National Archives of Costa Rica

Since colonial times, there were guidelines issued by Spanish authorities to regulate the conservation of official documents, such as writs and provisions, so they could document some of the norms established during that period. One of them indicated that papers had to be kept under three keys, and be safeguarded by different, reputable persons of the community, so as to guarantee the conservation of the documents.

In 1660, second lieutenant Juan López de Ortega started a campaign for collecting the town hall’s documents, under the threat of severe punishments for citizens retaining them. With the ensuing independence in 1821, the new authorities gave signs of wanting to continue the healthy tradition of conserving documents when issuing the various laws, ensuring the permanence of the administrative and judicial documents.

It is in the second half of the nineteenth century when Costa Ricans’ interest in preserving their history is affirmed. It was León Fernández Bonilla who accomplished the creation of the National Archives on July 23 of 1881, under the government of Salvador Lara. The first headquarters of the National Archives were located in a rented private house. Subsequently, between the years 1883 - 1889, it remained in an office of the National Palace; later it was transferred to the building of the University of Saint Thomas, where it settled, until 1957. Later that year it was relocated to the María Cristina building, in San José. Finally, in 1993, it was transferred to Zapote, to a modern building surrounded by green areas, free of pollution and with every condition demanded by current Archival Sciences.

According to a study carried out by José Francisco Murillo about the National Archive, three main stages may be distinguished in the institution's development: the initial one, of settlement and reassessment. The first stage is between the years 1881 and 1888; characterized by the existence of disorganized, incomplete and deteriorated documents, as well as the scarce number of staff and inadequate facilities.

The second stage is during 1889 - 1957, when the National Archive is installed on the premises of the University of Saint Thomas. The organization of documentary collections and the elaboration of data files for consultation begin during this period.

In 1902 the First Regulation of the National Archives is enacted, providing technical guidelines for the classification and organization of the documents. In 1934 an archives stamp is created to finance the construction of an adequate building for the National Archives; but it is only 50 years later, in 1993, that the first stage of the building is inaugurated. In 1936 the National Archive Magazine is published, whose purpose was to disseminate the safeguarded documental collections, as well as the historical investigations.

The period of reassessment (1969 –1990) is characterized by a better endorsement of government authorities and greater international cooperation, especially from the Organization of American States (OEA) and the Organization of the United Nations for Education, Science and Culture (UNESCO). These support initiatives enabled the training of the National Archive's staff abroad, mainly in Argentina and Spain, wherewith its personnel acquired new knowledge, gaining a new perspective of archival endeavors.

Similarly, a Board of Directors is created through Act 5574 on September 17 of 1974 with new functions, mainly equipping the National Archive with its own building. A permanent source of financing is also created through a tax on checks and the resources obtained from the archives stamp.

A fourth stage must be added to previous stages which could be called the consolidation; it begins in 1990 with the creation of Act 7202, of the National Archive System. The National Archive is bestowed a legal framework with this law, making it the country's largest Historical Archives, and the National Archive System's governing body. Likewise the long-cherished dream dating back to 1934, of having a modern building with adequate conditions to conserve Costa Rica's documentary heritage is fulfilled; the first phase was inaugurated in April 23d of 1993. Between 1993 and 2017 the following stages of the building's construction intensify. In 1998 the second phase is constructed, when the 4 deposits for Intermediate Archive are concluded. The third phase is inaugurated in 2013 and in 2018, the fourth phase.

During the years Act 7202 has been valid, the National Archive has developed a series of strategies with the purpose of driving Costa Rican archival development, with different instruments and services like the issuance of policies, regulations and guidelines, consultancies, training activities, resolution of technical consults, among others.

In that sense the institution works in the “National Policy for the management and conservation of documents, to guarantee transparency and access to public information, until 2028”. This document provides the State a development path, promoting and contributing access to public information and transparency in management, by strengthening the National Archive System.

Similarly, in 2017, two new regulations were issued having a direct impact on the national archival activities. They are the “Executive Regulation to the National Archive System Act” and the “Regulation of the National Archive’s Organization and Services." The novelty of these norms is they establish terms for different procedures; provisions are included for the management of electronic documents and they highlight the important labor of the officers working at the archives.

The National Archive has stood out at international level, actively participating with international archival organisms, such as the Intergovernmental Committee of the Iberarchivos Program; the Regional Committee for Latin America and the Caribbean of UNESCO's Memory of the World program; the Steering Committee of the Latin American Association of Archives, for the first time a Costa Rican being its chairman between 1999 and 2003; in the International Council on Archives’ Steering Committee, among others, and achieving important benefits for the national and regional archival community. The institution also participates from the network Sinergia-ALA since 2014, promoting the joint dissemination of information coming from various archives of Ibero-America, through social networks.

The Historical Archive is the largest of its kind in the country. It organizes, facilitates and disseminates of the Nation's documentary heritage; constituted by all those documents in any format, which have been declared of scientific and cultural value by the National Commission of Documents’ Selection and Elimination. This department conserves documents of the following classes in its deposits: textual, which represent the largest part; photographs in positive, negative and slides; graphs as maps and blueprints, posters, material of small format; films and videos and more recently, documents in digital support. The Historical Archive conserves documents dating back to 1539.

One of its spaces attending most by the public is the José Luis Coto Conde Consulting Room, place where it's possible to access over 7 linear kilometres of documents. The information is organized as approximately 150 documentation collections, of which 93 are public, 16 private, 25 individual, and 18 collections, besides graphics and museographic documents. Additional to this, there are over 220,000 photographs, as well as 54,000 maps and blueprints.

The Historical Archive offers the following services:

• Provision of documents in the Consulting Room.
• Consult of reference databases and digital documents through the web site.
• Reproduction of text documents, photographs, maps and blueprints, as well as videos and recordings.
• Reproduction of photographs: with digital camera, but in case of analogic ones different sizes are offered, according to the user's needs.
• Elaboration of certifications of literal transcription of historical documents which are difficult to read.
• Loan of historical documents to production entities.
• Elaboration of certifications of years of service in the civil service, up to 1965.
• Transfer of documents declared of scientific cultural value.
• Management of documents donated by individuals, families or private companies

The Notarial Archive is in charge of receiving, organizing, conserving, and facilitating part of the documentary heritage, of value to science and culture; it's constituted by volumes of notarial protocols and indexes of public instruments. It contributes in the control of notarial activities, in agreement with what is ruled by the National Archive System Act and the Notary Code.

The Notarial Archive offers the following services:

• Consultation of digital notarial protocols on the internet.
• Notarial consults of databases on the internet (wills, indexes and protocols in deposit).
• INDEX: information system for the presentation of indexes through the internet using the digital signature.
• Definitive deposit of volumes of notarial protocols and consular records.
• Temporary deposit of volumes of notarial protocols and consular records.
• Provision of notarial documents.
• Reception of indexes of public instruments.
• Reproduction of public instruments (simple or certified copies, certifications or Later Testimonies) and notifications.
• Seizure or Loan of protocol volumes or notary indexes by Judicial Authorities or by the National Notarial Directorate.
• Attach later security form to testimonies

One of the functions assigned by law to the National Archive of Costa Rica is the coordination of the National Archive System, integrated by over 300 archives of public institutions. The department of External Archival Services is in charge of implementing the actions of technical support to the institutions integrating the System.

This department is in charge of the Intermediate Archive, where documents of administrative and legal value which have been transferred from institutions which have closed are gathered, organized, and provided, as well as the most relevant documents of Ministers’ offices, of the Presidency of the Republic and of the Governing Council, according to what's established by article 53 of Act 7202 of the National Archive System.

The services of the System's stewardship include:

• Consultancies in the organization of central archives or management
• Inspection of archives
• Follow-up to inspection reports and consultancies.
• Transfer of documents
• Trainings
• Documentary assessment

Is an advising organ of the Directorate General of the National Archive; created by Act N° 7202, October 24 of 1990. Its main function is to dictate norms for the selection and elimination of documents, according to their scientific-cultural value and solving queries on the elimination of documents by producer entities. This is done on the basis of the input provided by the entities, on previously established assessment instruments.

Act No. 7202 creates the National Archive System, in charge of establishing the country's archival policies, and of recommending strategies for an adequate development of the System. It has to formulate technical recommendations for the production and management of documents, as well as for the administration of documents produced by automated media and, to veil for the optimal organization of Costa Rica's public archives.

The National Archive regularly inspects the central and management archives, be it by their request, or ex officio. In this latter case, they inspect when the institution relocates; when documentation remains on inadequate places, is disorganized or eliminated without approval from the National Commission of Selection and Elimination of Documents. Likewise, when because of the documentation's value it's deemed necessary, or when becoming aware of an institution is to disappear. The goal of inspection visits is to safeguard the documentary heritage of the nation and establish permanent relations with central archives and management to improve the conservation and organization of their documents.

Consulting in an archives’ organization is done individually and is targeted, only for those central archives when the person in charge lacks professional training in archival science; when entity management archives have no central archive and in special, cases ordered by higher authorities.

In the interest of verification of compliance of the recommendations issued, in the inspections and consultancies offered to the National Archive System, the National Archive carries out visits and follow-up reports.

• Web site
• Archivists Specialized articles
• Itinerant exposition loan
• Guide visits