Grundsätze der staatlichen Überlieferungsbildung für das Staatsarchiv Graubünden

Abstract

At the core of a cantonal archive’s activities is the formation of the documentary heritage of state authorities and public law institutions. This article examines the function of “state archive formation” using the example of the State Archives of Graubünden (StAGR) and formulates proposals for current areas of action aimed at supporting future work of the StAGR in this respect. The proposals are presented in the form of six principles and are related to the current official strategy of the StAGR. The analysis begins by examining the legal framework, which includes the issue of who has the authority to appraise and define the value of records as well as the relationship between the obligation to transfer records and legal deletion requirements. Other chapters focus on pragmatic approaches to handling transfers and on pre-archival work. Two sections dedicated to appraisal theory explore the relationship between information and evidentiary values with a focus on digital acquisitions, advocating for an emphasis on their information value rather than their ephemeral digital form. Finally, the last principle addresses the evaluation of the archive's own activities.