DinKa

Aim of the project

"Core files" of institutional holdings are documents with a particularly high evidentiary and informational value. Statutes, annual reports, minutes of governing bodies or committees, notices and circulars reflect the purpose, history, organisation, governance and activities of an institution in a concentrated and authoritative form. They are among the records that are most intensively requested and searched in archives. The aim of the DinKa project was the digitisation and automated text recognition, which facilitates access to these sources and enables new research and evaluation possibilities.

Description of the project

Between 2019 and 2022, 3467 core file dossiers with 979'219 document pages from 40 indexed fonds were processed in digital form. The focus in terms of content and quantity is on economic holdings, namely on the umbrella organisations of all Swiss employers, the machinery, electrical and metal industries and the textile industry. In addition, there are holdings of smaller associations and federations from the two collection areas of political and Jewish contemporary history. In total, more than 140 linear metres of documents were digitised. The core files are accessible in the AfZ's virtual reading room since September 2022 after registration. They will gradually be made searchable in full text in AfZ Online Collections in 2023.   

Synergies and context

The digitisation of the core files increases the visibility of the collection of central sources of contemporary history and simplifies its use for interested parties. The increasing demand for access without media discontinuity is thus taken into account. The facilitated remote use also protects the originals, which only need to be consulted in exceptional cases.

Time frame

March 2019–June 2022