Conservation

Prevention

As part of pre-archival consultation, the Archives recommends the use of archival-quality support materials, recording technologies, and (file) formats.

Conservation and preservation

The transferred archive material is – where necessary – subjected to immediate conservation measures prior to transfer. In general, it is packed in containers suitable for archiving and stored in the stacks in a room climate that is favorable for long-term preservation. For the electronic archival material, the Archives of Contemporary History participates in the development of solutions for digital long-term archiving that meet international standards (Open Archival Information System – OAIS).

Restoration and conversion

Within the scope of its possibilities, the Archives of Contemporary History restores particularly valuable originals and digitizes its archival materials with the primary goal of conveying the contents electronically in order to preserve the originals and the secondary goal of creating a possible digital replacement copy.