Archive and Records Management Highlights 2023
The EMBL Archive’s contribution to the 50th anniversary celebrations
In 2023, we actively participated in the preparations towards EMBL’s 50th Anniversary. The EMBL Archive collaborated on the 50th Anniversary microsite, offering continuous recommendations for the design of EMBL History pages. Through weekly meetings with the Communications team, we contributed to reviewing the microsite’s historical narrative, providing archival pictures and content, and ensuring historical accuracy. Notable features include the new EMBL History timeline, a gallery showcasing EMBL images throughout its history.
As part of our commitment to preserving and promoting EMBL’s history, the EMBL Archive prepared three articles in anticipation of the 50th anniversary. These include ‘Tracing the history of women in science at EMBL – EMBL Archive’, ‘Flashback May 1978: The inauguration of EMBL Heidelberg – EMBL Archive’ and ‘Remembering the moment EMBL was founded’. The latter article explains the decision to celebrate EMBL’s founding year in 1974 instead of 1973, originally published in EMBLetc. Issue 101.
Last but not least, we have launched an internal call to the EMBL community to collect archival material: Share your EMBL memories: Call for archival material! – EMBL Intranet (EMBL internal access). The main categories of archival material we are seeking to collect are documents, photographs, personal stories and any other material deemed to have archive value. We will disseminate further and systematise the call for archival material during 2024, linking it to the 50th anniversary celebrations. Stay tuned to follow our activities.
Laboratory notebooks (LNs) archiving project
In 2023, we initiated the Laboratory notebooks (LNs) project. Following guidelines in the Internal Policy No.51 “EMBL Rules of Good Scientific Practice” (EMBL internal access), LNs are to be submitted when a group or lab departs from EMBL. The EMBL Archive and Records Management is responsible for preserving these lab books in physical and digital formats. The project, divided into the following four steps, aims to understand the current status of LNs, develop appropriate procedures, and implement them:
- Pan EMBL LNs survey targeting faculty.
- Analysis of survey results.
- Preparation of Standard Operating Procedure (SOP).
- Implementation of the SOP.
In the first trimester of 2023, we successfully completed the survey, receiving a high response rate of nearly 50% from faculty members. The analysis of results has also been concluded, and we are preparing for publication. For more information about the archiving of the LNs and the project please visit the Lab books archiving – EMBL Intranet (EMBL internal access).
Archival collections development and access
This year, we welcomed Viktor Osminin, a student assistant and Ph.D. candidate in history, to our team. Viktor has been instrumental in enhancing our cataloguing efforts, focusing on a priority collection—the archival material of the third EMBL Director General, Fotis Kafatos. Over 75% of the collection, including international scientific advising, EMBL-related activities, digital materials, and private files (550 folders and 200 independent items), has been processed and stored for long-term archival preservation. Fotis Kafatos’ collection exemplifies the EMBL Archive’s vision from a facility focused solely on EMBL to a centre preserving the documental heritage of European molecular biology scientists.
This year, our collection was enriched by valuable contributions from distinguished scientists and leading administrators, Johanna McEntyre, Alvis Brazma , Toby Gibson and Maria Leptin, Christoph Müller, Matthias Wilmanns, notable figures at both EMB and on a global scale. Additionally, we received materials from our regular acquisitions, including contributions from the Courses and Conferences Office and EMBL Communications. Audiovisual content from EMBO, oral interviews from EMBL alumni, and materials from various offices, such as the Photolab and EMBL Strategy Office, further enhanced our collection.
In terms of reference and research services, we we had the pleasure of hosting Professor Francesco Cassata, a distinguished Full Professor of Contemporary History from the University of Genoa, seconded at Accademia Nazionale dei Lincei-Centro Linceo “Beniamino Segre” (2022-25). Moreover, our services extended beyond the confines of our reading room. We were honored to make a significant contribution to the symposium commemorating the illustrious scientific career of Stephen Cusack at EMBL Grenoble. We’ve also had the privilege of providing archival material for the Max Planck Digital Story – Pioneers of Knowledge.
We’ve also created Archive Collection Guidelines to help the EMBL community define what type of EMBL information is of archival value and when it should be transferred to the EMBL archive. Please read the guidelines here Archive Collection Guidelines – EMBL Intranet (EMBL internal access).
Records Management
Our records management activities have been divided into two parts: the ongoing activities, such as providing guidelines for the retention and disposal of documents in the offices (e.g. Finance Office, Courses and Conferences Office, Legal Services, Grants Office, EMBL Barcelona Administration), and the digitisation project, such as the e-signatures project at EMBL.
EMBL Archive and Alumni Relations
Continuing our collaboration with EMBL Alumni Relations, we were delighted to see the revival of the Alumni Archives Working Group with Giulio Superti-Furga, Maria dM Vivanco, Halldor Stefansson, Freddy Frischknecht, Mary Holmes, Mark Green, to present our collections to EMBL retirees afternoon and the World Alumni Day. We are incredibly proud to unveil a plaque at the EMBL Archive building, honoring the remarkable efforts of the EMBL Alumni Association in its establishment and thanking the donors of the Archive who made the Archive project possible.
Engagement with international archives/records community
The OSIM and EMBL Archive, in collaboration with CERN Archive, EUROfusion Consortium, GSK’s heritage archives, and the Wellcome Sanger Institute Archive, co-organized the Symposium on Scientific Archives held online on June 27-28, 2023. Commemorating the International Archives Month and the 75th anniversary of the International Council on Archives (ICA), the symposium aimed to unite archivists and record managers dealing with scientific collections. The event provided a platform to discuss challenges, share experiences, explore opportunities, and foster a collaborative community of practice. The symposium attracted 100 registrations from 33 countries and featured 21 presenters representing the UK, Canada, US, Italy, Switzerland, Chile, Portugal, and Brazil. Explore presentations and the program details here: Symposium on Scientific Archives (27-28 June, 2023) · Indico.
In early 2023, Maria Papanikolaou, our Archives and Records Manager, was elected as the Programme Liaison for New Professionals Programme in the Programme Commission (PCOM) of the ICA, reinforcing our ongoing commitment to actively engage in international archives affairs.