Archivo General de la Provincia de Santa Fe SIPAR

History and Founding

The Archivo General de la Provincia de Santa Fe is the principal archival repository of the Argentine province of Santa Fe and the head institution of the Sistema Provincial de ARchivos (SIPAR). Its origins lie in early provincial administrative record-keeping, and it was formally established as the Archivo General by provincial Law No. 5516/61, enacted in 1961, which designated it as the sole repository for documentation produced by the provincial executive branch. In 1979, Law No. 8399 reformed this framework, creating within the Archivo General the distinct Archivo Histórico (for documents older than 30 years) and the Archivo Intermedio (for documents between 15 and 30 years old).

The provincial archive system was further expanded through Law No. 10870/92, which formally constituted the Sistema Provincial de Archivos (SIPAR). By 2000, SIPAR had incorporated, by agreement, numerous municipal archives and institutions including the Arzobispado de Santa Fe and several municipal governments across the province.

Collections and Holdings

The archive's holdings are organized into sections and series covering all aspects of provincial life: cabildo, government, accounting, treasury (hacienda), justice, religious affairs (culto), public instruction, topography, public works, agriculture, and economic development. The collections have been enriched through the transfer of records from the First Judicial Circuit Archive covering the nineteenth century and early twentieth century, as well as documentary collections donated by private individuals.

Notable Materials Related to Journalism and Media

The archive operates a digital periodicals library (Hemeroteca Virtual) named after Fray Francisco de Paula Castañeda, which includes digitized runs of significant Santa Fe newspapers. These include the daily El Orden (1927–1955), with 86 volumes, and the daily Santa Fe (1911–1933). The Archivo Provincial de la Memoria de Santa Fe, a special archive within SIPAR, holds a bound collection of the provincial newspaper El Litoral covering 1946–1979, declared a documentary heritage item of provincial significance. Documents within this archive have been recognized by UNESCO as part of the Memory of the World programme for their relevance to human rights during 1976–1983.

International Cooperation

In 1997 the Archivo General signed a Scientific Cooperation Agreement with Spain's Dirección del Libro, Archivos y Bibliotecas (Ministry of Education and Culture) to survey Santa Fe's archives, an agreement renewed in 1998. Information arising from this collaboration is accessible through the Census-Guide of Ibero-American Archives.

Access and Usage

The archive is open Monday through Friday from 7:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Services include document consultation, photocopying, and online search through the SIPAR databases hosted on the CONICET server. Researchers can access the Hemeroteca Virtual and the Historical Archive database remotely.