The "Archival Revolution" in Russia (1991-1996)

Abstract

The radical changes in archival policy and practice and in the use and publication of documents that have occurred since August 1991 have required from the outset the development of new terms and concepts to describe them. This was obvious at least to active participants in the reforms. V.P. Kozlov, a professional historian who became one of the heads of the State Archival Service, applied the term "new space of archival information" in 1992. The ideal model of this "new space" consisted, according to Kozlov, above all in open access for users, as well as of becoming an integral part of international information systems and commercializing the use of archival information. In fact, this involved no less than revolutionary changes in archival policy (a new legal status for archives) and in archival practice (calls to reject the "hoarding ideology," etc.).