Private archives are archives created in the private sector. The term refers to a rather heterogeneous group of archives with significant internal differences, both in terms of origin, extent and structure.
To an increasingly greater extent, individuals, private organisations and enterprises create archives by means of electronic systems and in digital formats. It can be a great challenge to preserve this electronic archival material.
The Director General, through the Section for Private Archives, is to serve as a national coordinator for work with private archives in Norway.
Private archives are private property. Organisations or private enterprises are not legally bound to preserve their archives or to hand them over to an archives repository. Private individuals are also free to discard their archives, if they wish.
The private archives constitute an important part of our national memory. Throughout history, societal development has resulted from interplay between public authorities and private parties.
Every week, private archives are deposited with the National Archives og Norway. We will therefore present new archives that are being readied for use.
