Organizing Access to Archival Documents under COVID-19: Experience of Ukrainian Archival Institutions

Abstract

The article, based on legislative acts and normative legal documents, considers the issues of organizing access to archive documents by archive institutions in the conditions of spread on the territory of Ukraine of respiratory disease COVID-19. Immediately after the reports of the spread of the infection appeared, the archival institutions had to orient themselves quickly and develop a strategy for further action, without violating the adopted laws and acting within the orders issued by the central government. Given the recent increase in interest in information from archival documents among researchers, scholars and parties involved, an important task for archivists was to arrange access to archival documents under quarantine restrictions. Therefore, it is important to analyze the specific steps taken by the management and staff of archives, as well as research institutions subordinated to the State Archival Service of Ukraine to ensure researchers’ access to archival documents without harm to their health and life. The present paper demonstrated the network of archive institutions of Ukraine and information about their work on providing users with access to the documents of National Archival Fund under conditions of restricted operation of reading rooms. It also analyzed the content of the orders adopted by the State Archival Service of Ukraine on counteracting the spread of coronavirus disease on the territory of archival institutions of Ukraine. Key areas were identified in the provision of access to archival documents on condition of complete shutdown of reading rooms. The authors evidenced an increase in online activity of archivists in the way of placing copies of archival documents, fund descriptions for use by the research community