Successful archivist meeting in Homberg: Tips for archive design!

Successful archivist meeting in Homberg: Tips for archive design!

A lively meeting of almost 20 archivists from the Vogelsberg district recently took place in Homberg (Ohm). The occasion was the second meeting of the municipal archives working group, which took place in the Homberg (Ohm) Museum. The topic of this informative exchange was “Initially setting up an archive – what should you pay attention to?” in the center. Karl Pitzer from the Gemünden (Felda) community archives welcomed the guests and initiated a lively discussion.

A central concern of the meeting was the exchange of experiences and tips on the storage, indexing and digitization of archive materials as well as legal issues. The committed participants, who often work on a voluntary basis, emphasized the importance of these meetings in order to receive valuable suggestions for setting up new archives or structuring existing holdings.

Digital challenges and legal framework conditions

Another important topic that is receiving more and more attention in similar circles is digitization in archives. This was also reflected in a discussion forum led by Dr. Kai Rawe, Bochum City Archives, and Dr. Ilka Minneker from the LWL archive office for Westphalia makes it clear. Over 130 participants discussed the opportunities and risks of digitalization. Martin Töpfer from the Dorsten City Archives highlighted how the importance of digitization increased during the Corona pandemic.

Digitization includes various measures, such as the provision of digital copies, the digitization of inventories and the introduction of e-files. Many successes and challenges were discussed, including the adoption of digital data and the associated legal aspects, which were discussed by Dr. Antje Diener-Staeckling were discussed.

Networking and future plans

The organizers of the meeting in Homberg drew a consistently positive conclusion and viewed the event as informative and strengthening for the network of regional archive work. The next meeting is already being planned for next spring. These meetings provide an excellent platform for sharing best practices and networking among archivists who have a knack for overcoming common challenges.

Overall, it can be seen that the tradition of archive work in the region is still very popular and is constantly being developed further through lively exchange and digitalization. The archivists agree that solid records management and education about digital archives are essential for the future. A lot will certainly happen here in the coming months.

You can find more information about the event and the topics here: Upper Hesse-live, you can find further details on the topic of digitization at archivamt.hypotheses.org.