Docs on migration records most popular in state archives

ANKARA

Documents related to the settlement of Turks from abroad are the most accessed in the online document scanning system of state archives, officials told state-run Anadolu Agency on Aug. 18.

In the first half of this year, around 386,000 users examined over 5.62 million documents through the system. Among these, papers detailing the settlement of Turks from Romania and Bulgaria were particularly popular.

Migrant dispatch papers, which track the locations where migrants from Romania settled, and records of Bulgarian migrants who relocated to Tekirdağ, Muğla and Aksaray between 1935 and 1937, drew notable attention.

Also popular are tables documenting land allocations and various provincial book records.

Students were the most frequent users of the system, accounting for 39.8 percent of access, followed by public officials at 14.5 percent, academics and teaching staff at 9.9 percent and freelancers at 9.1 percent.

Since its launch in 2013, the document scanning system has digitized more than 75.8 million documents.

Researchers have conducted 18.4 million searches and purchased 3.38 million documents through the system.

Additionally, the archives have restored over 800,000 pages of documents in the first half of the year.

The restoration process includes cleaning, preventing deterioration and repairing missing parts.

Completed documents are then digitized, placed in acid-free sleeves and stored in protective cardboard boxes.