establishment of the national archives system started at the beginning of the Republic of Estonia. After the Archive Committee's first meeting on 3 March in 1920 the Historical Archives was established in Tartu as the repository for the records of historically significant institutions, and the State Archives in Tallinn became the keeper of records of active institutions. The 1935 Archives Act strengthened the role of archives in the preservation and use of society's valuable records. During the Soviet period the archives continued their work, the regional archives, which were active in larger towns, were renamed as city archives and governed by Moscow. Independent management of the archives was restored in the 1990s and the National Archives of Estonia became active on 1 January 1999, in accordance with the Archives Act passed in 1998. On 1 January 2012, the new Archives Act entered into force. The main objective of the Act is to create optimal legal terms and conditions in the transition to digital records and archives management. The reduction of the deadline for transferring records to the archives from 20 to 10 years is the most significant regulative change in the Act. It enables risk management in digital environment for long-term preservation and affords use of records in one secure competence centre – the National Archives. The detailed regulations for the public archives and for the archival creators can be found within the Archival Rules. See also List of national archives References External links National Archives of Estonia website The National Archives of Estonia at Google Cultural Institute NAE in Facebook NAE in YouTube NAE in Flickr Blog of NAE Crowdsourcing by NAE Archives in Estonia Estonia Government of Estonia FIAF-affiliated institutions