Alexa, Is This a Historical Record?

Digital transformation in government has brought an increase in the scale, variety, and complexity of records and greater levels of disorganised data. Current practices for selecting records for transfer to The National Archives (TNA) were developed to deal with paper records and are struggling to deal with this shift. This article examines the background to the problem and outlines a project that TNA undertook to research the feasibility of using commercially available artificial intelligence tools to aid selection. The project AI for Selection evaluated a range of commercial solutions varying from off-the-shelf products to cloud-hosted machine learning platforms, as well as a benchmarking tool developed in-house. Suitability of tools depended on several factors, including requirements and skills of transferring bodies as well as the tools’ usability and configurability. This article also explores questions around trust and explainability of decisions made when using AI for sensitive tasks such as selection.

100 Years of Paper Seismograms from Denmark and Greenland, 1907–2008

The paper seismograms from 100 years of observations in Denmark and Greenland has since October 2021 been made available through the Danish National Archives. Five case stories illustrate the quality and variation of the seismograms, and the historical context of operation of the stations. (1) The earliest recorded earthquake in the archive is recorded at GDH station in Greenland, where the 1907 Mw 7.2 earthquake in Tajikistan is recorded on smoked paper. (2) The first Danish earthquake is a local event close to Copenhagen in 1930. (3) We have illustrated the 50 megaton nuclear explosion in Novaya Zemlya in 1961—the largest nuclear test explosion ever. (4) The M 9.2 earthquake in Alaska in 1964 recorded on several instruments at COP. (5) A local earthquake in northeast Greenland recorded both on paper on World-Wide Standard Seismographic Network instruments and digitally on a modern broadband instrument.

The Businesses and the Innovations of Adolf Engel in the Second Half of the 19th Century

The purpose of the study. The study is about the businesses of Adolf Engel, a local entrepreneur of Pécs in the 19th century. The study is focused on finding answers to three main questions. Firstly, in what ways did Adolf Engel’s career differ from other great entrepreneurs of Pécs, such as Zsolnay, Angster or Hamerli? Secondly, how big was Engel’s impact on the local economy and how did he tackle the charcoal crisis by establishing industrial coal mining in Komló? Finally, what kind of innovations did he use and what were their effects? Applied methods. The research is based upon a wide range of sources. A great volume of domestic and international literature and the memoirs of Adolf Engel provided the background of the study. I used statistics of the era and I read numerous articles found in the Arcanum Digitheca and Hungarian Cultural Heritage Portal databases. Furthermore, I revealed and analysed archival sources of the Regional Archives of Baranya County of the National Archives of Hungary. I composed the study in chronological order and have summed up Engel’s work. Outcomes. By the end of the study, I was able to reflect on the differences of Adolf Engel’s entrepreneurial career. He managed multiple businesses in different sectors at the same time. He successfully participated in the development of the local economy and took part in solving the energy crisis. He applied several unusual innovations, but their outcome was undoubtedly positive and successful. Engels’s efforts are clearly telling of the career of a self-made businessman.

The Austrian Lloyd’s Marine Trade in Fiume (1871–1913)

The purpose of the study. In my paper I would like to introduce the history of an important trading company, the Austrian Lloyd, in terms of its connection to Hungary between 1871 and 1913 with a particular focus on Port of Fiume. This company connected Fiume (and Hungary) with the eastern ports of the Adriatic Sea, the Black Sea and the Mediterranean Sea (Levante) until 1891 with the beneficial support of the Hungarian Government; and later by the company’s own interests. Applied methods. In the paper I analyse the agreements made in the governmental contracts and why the contracts were terminated in 1891. I’m also having a look at the turnover of ships and goods the company had in Fiume’s life between 1889 and 1913. Besides presenting the company’s life and operations I also would like to classify it in terms of turnover among other marine trading steam ship companies receiving government support. For references I’ve been using and working with relevant bibliographies, laws, statistical publications and scripts from the Državni Arhiv u Rijeci (National Archives of Rijeka). Outcomes. I expect the research results to reveal details of an important slice of the Hungarian export which is not very much processed as yet.

Operation Devon, Termoli 1943: ‘A catalogue of errors’?

The little-known World War II battle for Termoli, code named Operation Devon, took place in early October 1943 and began with the only Allied amphibious landing on Italy’s Adriatic coast. It was a joint operation between newly formed elite groups and regular units of the Allied armed forces. A brigade made up of two units of commandos and the 1st Special Air Service, known during this operation as the Special Raiding Squadron, was given the task of making the first landing. Despite the initial success of the operation, a drawn out and fierce battle ensued. With the help of archival material from the Imperial War Museum, London, and The National Archives, Kew, this article reconstructs the key elements of a battle that has received little scholarly attention, particularly in relation to the role of conventional forces in the fighting. In doing so, it provides an overview of the battle, analysing the main factors that led to a chaotic handover between special and regular infantry forces and what made the action ultimately successful. Finally, it reveals how the operation was part of an evolutionary process for special forces and helped to cement their role in UK military doctrine.

An African Episode in the Life of Pushkinʼs Granddaughter (E. A. Rosen-Meyer)

The circumstances and reasons for the departure of A. Pushkinʼs granddaughter, Elena Alexandrovna Rosen-Meyer, from Turkey to South Africa in 1923, after failed negotiations over the sale of Pushkinʼs personal items to A. Onegin and M. Gofman, remain unclear. Documents at the National Archives of South Africa, as well as materials, testimonies and literature related to persons involved in this move indicate that the Rosen-Meyer family went to Africa on the recommendation of Pushkinʼs descendants in England. Thanks to the connections of Sir Harold Wernher and his wife, Anastasia Mikhailovna (Lady Zia), a job was found for Rosen-Meyerʼs husband with a business associate of the Wernher family. A prominent South African businessman and member of parliament, Sir Abe Bailey, off ered a position to N. Rosen-Meyer at his estate “Rust-en-Vrede” in the town of Muizenberg; Bailey would hold informal meetings with leading South African politicians and public fi gures at Rust-enVrede. The Pushkin items seen by Gofman at Rosen-Meyerʼs home before her departure from Turkey remained in her possession on her return from South Africa in the late 1920s.

Le rôle des pȃturages communaux dans l’agriculture de Pécs à l’époque du dualisme

The purpose of the study. To show the role of pastoral animal husbandry in dualism in a large Hungarian city where the majority of the population lived from industry, trade, mining and transport. How did the city assembly approach the maintenance of the pasture that made up part of the land. Applied methods. We examined the archives of the Baranya County Archives of the Hungarian National Archives, the archives of the city assembly and the city council, the accounting office, the economic supervision, the city regulations and cadastral maps, documents and maps, and we reviewed the local press. Literature and statistical data were compared with the opinions of contemporaries. Outcomes. Research has convincingly demonstrated that pasturage was essential to the lifestyles of the poorer, more self-exploiting suburban residents in particular, and even in the 1910s, most cattle were driven out to Megyeri and Szigeti suburban pastures. In our period, however, the area of pastures decreased significantly due to the conversion of pastures into arable land and meadows, the expansion of the city, and the needs of the military (training ground, shooting range).

The Link Between Climate Change and Digitization of Archives in South Africa

This chapter assesses the link between climate change and digitisation of archives in South Africa. The study found linkage between flooding, fire, and digitization of archives in the sense that records required long-term preservation to be accessible. The chapter focuses on converting paper-based records into digital platforms as a strategic role to prevent records from damage. Heritage institution such as the National Archives of South Africa is in the forefront of the preservation of archives in South Africa. It is their national mandate to preserve archival materials and make them accessible to various stakeholders. The success of digitization is dependent on the organisation strategy. This means that partnership, privacy, copyright need to be considered. The research found that most of the heritage institutions in South Africa lack digitization strategy, which led to loss of institutional memory.