Digital Research on Archivalia in France : Personal Impressions

Résumé En Fr

The present paper aims at giving a personal impression of the current state of digital research on archival documents in France, from the subjective point of view of someone who is primarily a researcher of medieval manuscripts. In France, the field is vibrant and alive; it goes from the dissemination of primary documents and research tools to elaborate strategies of exploration based on complex, digital-assisted and digital-based methods. As it seems, digital methods have now pervaded the various fields and subfields of archival research and research on archivalia. While the different actors in archives, universities and research entities, and the like, have had to adapt to the new situation created by digital technologies, and globally succeeded in doing so, it must be recognized that some infrastructure is still lacking to ensure the durability and sustainability of the results of these activities.

L’article donne un panorama subjectif des activités de recherche numériques portant, au sens large, sur des documents d’archives, en France. C’est un champ particulièrement vivace, au sein duquel des approches diverses coexistent, tant au niveau des méthodologie que des objectifs ou des publics visés. Les acteurs en sont tant les divers services d’archives que les universités, les unités de recherche ou le grand public. Il reste néanmoins à assoir techniquement et institutionnellement ces recherches de manière à en rendre les résultats pérennes.