Posted on 28 January 2014
The Historical Archives of the EU has developed a new database for the management of the Institutional fonds and private archives deposited here in Florence. The new interface is now available on the website of the Archives.
The database is based on the international standards for archival description and handles the inventories of over 170 archival deposits managed by the HAEU. It provides a direct access-point to all the historical archival fonds of the EU Institutions.
The welcome-page displays the fonds held at the Archives by origin, such as the EU Institutions, the non-EU organisations and the personalities involved in the creation of Europe. The visualisation of the fonds is carried out by means of a hierarchical navigation within all the fonds’ levels, from the series to the file or item levels.
More than 100 biographical records of document producers, classed into two types, personalities and organisations, also provide the necessary elements for a study on European integration by means of detailed biographical notes.
As well as the visualisation of the fonds, a new and innovative search engine has been installed. This system allows for the classification of results according to their pertinence which can be further refined by fonds, level of description and historical period. As well as the simple search by keyword, the new system permits an advanced search by means of a multicriteria search module by keyword, date, fonds, original record code, material and language.
Since September 1995 the Historical Archives of the EU has been using a database which permitted interrogation online and access to the detailed inventories. One of the principal priorities for 2013 was the migration of this proprietary database to a new open-system equipped with a modern and user-friendly interface.
Consult the new database