Catch up on the latest news from the archive

As most government COVID-19 regulations were removed at the end of February 2022, the EAC staff was excited to be able to return to the office. As of March, volunteers and researchers were also allowed on the premises. The staff was eager to see volunteers again and reconnect with them. Our lively lunchtime discussions are back, as is unlimited chocolate!

2022 is the year of data migration at the EAC. As I write this letter, we are in the middle of migrating data to a new collection management system. This is a rather complex and time-consuming project, and we are lucky to have the support of a former EAC volunteer who has in-depth knowledge of such migrations and systems. The project is underway, and we are already excited to see the new possibilities and opportunities this migration creates for the users of our collection and the EAC. And we will need the help of more volunteers to implement them. If you are interested in joining the team of our volunteers, please check our website for new openings. We are looking for new volunteers!

Since opening the office to researchers, the EAC has received a continuous stream of research requests and has welcomed several researchers on our premises. We hope that this trend continues. Get in touch if you are interested in doing research with us or applying for an internship!

Staff changes continued to take place in 2022. The EAC welcomed Sascha Hutchings as our new Office Manager. She has been a quick learner and fits very well into our team. This meant that we had to say goodbye to Fadime Uzun. We are grateful for everything she has done for the EAC. We will miss Fadime and wish her the best of luck in her future endeavours!

The EAC also said goodbye to Elizabeth Emmerson, the EAC Board Advisor. Her sound advice and expertise were instrumental in many of EAC’s decisions. We wish Elizabeth all the very best on her retirement!

The summer vacation period will slow down some of our projects, but we will continue to work hard on the data migration. We will let researchers test our new collection management system as soon as it is operational.

On behalf of everyone at the EAC, I wish you a safe and happy summer!

Kristine Racina

We asked Sascha Hutchings, the new office manager, and Fadime Uzun, outgoing office manager, each to write a little something for us. For Sascha, this is an opportunity to introduce herself to the EAC community at large; for Fadime, it is a chance to say goodbye after 8 years with the EAC. Thank you, ladies!

Sascha Hutchings                                              Fadime Uzun 

After months of preparation, the archival data migration to a new collection management system is off to a good start. The Archivist and Director are working closely with the migration team throughout the process. The EAC is fortunate to have a former volunteer assisting with this complex project. Her experience and knowledge are instrumental in the success of this migration.

This exciting migration will create new possibilities for researchers and is much more user-friendly for all users. The switch to a new system is planned for July 2022. After that, the EAC will do the post-migration data check and implement any necessary adjustments.

Once this is done, we will focus on reviewing collection descriptions with the goal of making them available online. This phase will take the EAC a long time, but in the end researchers will be able to access the EAC catalogue online and do their initial search without having to visit the EAC.

With the re-opening of the office in March, archival staff and volunteers could give fresh attention to some collections that have been shelved for the last two years. Great progress is being made on two organisational collections as well as two family archives.

In addition, the EAC received two substantial additions to its existing family collections!

Archivist Ingeborg Versprille finds a gem of a document while investigating the contents of a large addition to one of our family collections. 

The EAC staff and volunteers were very happy to return to the office in March. We were delighted to see each other again, revive our lunchtime discussions, and share treats from our travels or baking experiments.

Currently, the EAC is in search of a social media volunteer to assist in creating, finding, and scheduling content on the EAC social media channels. Social media volunteers ideally work at the EAC office, but remote work is a possibility. This role may be performed by someone outside the Netherlands (valid EU work permit required) with occasional meetings with the PR manager on Zoom or Skype. If you are interested, please send us your CV, a brief motivational letter, and a sample of how you would write for EAC social media (e.g. introducing an article written by an expatriate or introducing a news item shared by an archive) to [email protected]. More information about this position can be found here.

In addition, we are looking for a native Dutch speaker with archiving experience to help us process archival material in Dutch at our office in The Hague. More information about this position and how to apply can be found here.

The EAC is delighted to announce a new partner organisation for our Thesis Award, the International Centre for Archival Research (ICARUS). ICARUS is a consortium of more than 180 institutions that describes itself as ‘supporting archives and related institutions in rising to the challenges of the digital era.’ We are thankful to have their support.

The EAC Thesis Award will return in 2024. Watch our website and social media toward the end of 2023 for more about the deadline, submission guidelines, and other information.

The EAC is proud to be able to attract an incredible team of volunteers. Some stay shorter, others for a longer time, but all of them leave a mark and are fondly remembered.

Unfortunately, in the past year and a half, two of our longtime volunteers, Tini Neervoort and John Groenewegen, passed away.

John became a volunteer in 2013. He was great at getting the positive word out about the EAC and finding us new donors of material. His energy and enthusiasm were contagious. His endless positivity made working with him a true pleasure.

Returning to the office after two years of the pandemic made us feel the absence of two of our friends even more. We are grateful for the opportunity of getting to know these two special people. They both touched the hearts of many former and current volunteers, interns, staff and Board members.