2026 Elections: The AAF Calls on Future Mayors to Commit to Municipal Archives
The upcoming municipal elections of March 15 and 22, 2026, will renew municipal councils and elect or re-elect mayors across the 34,874 French municipalities.
Among the critical statutory responsibilities awaiting these future elected officials is the management of municipal archives, the preservation of which represents the second-largest mandatory legal expenditure for French municipalities.
All documents, records, and metadata produced or received by a municipality during its duties are public archives, regardless of date, form, medium, or storage location. Their management is under the direct legal responsibility of the mayor and serves three public interest objectives: administrative efficiency, justification of the legal rights of citizens, and historical documentation for research.
Mayoral attention to records, whether handed over by predecessors or produced during the term, is paramount. This attention must translate into active compliance with heritage regulations and the allocation of appropriate operational budgets. Therefore, the Association of French Archivists (AAF) urges candidates to sign the municipal archives commitment pledge.
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AI in Archiving: A Revolution in Motion
Artificial intelligence is no longer science fiction for archivists. From Handwritten Text Recognition (HTR) tools to automated classification and indexing algorithms, AI promises massive productivity gains. It allows professionals to process large digital backlogs and make complex historical records searchable. Arkivista is actively integrating these innovations to optimize client processing.
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Digitization: A Critical Step in Long-Term Preservation
While scanning increases access and visibility, it also highlights the challenge of digital durability. A digitization plan must always be paired with an Electronic Records Management System (ERMS) and robust archival policies to prevent data loss. The selection of stable preservation formats, backup redundancy, and technological watch are the key pillars of digital sustainability.
The Role of the Records Manager in the "Big Data" Era
With the exponential growth of data volume, the archivist's role is shifting. Once seen strictly as memory keepers, they have become strategic information architects. Structuring, appraisal, and metadata ingestion are crucial skills in modern risk management, ensuring regulatory compliance, corporate traceability, and secure workflows across systems.