Theory of archival science. Formation of the principles and of the method of classification of historical documents

Abstract

The article considers the principles and method of classifying and funding the historical documents as a contribution to the general theory of archival science, focusing upon its reconstructing. There were a lot of issues concerning the principles of classification that were raised during the discussion at the Institute for History and Archives as part of the Source Study Course taught there. As a result of discussions, a scientific classification of historical sources according to their types was adopted, rejecting the prevailing in the 1970s ideological approach to a thematic classification with arbitrary division of sources according to their degree of importance.

The author is of the opinion that such principles of classification of historical sources create a general framework for understanding the totality of the available documentation as a single information fund, they also founded the system of the main categories and now guide the practical work in the archival sphere.

Rapidly developing technologies lead to the creation of the new types of records, mainly digital, which are functioning in a changing information space. Hence, archives need to resolve the issues of accepting for keeping and further use of the electronic documents created in various forms (digital photographic materials, videos, etc.), which will require clarification of some of the provisions related to the acquisition, depositing and use of those records.

Nevertheless, despite the apparent change in the structure of documentary circulation (and primarily, in the specific forms of the records that go beyond the traditional definitions), such delineating principles of archiving as the principles of information consistency, of the non-splitting of the fund (also in the case of a new type of the fund), of the connection of the fond document with the fund creator, of the identification of the structural and genetic links between the records ascertained by the information exchange organization, by the hierarchy of the management and by the functions of the corresponding information carriers – all those principles are still relevant today.