manuscripts, archives, rare books, historical photographs, and other
primary sources [sic] for the research scholar." Of course, it
is nothing of the sort; if it were, it would include cemeteries, zoos,
national parks, toxic waste dumps, rose gardens, bird sanctuaries,
nuclear cooling ponds, and used car dealerships, which are just a fraction of the
institutions housing "primary sources for the research
scholar."
Instead,
this site lists organizations that are generally defined by the
American special collections library and research archives (or manuscripts
repositories) models: government archives
are often represented; business archives most often are not. Nevertheless, it
remains the most comprehensive online source for research archives and is an
invaluable contribution to the field. It is maintained by Terry Abraham of the University of Idaho.
EAN:
European Archival Network
EAN was created to be the primary site for searching all European
archives. In addition to full key word searching, the site offers
alphabetical searches and geographical searches that are simplified by
clicking on a map. As a bonus, the site design is witty, charming, and
easy to use. It was authorized at the European Summit on Archives, in
Berne, Switzerland, in 1998 and is maintained by the Swiss Federal
Archives.
Grip:
Gateway for Resources and Information on Preservation
GRIP is a a fully searchable database of information on preservation of
the documentary heritage. It contains selected and annotated references
to literature on preservation-related topics, links to websites,
projects, organizations and discussion groups. It is a joint
project of Nationaal
Archief (the National Archives of the Netherlands) and the
European Commission on Preservation and Access (ECPA).
N.B.
The sites above were chosen because they attempt to be broad, inclusive,
and international. However, many important geographic or
subject-specific archival websites exist. For example,
- Archiefnet is the oldest links-services
for archives in the Netherlands. It also offers sections for
archives in Flanders and National Archives around the world. It is
available in both Dutch and English and is maintained by the
Municipal Archives of Zwolle.
- The British
National Archives maintains the ARCHON
Directory, which includes contact details for record
repositories in the United Kingdom and also for institutions
elsewhere in the world which have substantial collections of
manuscripts noted under the indexes to the National Register of
Archives.
...and so on.
Among the better resources for locating such web sites
are the
UNESCO
Archives Portal and the Repositories of Primary Resources.
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