Archival Science in the business associations arena

Abstract

State of the question on businesss organizations archives. After an approach to the history of the Spanish businesss associationism from the end of the 18th century to the present, the different information sources, archival repositories, state of the question, legal frame and main characteristics are examined. A landscape of the situation is obtained and the most problematic aspects are underlined: lack of professionals, legal emptiness in documentary issues, absence of information and specific bibliography, and the danger of disappearance of documentation with a historical value. Finally, a series of proposals is offered: integration of archives with libraries and documentation centers into the information management system, the consideration of the archive like a basic piece of the organizational system and the internal operation, the need of a global vision that includes the complete vital cycle of the documentation integrating all the different media. As a conclusion, the value of historical documentation and the need to arbitrate measures to make possible their conservation and good shape are discussed