On Wednesday, September 25, students from the professional bachelor's and master's programs at the Faculty of Translation Studies, Ventspils University of Applied Sciences, visited the Regional State Archive of Ventspils. Archive expert Inga Upaciere conducted an engaging session during the visit. This year, the archive celebrates its 60th anniversary, making the visit particularly exciting with interesting materials on display and various exhibitions set up in the archive’s premises.

Students had the unique opportunity to visit the materials storage room, which is typically inaccessible to visitors. There, Inga Upaciere explained the conditions required for document preservation, and students got to experience the storage environment—darkness and coolness. She also presented best practices for ensuring the proper storage of documents entrusted to the archive, following the legal requirement of a 75-year retention period.

It was fascinating and useful to learn about the languages of the documents stored at the Regional State Archive of Ventspils and how archive inquiries are prepared based on various stored documents. The work of an archivist can be incredibly intriguing and sometimes demands detective-like skills, such as deciphering unknown abbreviations, acronyms, or illegible handwriting. Students learned about the largest ledger book, the thickest inquiry document book, and the challenges faced when preparing an inquiry that requires translating a document's content. Occasionally, documents are incorrectly prepared—for instance, a person's name in a document might have been altered, yet the recipient of the inquiry expects accurate data. In such cases, the archivist must be creative, adding supplementary materials and other supporting documents to correct the error.

Students also learned about the challenges faced by archive workers, as the 21st century demands digital solutions. They asked many questions about the languages in which documents are drafted, document translation, and preservation processes. This excursion provided students with valuable insights into the importance of document preparation, as translators can never predict the types of documents they might encounter in their practice.

At the end of the visit, both students and the archive expert concluded that any entrusted task related to document preparation, translation, or preservation must be carried out with great care and responsibility.

A big thank you to the Regional State Archive of Ventspils for hosting the visit and to archive expert Inga Upaciere for her valuable and engaging presentation!

Prepared by lecturer Silga Sviķe.