December 13th, 2016
The Principles on Access to Archives: Now available in Hebrew

The Principles of Access to Archives, a document that sets international standards for public access to archives has been translated into Hebrew and published in a co-production by Akevot Institute and the Association of Israeli Archivists. The ten principles listed in the document relate both to the public’s right to access archival records and archivists’ responsibility to provide such access and information about archives.

The document was adopted at the Annual General Meeting of the International Council on Archives (ICA) in 2012, by delegates from national archives and professional associations from around the world, after several months of international consultations. Some of the practices archivists and their superiors are urged to adopt include opening archives to the greatest extent possible and notifying the public of any closed materials and the restrictions that affect access to them. The Principles also instruct making archives available on equal and fair terms and having archivists participate in the decision-making process on public access to archival materials.

The distribution of the Hebrew translation of the Principles of Access to Archives and a poster listing the document’s main points began at the annual conference of the Association of Israeli Archivists in early December 2016. During a session on “Access to Archives – Human and Civil Rights”, held on the second day of the conference, Akevot researcher Dr. Noam Hofstadter, spoke about the significance of public access to governmental archives as a tool for protecting human rights. The other panelists were Ms. Naama Katiee from Amram and Dr. On Barak from Tel Aviv University and Social History Workshop.

Principles of Access to Archives (English): www.ica.org/en/principles-access-archives
Hebrew translation of Principles on Access to Archives: http://akvt.in/AccessPrinciples
Poster presenting summary of the Principles: http://akvt.in/AccessPoster