The role of private archives facing the new challenges in information management. Conference in honour of Alfonso Otazu

Coinciding with International Archives Day, celebrated on 9 June, and in homage to Alfonso Otazu, the Sancho El Sabio Foundation, ACAL, ANABAD Cantabria and ALDEE jointly organised this conference on the new challenges facing private archives, which was held on 7 June 2024. The conference provided an opportunity to learn about the challenges facing banking archives such as the Sancho el Sabio Vital Fundazioa (Vital/Kutxabank Banking Foundation), the Bank of Spain or the Fundación Obra Social de Castilla y León (FUNDOS), or private personal, family or business archive projects such as the Simón Ruiz Archive, inscribed by UNESCO on the Memory of the World Register, the University of Cantabria-RECREA project for the recovery of memory, and the Historical Archive of the Basque Country.

The private archives provide old lost educational values and new ones, unique documents that are impossible to find elsewhere, which complement and make the study of history more reliable. The new generations of historians understand the value of these archives and it is necessary to recognise their value by managing them, preserving them and guaranteeing their dissemination and access.

The conference took place at the headquarters of the Sancho el Sabio Vital Fundazioa Foundation in Vitoria-Gasteiz and could also be followed via streaming on the Sancho el Sabio Fundazioa YouTube channel. 

9:00-9:20 Registration

9:20-9:30 Presentation of the conference

9:30-10:00 Opening lecture: The missing piece. Private archives, documentary management and historiographical renewal. Reflections from research experience. Andoni Artola, lecturer in Modern History at the UPV/EHU

BLOCK I: Bank archives

10:00-10:20 The private funds of the Sancho el Sabio Foundation. Rafael Resines, Art Historian and archive technician, and Cristina Gareta, Deputy Technical Director of the Sancho el Sabio Vital Fundazioa Foundation.

10:20-10:40 The Historical Archive of the Banco de España. Past, present and future prospects. Elena Serrano, Historian and Head of the Historical and General Archive Unit of the Banco de España.

10:40-11:00 The Fundos Archive: an archive of banking origin with a noble collection: The Counts of Luna. Natividad Pan, Graduate in History and Head of the Documentary Management, Registry and Historical Archive Area of FUNDOS.

11:00-11:20 QUESTIONS

11:20-11:50 Coffee break

BLOCK II: Personal and family archives

11:50-12:10 The Simón Ruiz Archive: a documentary legacy for the history of European trade. Fernando Ramos, Graduate in Geography and History and Senior Technician at the Fundación Museo de las Ferias. 

12:10-12:30 Private and personal collections in historical archives. Borja Aguinagalde, Archivist and Historian, Director of the Historical Archives of the Basque Country.

12:30-12:50 The Recrea portal and the dissemination of personal archives. Jesús Salas, Graduate in History and Faculty member of the Archives and Libraries scale of the University of Cantabria.

12:50-13:10 QUESTIONS

13:10-13:40 Round Table

13:40-14:00 Conclusions and closing of the day's session