The National Archives Center
The National Archives Center is a public administrative institution with moral personality and financial autonomy; it was reorganized in accordance with presidential decree no. 21-122 of Shaaban 15th, 1442 corresponding to March 29th 2021, reorganizing the Center of National Archives of which headquarters is located in Algiers.
The mission of the Center is to collect, receive, preserve, exploit, valorize and communicate archives to the public. And in this framework, the Center is responsible for:
- Insuring the implementation of legislations and regulations in effect, and international standards as well as new technologies in the field of archives;
- insuring the receipt of the archives of public and private institutions and administrations;
- enriching archives fonds by all means, including exchanges within the framework of cooperation;
- controlling and monitoring all procedures related to the transfer of public and private archives;
- encouraging the deposit and the transfer of the historically important archives that belong to individuals and private institutions and classifying them among the national archives fonds;
- ensuring the preservation and protection of archives regardless of their medium;
- obtaining modern techniques of disinfection, restoration, binding and reprography;
- ensuring the implementation of the norms related to archives buildings;
- processing archives fonds and finding aid;
- obtaining documentary and archival sources, and insuring the procedures of their consultation and communication;
- the valorization of documents and archives fonds through the publication of a periodical magazine and various publications linked to archival work or studies and research of historical nature, and the development of research resources related to archives fonds;
- filling, enriching and exploiting the Center’s website;
- ensuring the organization and completion of training processes for the Center’s employees
The Building
The building of the National Archives institution is located in Hassane ben Naâmane Street, in Les Vergers neighborhood, municipality of Birkhadem in the East-heights of Algiers. The latter is an architectural masterpiece designed by the deceased architect Abderrahmane Bouchama; it is of Arab-Islamic style with a touch of modern architecture. The building is constructed according to international standards in force; it is designed in the shape of the letter H and occupies an area of 22712 m2 with 8 storeys which contain 64 archives stacks in both sides, and it is equipped with scientific and technical services in addition to halls and workshops.
The construction works of the building started in the early 1980s and it was inaugurated by the deceased president Chadli Bendjedid on Shaaban 26th, 1409 corresponding to April 03rd, 1989 as a replacement of the old headquarters located below the Government Palace on Dr. Saadan street which became since June 1991 the Pre-archiving Center for central administrations, and it is currently an annex of the National Archives Center.