CRO PARLIAMENT TO DISCUSS BILL ON ARCHIVES IN SEPTEMBER

ZAGREB, Aug 3 (Hina) - A final bill on archives and archive-kept files, concerning the functioning of archives services and the use and protection of said material, will be discussed by the Croatian Parliament at its sitting in autumn. Great quantities of files and records kept by archives have been maintained all over Croatia. In record rooms conventional materials have been stored on about 70,568 metre-long shelves. Record rooms keep also the so-called non-conventional materials, such as about 18,371,150 metres of film tapes or over 11,000 hours of films, numerous video-records, photographs and negatives of the national photographic fund. There are about 284,695 metres of files outside archives institutions in record-offices that are controlled by archives. According to the bill, files and records kept by archives are treated as part of the national heritage and as sources of information and data of lasting importance to science and culture, as well as to public and personal rights and benefits protection. They are in the interest of the Republic of Croatia and enjoy its protection. According to the bill, files that should be kept by archives are records or documents produced by corporate bodies or individual persons and have permanent significance for culture, history and science, no matter when and in which form they have been produced and by which medium they have been kept. The notion of the files to be kept in archives will now include 'media' such as all kinds of audio-visual materials. The right to use public records is granted to all users under the same conditions. As a rule, records and files, kept by archives, can be used 30 years after their production, whereas materials with personal data are to be available 70 years after the production, namely 100 years after the birth of a person to whom it may refer. (hina) mm ha mš 031927 MET aug 97