Arhivaar

Arhivaar is a term used in several languages to denote a professional who works with archives; the English equivalent is archivist. In these languages, the word is formed from the root related to archive and indicates someone responsible for the care, description, and access to archival materials. Etymology traces to Latin archīvum and Greek archeion, with cognate forms such as arhivar in Slavic languages and archivist in English.

A person holding the role of arhivaar is typically responsible for acquiring, appraising, arranging, describing, preserving, and providing access to archival records. They establish access policies, assist researchers, manage reference services, and oversee conservation and digitization projects. They apply metadata standards (such as ISAD(G), ISAAR(CPF), Dublin Core) and use archival management systems to catalog materials. They may also be involved in records management, donor relations, and archival outreach.

Workplaces include national and regional archives, university libraries, museums, corporate archives, and government offices. Education commonly requires a degree in archival science, library and information science, or history, often with practical training in appraisal, arrangement and description, conservation basics, and digital preservation. In the digital era, arhivaar professionals work with born-digital materials, preservation planning, metadata normalization, and strategies for long-term access, such as migration or emulation.

See also: Archives, Archivist, Archival science, Records management.