The organization, dependent on the Ministry of Culture of the province, offers the community guided tours for groups of students to learn about and explore the documentary collection that the institution protects. The tours attract the attention of various educational levels and are well received by attendees.
Students from School No. 75 of the Bicentennial, from the Paraná XIV neighborhood, were part of one of the delegations that usually go to the house of the General Archive of Entre Ríos, located in the provincial capital, in order to tour the different Specific rooms dedicated to conservation and reading, and listening to stories dating back to the 18th century.
Viviana Galanti is a librarian, archivist, and agency worker. She performs care and dispatch tasks. One of her activities is to welcome visitors and guide them through the tour.
Visits by institutions to the Archive are first organized and coordinated by telephone, and then shifts are assigned. They are also planned in relation to the educational needs that the teacher requests and according to the educational level of the group. This is explained by the guide, who also comments on the difference between the different requirements of users, whether they are secondary students or higher-level researchers. In both cases the care is specialized.
On the tours, the first stage is to enter the compact closet dense, which protects historical documentation from the Government Fund. “Here we are preserving testamentary documents from Urquiza, military affairs, censuses, lands, and public instruction. These documents are already preserved in optimal conditions to be consulted by users,” said Viviana Galanti. Regarding these funds, the worker clarified that some of the documents are microfilmed and can be consulted in the reader that is located in the entrance hall of the organization.
In the room where the compact shelves are located, the documents are classified by subject and by series. “Users must know what series, what fund, what box and what file they want to consult, and they can find out from the inventory that is available on the archive’s website,” he explained.
Regarding the special treatment, the worker stressed that the documentation in the compact cabinet “is already clean, ready and stored in folders, free of acids, trying to ensure that the used ink does not transfer from one document to another.” In addition, they have a dehumidifier right there that takes care of the optimal temperature in the closets.
One of the questions from the group of students during the visit was about the age of the preserved archives, to which the guide responded that “the oldest is from 1778. Generally, they are government letters from one general to another asking for money. . Letters were the communication of those times. We had to wait a long time for the answers,” she said, after highlighting the notable difference with current communications.
Next, the main consultation room and the newspaper storage rooms were visited. “In the newspaper library we have La Nación, Clarín, Diario Uno, El Diario, El Heraldo, El Sol, among others,” listed the librarian.
As they passed through the reading room, the young people had the opportunity to talk briefly with a researcher from Santa Fe, who explained the topic of study and what type of materials he was looking for in the archive.
The group continued to the bottom, where there is also another consultation and storage room. In an intermediate route there is a space where the portraits of the Entre Ríos governors are located. Upon arriving at that site, the students asked questions and made comments about the eras and clothing of those portrayed and their differences.
While continuing with the tour, Viviana Galanti said that the General Archive also receives inquiries from the interior of the province, “from people who cannot reach Paraná. In these cases the organization offers a digital consultation. The files are photographed, compressed and that information is sent by wetransfer to the consultants.” She also clarified that there are many consultations online, through social networks, through the Archive page or by email and they are all channeled.
At the end of the visit there was a pause for questions and to offer to view some specific documentation. On other occasions the groups also work alone with the teachers.
One of the teachers, accompanying the group from School No. 75 of the Bicentennial, said that in the classroom they are working on issues related to the Argentine written press, “that’s why we thought of coming to visit the Archive, because they have a newspaper archive here. interesting”. The teacher also made reference to the fact that young people have little regular contact with this journalistic medium, on paper, which is why the experience is even more enriching.
Search reason in student groups
The themes that motivate young people’s inquiries always have to do with the work carried out in the classroom. Viviana Galanti highlighted the students’ most searched topics: advertisements and anniversaries.
In relation to primary schools, the librarian also referred to the fact that they work mostly with higher grades, “almost always from fifth grade onwards because they are at an age with more interactions and questions.”
About the institution
The General Archive of the Province of Entre Ríos has the mission of preserving, storing, concentrating and disseminating historical administrative documents. Its functions include the organization of historical exhibitions and conference cycles, film screenings on historical themes, guided tours, among other cultural activities, planned with the purpose of attracting the largest number of audiences in order to allow access. , knowledge and use of the facilities.
The origins of the Provincial Archive date back to the mid-19th century, when the ministries of the government of Entre Ríos were organized. One, referring to matters concerning the Interior and War, and the other relating to Finance, Justice and Public Instruction. It was created by Governor Justo José de Urquiza by decree of May 4, 1860.
The successive provincial governments adopted various measures to safeguard the documentary heritage of Entre Ríos, providing for “… the entry into the archive of all those documents and records that belong to the Province and that are known to have been improperly archived inside and outside of it… ”.
On June 10, 1880, the Law of definitive creation of the General Archive of the Province was promulgated, during the governorship of José F. Antelo.
In 1932 it reached a definitive profile during the management of the poet Guillermo Saraví, due to the guidelines introduced and the rules implemented regarding its classification and arrangement, taking into account the principle of origin, which is currently respected and has been prestigious at the national level.
With the passage of time and the innovations that have occurred in archival science, it became necessary to introduce modifications that allow working more in accordance with the new documentary contributions that were completed in recent decades, for which a microfilming process was initiated that included several series. of the Government fund and the incorporation of the microfilm reader.
In 1966, the organization began to operate in the new building, at 282 Buenos Aires Street in Paraná, built specifically to house the then Historical and Administrative Archive on the upper floor, and the “Martiniano Leguizamón” Historical Museum on the ground floor. In November 2003, the General Archive of Entre Ríos inaugurated a new headquarters in Alameda de la Federación 222 of Paraná, which expanded the spaces of its traditional location on Buenos Aires Street.
Currently, the institution has two offices located at Av Alameda de la Federación 222 and Calle Buenos Aires 282, upper floor.
All the information and inventory of the Generalmim Archive can be consulted at:
https://entrerios.gov.ar/archivogeneral
Photos: Guided tour with students from School No. 75 of the Bicentennial, from the Paraná XIV neighborhood, held on May 10, 2024.-
Information and contacts:
Av. Alameda de la Federación 222 / Buenos Aires 282
+54 343 4211073 / +54 343 4207832
Instagram: @archivoentrerios
Facebook: file.entrerios
