At the end of 2000, the overall volume of archive
materials deposited in the University Archives was roughly 1500 standard metres.
They are divided into 165 archives collections which reflect the activities of
the university and its parts, as well as scientists, associations and societies
connected to Masaryk University. Ten large historical collections, collections
of photographs, videos and phonograph records, individual historical artefacts,
medals, paintings, etc., are in integral part of the archives.
The quantitative growth of the archives continued in 2000,
when extensive sets of study files were received from individual faculties,
which completely exhausted the space reserves in the central archives. This
however did not endangered the acquisition activities of the archives, since new
space was allocated to it last year in the newly refurbished building of the
Faculty of Medicine at Komenského náměstí 2. In addition to the archives
exhibition room for exhibitions of archive and other material, there is a small
depository that will hold all personal collections, i.e. written documents from
estates of prominent university personalities.
The MU archives processing activities focused on making
study files received from faculties accessible. These files are used for issuing
copies of graduation diplomas, certifications of final state examinations and
issuing lists of exams and study certificates. The scope of these duties has
been constantly increasing in recent years. In 2000, more than 130 graduates
requested these administrative services. There was great interest in the
archives research facility.
The actual professional activities of the archives staff
were based on the grant project 409/00/0130 of the Grant Agency of the Czech
Republic "The History of University Education in Moravia in
1945-1990". In this project, the research of relevant archive materials
from 1945-1960, deposited in the University Archives and the Moravian Provincial
Archives in Brno, was carried out. The results were published in several studies.
In 2000, the archives organized a large number of
exhibitions. In June, on the occasion of the opening of the newly refurbished
building of the Faculty of Medicine at Komenského nám., the archives prepared
a short-term exhibition Masaryk University in Documents. In November, it participated in
the Insignias, Records and Documents of
Brno Schools of Higher Education exhibition held at the Old City Hall. For
the exhibition at the end of November and beginning of December of entries in
the architectural competition for the university campus in Bohunice, the
archives prepared the introductory part where previous attempts at the
construction of a university campus were documented.
The archives also participated in the exhibitions
commemorating the 150th anniversary of the birth of T.G. Masaryk held in Hodonín
(August – September) and Hustopeče (September) by lending various archive
documents and artefacts.