Department of Institutional Fonds since 1952

The ASCR Archive is the state administration control point ensuring uniform document management and safe document disposal services for the entire ASCR. The Department sees to the performance of pre-archive care and supervision of the document management service at all ASCR establishments and ASCR Office Sections (KAV). The Department also supervises the document management service at organizations coordinated by the Council of Research Associations of the Czech Republic (Rada vědeckých společností ČR), offering them expert assistance for document administration, archiving, specialist processing and making their fonds available to researchers. The Department maintains records at the National Archive Heritage, to which it adds archive fonds and collections housed at Academy of Sciences establishments to the archive collections that are already permanently housed there. The Department is interested in the current state of archive legislation and  developments in the digitization of document management services. The Department looks after approximately 300 fonds and collections (some three kilometres of archive material) originating primarily from the activities of CSAS institutes and bodies (1952-1992), or from the ASCR (since 1993). Details available here. The Department's activities also include conservation of the extensive and unique collection of photographic material comprising irreplaceable documentation on the history of science, scholarship and culture and including both monochrome and colour positives, negatives, glass negatives, glass slides, partly coloured and digital photography. All the archive material that has been entrusted is progressively processed and made accessible (using inventories and archive aids). Archivists also create and update supra-fonds aids, e.g. databases of basic information on ASCR establishments (reorganizational changes, persons in charge, members of ASCR management and advisory bodies since 1993) and databases of collections of basic CSAS and ASCR documents. Department staff participate in acquisitions and take part in the publication, popularization and scholarly activities at the Institute. The Department is also involved in the Czech Science Foundation Project entitled Scholars Caught up in "Grand Politics" – the 1919 Paris Peace Conference as witnessed by participating Czech and Polish experts.