Archival science

Archival Science is the discipline that studies, manages, and develops the theory of all types of documents (documentation) that naturally arise from the activities of public institutions, private enterprises, associations, or individuals; are stored for a specific purpose; and possess administrative, legal, financial, or historical value—from their creation through classification, preservation, appraisal, and provision to researchers.

Contrary to the widespread and erroneous belief, archival science is not merely the storage of “old papers.” It is a strategic field intricately linked with “Records Management,” a discipline that enhances institutional efficiency and guarantees the legal continuity and “corporate memory” of the state. According to the universal definition adopted at the Seventh International Round Table Conference on Archives held in Madrid in 1962, the concept of archives encompasses three fundamental elements: documentation accumulated as a result of institutional activities, the institutions responsible for overseeing this documentation, and the physical locations housing it.^【1】 Failure to properly manage archives in a country risks erasing the state’s memory and renders it impossible to prove the legal rights of citizens and the state itself. The archivist is therefore defined as the guardian of the past and the founder of the future.

Etimological Origins and Historical Development

The term “archive” derives from the Greek Archeion, meaning “official office” or “city hall,” and the Latin Archivum. Initially referring only to the physical space where documents were stored, the term gradually came to denote the entire body of documents and the institutional structure responsible for managing them.^【2】

The history of archival science parallels the invention of writing. As early as the 20th century BCE, state and temple archives existed in Mesopotamia, and an official state archive storing tablets has been documented in the city of Nippur.^【3】 Anatolia possesses one of the world’s most ancient archival heritages. Excavations at Hattuşaş (Boğazköy), the capital of the Hittites, have uncovered a large state archive dating from 1800 to 1200 BCE, containing royal decrees, treaties, and laws.^【4】 These tablets were systematically preserved to ensure the administrative continuity of the state.

Modern archival understanding underwent a radical transformation with the French Revolution of 1789. Prior to the revolution, archives were regarded as “the sovereign’s secrets” and kept closed to the public. After the revolution, they acquired the status of “citizens’ rights” and “public property.” This shift led to the redefinition of archives as institutions that document not only the state’s but also the nation’s history and enable citizens to prove their legal rights.^【5】

Turkish Archival Tradition and Hazine-i Evrak

The importance accorded to documents and records in the Turkish state tradition reached its peak during the Ottoman Empire. The Ottoman bureaucracy systematically recorded every state activity. The “Tapu Tahrir Defterleri” (Defter-i Hâkânî), containing land ownership and tax information from conquered territories, and the “Mühimme Defterleri,” recording decisions of the Imperial Council, are among the most important memory records of the state.^【6】 During the classical period, these documents were stored in repositories located in Yedikule, Topkapı Sarayı, or Atmeydanı.

The birth of modern Turkish archival science dates to 1846. Upon the orders of the renowned Grand Vizier of the Tanzimat period, Mustafa Reşid Paşa, the Hazine-i Evrak (Document Treasury) was established to store and classify state documents under modern conditions. This institution forms the foundation of today’s Presidency of the Republic of Türkiye State Archives. As a sign of his commitment to archival science, Mustafa Reşid Paşa commissioned the Italian architect Fossati to build a special archive building in the Babıali gardens, designed to resist moisture and fire.^【7】 The Hazine-i Evrak Nezareti adopted a modern classification system aimed not only at preserving documents but also at ensuring their retrievability upon request.

Republican Era, the 1931 Event, and Legislative Development

In the early years of the Republic, various efforts were made to classify and preserve the massive volume of documents inherited from the Ottoman period. A pivotal moment in the history of Turkish archival science was the event known in literature as the “Sale of Documents to Bulgaria.” In 1931, approximately one million historical documents, deemed “useless paper” at the time and stored in Istanbul warehouses of the Ministry of Finance, were sold to Bulgaria at a price of 3 kuruş and 10 para per kilogram for pulp production. When it became clear that these documents were valuable records illuminating Ottoman financial history, intellectuals and historians such as Muallim Cevdet intervened, and through diplomatic efforts, a portion of the documents were recovered.

This incident served as a wake-up call for archival science. The event painfully demonstrated the urgent need to grant archives legal status and to clearly define criteria for retention versus disposal. Immediately following this development, in 1934, the “Regulation on the Destruction of Useless Official Documents and Registers” was issued, for the first time placing the destruction and preservation of archival material on a legal foundation.^【8】 Today, archival services are conducted under the framework of Law No. 3473 on the Destruction of Documents and Materials No Longer Required to Be Preserved.

Evolution of Classification Systems and the Fekete Report

Various attempts have been made in Türkiye to scientifically classify archives. Ali Emiri (1918–1921) experimented with chronological classification; İbnülemin Mahmud Kemal İnal (1921) based his system on state organization; and Muallim Cevdet (1932) attempted thematic classification. However, none of these systems fully reflected the “original order” of archives. Consequently, in 1935, the Hungarian archivist Dr. Lajos Fekete was invited to Türkiye. Dr. Fekete introduced and implemented the “Provenance System” (Principle of Respect for Original Order), the foundational principle of modern archival science.^【9】 This system rejects artificial division of documents by subject or date; instead, it requires that documents be preserved within the hierarchical structure of the office or department that produced them.

Archival Methodology and Fundamental Principles

Unlike librarianship, archival science has a rigorous methodology based on international standards (such as ISAD-G). Random shelving is not acceptable.

1. Principle of Provenance: This is the constitution of modern archival science. According to this principle, documents belonging to one institution or legal entity must never be mixed with those of another. For example, the “school construction” file of the Ministry of National Education cannot be merged with the “school construction” file of the Ministry of Environment, even if the subject is identical. Each institution’s documents must be preserved within their own integrity (Fon). This preserves the context in which the document was created. Although the digital age, with its ease of copying, challenges this principle, the Provenance Principle remains vital for ensuring document authenticity and provenance.^【10】
2. Preservation of Original Order (Respect des Fonds): The archivist does not rearrange documents alphabetically, chronologically, or according to personal preference upon receipt. The original filing system of the institution must be preserved, as it reflects the institution’s operational logic and hierarchy.^【11】
3. Appraisal and Disposal: This is the most critical process in archival science. Not every document can be preserved indefinitely. Documents that have lost their legal and administrative validity and lack historical value—such as invitations, drafts, and routine correspondence—are destroyed after their legally mandated retention periods expire. Only documents possessing “archival value” are retained permanently.

Archival Science in the Digital Age (e-Archives) and New Challenges

In the 21st century, the “born-digital” nature of documents has fundamentally transformed archival science. While traditional paper documents preserve their boundaries and context through their physical existence, digital documents are dependent on hardware and software and possess a fragile structure.

In digital archival science, traditional methods—such as content-only approaches—are inadequate. Preserving only the content of a digital document (e.g., a Word file or an electronically signed PDF) is insufficient to maintain its legal validity. The following elements are critical in archiving electronic documents:

• Format: The issue of whether a document can be opened and accessed 50 years from now.
• Metadata: Information about who created the document, when, and under what context.
• Electronic Signature and Time Stamp: Proof that the document has not been altered (integrity) and cannot be denied (non-repudiation).

To ensure that electronic documents retain their evidentiary value, strategies such as “technological migration” and “emulation” are applied, aiming to prove the authenticity of documents even centuries later, despite changes in format. In the digital age, the concept of “original order” no longer refers to physical arrangement but to the virtual and logical network of relationships among documents.^【12】