1. State of the Archives
Questionnaire on
the archives and heritage of
unrepresented nations
and indigenous peoples
UNPO General Assembly | Brussels | 2015-07-03

2. NISE?
- National movements and Intermediary Structures in Europe
- international platform of 50+ academic and archival institutions
- supported by associated members and partners (incl. UNPO)
- goal: facilitate scientific historiography of national movements
- activities:
• events: conferences, lectures, workshops, seminars, debate sessions, …
• publications: Studies on National Movements (scientific journal),
Proceedings (ongoing research series), Monographs, NISELetter
• projects: research database(s), Guide to the Archives,
State of Nationalism

4. NISE & archives
- archival guide: relational database included in broader NISE
datastructure
- projects in collaboration with Centre Maurits Coppieters (CMC):
• Guide to the Archives of EFA parties (2009-2012)
• Ambulant Archives Services “Flying Archivist” (2013-2014)
- repository for Kurdish archives (in collaboration with Kurdish
Institute Brussels and ADVN – archives & research centre)
- Expertise and Information Centre: training sessions + manual

5. NISE & UNPO
- archival depot (in ADVN) for UNPO secretariat archives
- collaboration roadmap:
• workshop Archival Awareness (2014)
• State of the Archives questionnaire (2015)
• State of the Archives report (end of 2015)
• SpeakOut! session on archival management (2016)
• manual + information desk (2016-…)
• support mission(s) (2016/2017?)

6. Questionnaire
- Goal: creating a proper overview of the situation of the archives
of unrepresented nations and indigenous peoples in order to take
on future actions safeguarding that heritage
- Lay-out: four major parts
• [A] some general information on your nation/people
• [B] questions on the archives of your nation/people
• [C] questions on the archives of your organisation
• [D] questions on oral history traditions
• [E] contact details for further questions

7. Questionnaire
- First results:
• May: send out to +/- 50 organisations
• 28 May – 28 June: 13 replies
Many thanks to all who replied so fast!
• Insufficient (26%) for a good overview
• However: very interesting contributions
• Allows a first glance at preliminary results

8. General Profile

11. Existence

14. Environment

20. Contents

22. Access

26. Preservation

32. Oral history

38. Questionnaire
- Next steps in 2015:
• at the moment: 13 respondents, aiming for at least 50% (= ca. 25)
• 1 October: final closure of questionnaire
• September-November: contact respondents for furter information
• October-December: drafting report including conclusions
• December/January: publication of report and distribution to
relevant organisations (e.g. International Council on Archives –
Human Rights Working Group)

39. Further information
- Website: http://nise.eu
- Contact:
• tom.cobbaert@nise.eu
• luc.boeva@nise.eu