Archival terminology in the USSR and in post-Soviet countries: continuity and change

Abstract

The archival schools of the post-Soviet countries discussed in this article (Kazakhstan, Russia, Belarus and Ukraine), despite having much in common, are quite different from one another. Their similarity is due to a comprehensive legal and methodological base inherited from the USSR, as well as to a well-established common practice. The principles of normative regulation of archiving were laid down in the USSR and built on the basic law on archiving and the normative acts of the central state body responsible for the archival affairs of the country. All the countries examined have retained the principles of forming the terminological system of the professional area through the development of a special national terminological standard which includes the terms given in the fundamental law on archiving. However, the extent to which the terminological systems are elaborated and are consistent both within themselves and with the terminological systems of related fields of activity in each country, is different. The article contains an analytical comparison of the definitions of fundamental archival terms standardised in national standards and laws on archival affairs in the abovementioned countries and in the USSR, and also shows the influence of ISO standards on the development of terminological systems in these countries.