Jerzy Skowronek, Archiwa belgijskie - w poszukiwaniu wzorów i poloników, w: Archeion, t. 96, wyd. NDAP, Warszawa 1996, ss. 144-156
"Jerzy S k o w r o n e k, Belgian archives — looking for examples to follow and
materials of the Polish origin. The text of that article is a result of the author’s stay in
Belgium; he presents examples worth following with regard to the organisational system
of archives with traditions reaching back to the end of the 18th c., strengthened with the
law on archives of 1955. The state archives of the holdings of about 130 current
kilometres of records include the Archives Generales du Royaume and 15 regional
archives; apart from that network, there are municipal archives, self-government ones, the
archives of scientific, educational and cultural institutions. Nowadays, ministries transfer
records 15 -20 years with the date of making them accessible always specified, even if it
is to be after the year of 2110. What seems surprising is the number of personnel at the
state archives, limited to the very minimum; that makes fast conservator’s work,
cataloguing or microfilming of collections hardly possible, but it does not influence in
a negative way the level of services provided to the users of the archives; the author
describes in details the advantages of efficient services with the use of computer
equipment. Summing up, Jerzy Skowronek claims that modern assumptions of the
archival service functioning in Belgium aim at limiting traditional, printed catalogues and
inventories to the benefit of developing information systems based on computer
print-outs, sent to the most important libraries and archives. He considers the Archives of
the Ministry of Foreign Affairs the most modern and the best equipped. He also presents
some chosen aspects of the activities of the Central Archives of the Kingdom, Archives of
the Free University of Brussels, Municipal Archives of Brussels, Archives of the Ministry
of Foreign Affairs and others. With reference to materials of the Polish origin he mentions
documents connected with Maria Skłodowska-Curie, Free City of Gdańsk, and the
correspondence with Polish kings."
Źródło: Archeion, t. 96
