Posted on 24 July 2014
To ensure the preservation of the historical documents for future generations, the Historical Archives of the European Union has decided to discontinue photocopying of its archival materials for reading room users. The new copying policy is in line with Green EUI’s goals of reducing the quantity of paper consumed and marks another step on the path to a more environmental friendly European University Institute.
Recurrent handling of the archival material exposes the documents to possible deterioration. Therefore researchers already in the past were required to access either digital or microfilm copies of the original material whenever this was possible. To better serve the researchers, the HAEU allowed the use of digital photo cameras and will from September on provide digital photo cameras on loan for taking photos of documents or microfiches.
The tide is clearly towards digitization, digitized deposits and easy online accessibility. The digitisation strategy of the various EU institutional archives services and the Historical Archives in Florence is to digitise and give access to digital copies of 5% of its holding annually. Currently about 15% of documents deposited at the Historical Archives have been converted into digital format for safeguarding and access.
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