Ústav pro soudobé dějiny AV ČR

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The Institute compiles collections of documents on contemporary history, which contain personal papers; memoirs; records of organizations and political parties, also from the period between 1938 and 1989; thematic collections; and newspaper clippings. A special compilation worthy of mention here is the extensive Collection of Documents by the Commission of Documents of the Government of the Czechoslovak Federal Republic for the Analysis of Events between 1967 and 1970. Collections of documents are created in accordance with the Act on Archives. The Institute gains, professionally analyses, stores, and provides access to supplementary collections and individual writings or materials not in written form (photographs, magnetic tape recordings, video recordings), which, more often than not, are not included in most archives. Significantly, this contributes to the preservation of an entire set of sources, which otherwise might not survive. Collections are professionally put together and catalogued in inventories and catalogues.

Contemporary documentation is a significant area of the Institute’s activities.

Included in the area of contemporary documentation are documents on the Czechoslovak (Czech) social transformation that began with the Czechoslovak democratic revolution of 1989. Audiovisual materials documenting the public activities of political personalities or thematic problems of current Czechoslovak (Czech) history are also collected. Recordings of selected radio and television debates, news reports, and journalistic, documentary, historical, biographical, and memorial series are stored. Video documentation on contemporary history started on 1 January 1995.

Contemporary documentation includes a gradually compiled collection of personal testimonies based upon thematically inspired interviews with leading representatives of the democratic revolution. Oral history is perceived as a significant supplement to written and other materials. All recordings from projects based partially or fully on the methodology of oral history are archived. These recordings are available on classic cassette tape and in the future should be digitalized and archived on CD-ROM.

Archivist: Mgr. Jiří Hoppe

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