Bekir Kemal Ataman's Involvement in Archives

Public Sector

My involvement in archives had been quite extensive. The earliest of these was the draft Guide to Archives—Part I: Administrative Histories I have written for Marmara University, as part of the RIM project I had run to provide a practical training opportunity to my undergraduate students.
Again, as part of the course work, I had arranged to renew and automate the Class List to the Hatt-i Humayun series with the Ottoman Archives. This consisted of editing the old typewritten class list to simplify its language, correct its grammar and typing mistakes; input the new description into a computer database; mark personal and place names for index; input these, together with major keywords, into a computer database; and do final proof reading. This provided the students an opportunity to do practical training for quite a few years.

Private Sector

My biggest archival involvement in the private sector was at Yapi Kredi Bank, where I have run a project to setup an archives museum, including the arrangement of records and preparation of finding aids, from scratch. The details of this project, which occupied me for six full years, can be found in my "Automating Yapi Kredi Bank Archives – A Case Study." OCLC Systems and Services. XVI/3 (2000): 144-150.
As part of this project, several publications were prepared, but unfortunately the Bank preferred to keep them all in-house to this day, although this was not what was intended initially:

YKB Arsiv Muzesi Katalogu. Enlarged edition. Ed. Bekir Kemal Ataman. 1999. 40 volumes.
Türkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin 75. Yilinda Yapi Kredi Kronolojisi. Enlarged edition. Ed. Bekir Kemal Ataman. 2 vols. 1998. IV+725 pp.
Turkiye Cumhuriyeti'nin 75. Yilinda Yapi Kredi Yayinlari Bibliyografyasi. Ed. Hatice Aynur and A. Oguz Icimsoy. Index by Bekir Kemal Ataman. 1998. VIII+206 pp.
YKB Arsiv Muzesi Katalogu. Ed. Bekir Kemal Ataman. 1996. 28 volumes.
YKB Sergiler Kronolojisi. Ed. Bekir Kemal Ataman. September 1995: 111 pp.
Yapi Kredi Kronolojisi. Ed. Bekir Kemal Ataman. September 1995: IV+558 pp.
Yapi Kredi Yayinlari Bibliyografyasi. Ed. Hatice Aynur. Index by Bekir Kemal Ataman: September 1995: VI+118 pp.
Yapi Kredi Kronolojisi. Ed. Bekir Kemal Ataman. February 1995: 107 pp.
Yapi Kredi Bibliyografyasi. Ed. Hatice Aynur. February 1995: I+61 pp.

Private Archives

I have been involved with archival work carried by/for non-governmental organizations too. These were mainly advisory to and/or training of staff to undertake the private collections they held.

With this purpose, I have advised the administrative board of Toplumsal Tarih Vakfi for their Pertev Naili Boratav Collection, and trained their staff for their ex-Labour Party Collection.
Similarly I have trained the staff at Human Rights Association, Istanbul Branch and those at Ataturk Library, the latter of which gave rise to Ataturk Kitapligi Muallim Cevdet Evraki Katalogu . Ed. Ayhan GOKALP and Ayhan UCAR. Istanbul: Istanbul Buyuksehir Belediyesi Kultur Isleri D. Bsk. Kutuphane ve Muzeler Mud., 1994. 143p. ISBN 975-7580-32-5.
However, my heaviest involvement has been with the Women's Library. I have used the private collections held at this organization for the practical training of my students on both the "Arrangement and Description" and "Private Archives" courses. As a result of this, all collections had been boxed, listed and descriptions input into a computer database. Again, catalogues of several collections were prepared, within this framework, by several students as undergraduate graduation theses under my supervision.

As a result of all this involvement I have been a "Registered Archivist and Records Manager" with Society of Archivists (UK) since 1995. Apart from the Society of Archivists, I am also a member of the Business Archives Council (UK).

I have also been a regular member of the Technology Committee and a corresponding member of the Professional Training and Information Technology Committees of International Council on Archives (ICA) between 2000 and 2004, when all committes were abolished after the Vienna Congress.