Visit to Skógar and Selfoss

On the morning of 28 October, Hrefna Róbertsdóttir, National Archivist, and Njörður Sigurðsson, Deputy National Archivist, travelled to Skógar, where they were welcomed by Árný Lára Karvelsdóttir, Regional Archivist, and Andri Guðmundsson, Director of the Skógar Museum. In the afternoon, they visited the Árnesingar Regional Archives in Selfoss, where they were received by Þorsteinn Tryggvi Másson, Regional Archivist, Guðmunda Ólafsdóttir, Senior Archivist, and F. Elli Hafliðason, Archivist.

During the visits, the facilities of the archives were inspected and discussions were held on key issues facing Iceland’s public archives. Topics included the preservation of digital records, the dissemination of archival records and photographs from archival collections, oversight of records management and recordkeeping by bodies required to transfer records, the cataloguing of paper archives, and public access to archival holdings.

The service area of the Rangæingar and West Skaftafell Regional Archives covers the districts of Rangárvallasýsla and West Skaftafellssýsla. It serves five municipalities: Ásahreppur, Rangárþing ytra, Rangárþing eystra, Mýrdalshreppur, and Skaftárhreppur.

The service area of the Árnesingar Regional Archives encompasses the whole of Árnessýsla and includes eight municipalities: Bláskógabyggð, Flóahreppur, Grímsnes- og Grafningshreppur, Hrunamannahreppur, Hveragerðisbær, Skeiða- og Gnúpverjahreppur, Árborg Municipality, and Ölfus Municipality.

The Rangæingar and West Skaftafell Regional Archives in Skógar. From left: Njörður Sigurðsson, Andri Guðmundsson, Árný Lára Karvelsdóttir and Hrefna Róbertsdóttir