Retroconversion of archival finding aids

• Applicant: Dr. Sabine Graf
• Subject Area: Early Modern History ; Medieval History ; Modern and Contemporary History
• Term: from 2019 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 420561946

The planned project serves the retroconversion (literal digitisation) of all finding aids of the Lower Saxony State Archives, which were previously available exclusively in analogue form. The aim of the project is to publish the indexing information in the lower saxonian information system Arcinsys and in the archive portal D. This should enable access to the historically important archival holdings and promote scientific research.The archival holdings in question come mainly from the State Archives in Wolfenbüttel and cover the period from the 10th to the 20th centuries. They summarize the traditions of various authorities, courts, monasteries and towns as well as renowned estates, families and individuals and provide unique insights into more than ten centuries of Lower Saxony's history. The content value of the archival holdings can be consistently classified as high. In addition to classical record groups, almost 54% of the archival holdings in question consist of charters and seals of particular historical value, almost all of which date back to the High and Late Middle Ages and concern the Principality of Braunschweig-Lüneburg and some nationally important towns and monasteries.The finding aids intended for retroconversion date from the 18th to 20th centuries and are available partly in typewritten and partly in handwritten form. Since the digitisation of some of the older finding aids in particular requires special reading skills, they are intended for the contribution to be made by the Lower Saxony State Archives. The finding aids that may still be affected by archival retention periods will also be digitised by the archive staff. 31 finding aids and thus about 66.6 % of the indexing units are to be assigned to an external service provider for digitisation.

• DFG Programme: Cataloguing and Digitisation (Scientific Library Services and Information Systems)
• Co-Investigators: Dr. Christine Juliane Henzler; Dr. Regina Rößner