ARCHIVES, 2023

In 2023, there were 19 state archives operating, out of which eight had 11 collection centres or departments. Regarding the territorial competence, that is, the area in which an archive is operating, two archives were competent for the overall territory of the Republic of Croatia, eight were intercounty archives and nine were county ones.

Compared to 2020, the total number of archival fonds and collections increased by 3%, the number of arranged fonds and collections by 2%, the total number of employed persons by 3% and the number of archivists by 2%. The share of women in the total number of employed persons was 61%.

The share of arranged archival material by collections in archives ranged from 53% (collections of supplementary copies of archival material) to 85% (education-related material). Health care and social care institutions did not have a share in fonds and collections available in digital form, while collections of original archival materials had a share of 25% in processed digitised material.

Compared to 2020, the number of archive users remained the same, while reviewed archival units increased by 18%. There were 18% less written requests, but 91% more digital requests than in the last published First Release. Compared to 2020, the highest increase was recorded in the number of ancillary activities of archives such as exhibitions, which increased by 72% and were attended by 80% more visitors. The number of lectures also increased, from 28 in 2020 to 115 in 2023, as well as film screenings, which increased to 56 in the previous year compared to three screenings in 2020. The number of courses, promotions and professional trainings of employed persons also grew in 2023.

NOTES ON METHODOLOGY

Sources and methods of data collection

The data are the result of statistical data processing collected on the Statistical Report on Archives (ARH-1 form) taken over from all state archives in the Republic of Croatia. The data are collected on triennial basis.

Coverage and comparability

The statistical survey covers state archives on the territory of the Republic of Croatia operating in 2023. The data are partly comparable to those from previous years, partly due to methodological differences arising from harmonising the survey with the method of collecting and processing archival material within archives, and partly due to expanding the survey coverage.

Definitions and explanations

State archives are public institutions engaged in preservation, processing and using of state-owned archival material.

Archival material is selected documentary material that has a lasting value for culture, history, science or other activities, or for the protection and exercise of the rights and interests of individuals and communities, due to which it is permanently preserved.

Public creators/possessors are state administration bodies, other state bodies, local and regional self-government units, legal entities and other bodies with public authority, legal entities founded by the Republic of Croatia or local or regional self-government units, legal entities performing public service, legal entities that are financed on the basis of a special regulation mainly or entirely from the state budget or from the budgets of local and regional self-government units or from public fonds, as well as companies in which the Republic of Croatia and local and regional self-governments have separate or joint majority ownership.

Private creators/possessors are private legal entities or natural persons who, through their operation and activity, create or are in possession of archival material that was not created by the exercise of public authority and public service and is not owned by the Republic of Croatia or local and regional self-government units or legal entities founded or owned by them.

Archival fond is a unit of archival material collected as a result of operation and activity of a single public or private creator, which cannot be shared.

Archival collection is a unit of archival material of diverse origin put together based on some joint feature, such as content, language, medium, etc.

Archive repository is an area intended for storage and permanent preservation of archival material.

Inventory is a systematic and methodical list of archival fonds and collections, containing descriptions of archival units in its composition.

Analytical inventory is an inventory in which archival units at the level of a subject or an individual document are shown as inventory units.

Summary inventory is an inventory in which archival units at the level of a subject or an individual document are included in the description of the archival unit of a higher level.

Conventional material is material recorded on a medium from which it is directly readable (without the need for a mediation device).

Analogue material is material recorded on a medium from which it cannot be read without the need for a mediation device/medium other than a computer device (e.g., microfilm, photograph).

Digital material is material in digital form and stored on a machine-readable medium, created as original digital material or by converting the material into digital form.

Sound recordings are vinyl records, tapes, cassettes, CDs or DVDs and other audio recording media.

Graphic record is a record created by multiplying written or pictorial records through a matrix.

Video record is a record of a series of moving pictures that can be viewed on a playback device (projector, TV, computer, etc.).

Optical recording is a method of recording data, where reading, writing, or both is performed using light and optical phenomena (usually recorded on an optical disc).

Microfilm records are records recorded on microforms: microfilm – a film in the form of a roll containing a series of micro images, or microfiche – a flexible, transparent, rectangular sheet of film that serves as a base for several microfilms arranged in rows and columns.

Linear meter is an archival measure used to express the quantity of archival material.

Finding aid is a list of archival fond or collection assigned to helping researchers get the access to the content of a fond or a collection. Basic types of finding aids are a guide, an inventory and an index.

Addition is archival material that has been taken over and stored in the archive according to an official obligation, by deposit, purchase, grant, legacy, etc., for the period (year) in which the data are collected.

Extracted material is documentary material ready for elimination after the evaluation procedure and the selection of records for permanent storage.

Brief is the analytical description of a document and its contents.

Restoration consists of a number of actions taken in order to remove or lessen the damage on a certain object.

Conservation consists of a number of actions taken in order to prevent or slow down the process of deterioration of a certain object.

 

Abbreviations
CD	compact disc
DVD	digital versatile disc
GB	gigabyte
m2	square metre

 

Symbols
-	no occurrence

 

Published by the Croatian Bureau of Statistics, Zagreb, Ilica 3, P. O. B. 80
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Persons responsible:
Dubravka Rogić Hadžalić, Director of Demographic and Social Statistics Directorate
Lidija Brković, Director General

Prepared by:
Marija Gojević and Gordana Bralić

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