The WWW Portal of the Hungarian National Archives

Katona Csaba <katona@natarch.hu>

Magyar Országos Levéltár

The usage of Internet spreads very quickly, and this medium becomes more and more important as an everyday, generic tool for fast access to a vast amount of information. Hungarian National Archives has realized the steadily increasing demand for information available on the Internet, and a portal service has been created. In these days more and more researchers and interested individuals try to access information about the archives using this new way of communication especially from outside Budapest and from abroad. For the sake of informing foreign researchers, the full portal is available in both English and German. The home page makes the most crucial contact information (addresses, phone numbers opening hours) and the full text of the acts specifying the operation of the institute and the availability of the source material. The service would not be complete without a detailed description of all the source material available. Using this description the professional researcher can decide at home whether it is worth visiting the archives with his/her own particular case. A salient feature of the description is that it is directly connected to a database that contains information about every peace of source material. The Hungarian National Archives is also an academic and cultural institute that organizes many professional events, and these events are also advertised at our web portal.

An electronic version of one of the journals of the archivist society is available on–line, and the new electronic journal (ArchivNet) of the Hungarian National Archives is exclusively published here. Our portal is under continuous development to offer easier access to even more information.