De verwerving van onderzoeksarchieven aan de Vrije Universiteit Brussel: op zoek naar mogelijkheden

Scientific records acquisition is a challenge for many university archivists. Researchers are too busy to care about their records and they refuse to submit themselves to top-down measures. Through this study, Frank Scheelings and Virgile Royen explain the situation and strategy of the Centrum voor Academische en Vrijzinnige Archieven, the archive service of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel. We claim that university archivists must raise awareness in the research centers before requiring them a sound records management. Archivists need to develop their communication means and skills. They also need to find allies among researchers and their stakeholders to spread the university archivists’ offer and contribute to the appraisal of these abstruse items. At the same time, they should tailor their services to these heterogeneous group of records producers.
The university archives unit can be useful for researchers in many ways. Keeping records allows the research center to display its history, contributing to its good image. Furthermore, it demonstrates the integrity of the everyday research. Scientific records could also be used more widely by science historians and popular science organizations. In addition, archivists may help scientists to rationalize their document management and to prepare their research data to be shared freely through data repositories.