École Nationale des Chartes
The École Nationale des Chartes (French: École nationale des chartes, literally National School of Charters) is a French grande école and a constituent college of Université PSL, specialising in the historical sciences. It was founded in 1821, and was located initially at the National Archives, and later at the Palais de la Sorbonne (5th arrondissement). In October 2014, it moved to 65 rue de Richelieu, opposite the Richelieu-Louvois site of the National Library of France. The school is administered by the Ministry of National Education, Higher Education and Research. It holds the status of a grand établissement. Its students, who are recruited by competitive examination and hold the status of trainee civil servant, receive the qualification of archivist-paleographer after completing a thesis. They generally go on to pursue careers as heritage curators in the archive and visual fields, as library curators or as lecturers and researchers in the human and social sciences. In 2005, the school also introduced master's degrees, for which students were recruited based on an application file, and, in 2011, doctorates.
This article is about the school. For the academic journal, see Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes.
Other name
National School of Charters[1]
1821
Michelle Bubenicek (since 2016)
Campus Condorcet,
Université PSL
Organization[edit]
The governing bodies are composed of the director of the School, the administrative council and the scientific council. The director is selected from among the directors of studies of the École pratique des hautes études, the École nationale des Chartes and the École française d'Extrême-Orient, or from among professors of the universities and members of affiliated institutions. The director is appointed by decree of the President of the Republic for a term of five years, renewable once under the conditions of the article. The director is assisted by a director of studies and a general director of services. The administrative council,[35] consists of 21 members, including four unelected members, ten members appointed by the minister responsible for higher education, two of whom are members of the Institute, and seven elected members, three of whom are teachers, two of whom are IATOS (non-teaching staff) and two of whom are students. The scientific council37, headed by the director of the School, includes all the teachers who are directors of studies, as well as other unelected members. It also includes fifteen appointed members, five of whom are members of the Institute, as well as an elected teacher and a student representative. The Paris URFIST (an inter-academic research and training body) and the Committee of Historical and Scientific Work are affiliated with the l'École des Chartes.
Most of the professors at the École nationale des Chartes are affiliated to the Centre Jean-Mabillon, the École's research unit, whose director is currently Olivier Poncet.
The aim of the centre's research program is to cover all the processes that explain and publicize the written production from the Middle Ages to the present, through various stages:
A significant part of the school's research activity is the theses of the students, whose fields of studies have diversified over the years and now relate to all periods of history, notably contemporary.[40]
The library[edit]
The library was created by the order of 31 December 1846. At the time it occupied one of the two rooms reserved for the school in the hôtel de Soubise. The library moved with the school in 1897, and since then has occupied the second floor (reading room and history room), third floor (Horseshoe Room) and fourth floor (offices and store rooms in the attic).
In 1920, the management of the library was taken over by the secretary of the school, who at the time was René Poupardin. Today it is managed by a library curator.
It was designed as a research library. Its collections are particularly well supplied in the subjects taught at the school: medieval history, philology, history of books, bibliography, etc. The collections (around 150,000 volumes) are all available for immediate access. The catalogue is available online.[41] Many electronic resources are also available.
Due to lack of space at the Sorbonne, the library moved in 2017 to 12 rue des Petits-Champs, into much larger premises.
The École nationale des Chartes disseminates scientific works in its fields of specialization, in printed and electronic format.
It has published four collections of works in the printed format :
The École des Chartes also publishes two periodic publications relating to the training it offers :
These works are disseminated by CID-FMSH, through the Comptoir des presses de l'université.
Since 2002, the École des Chartes has also published scientific works in electronic format in its online collection of publications, the Éditions en ligne de l'École des Chartes (ELEC). This gives scientific works digital functions and brings together repertoires and databases as well as texts, in a format that is more suited than printed versions to detailed examination.
This collection is completed by :
These materials are under an open license.
The school develops its scientific and teaching work through several initiatives, including the Thélème website 48, which offers materials supporting the subjects taught at the school, such as educational packs, advice, lessons, and interactive facsimiles.
École des Chartes publications[edit]
The École des Chartes also publishes numerous works, in both paper and electronic format. The Mémoires et documents de l'École des Chartes are monographs, many of them drawn from École des Chartes theses or doctoral research. The first of these was published in 1896 and they are distributed by Honoré Champion and Droz. Two more collections, the Études et rencontres (minutes of conventions and brief monographs) and Matériaux pour l'histoire (illustrated large-format albums), have been created more recently. ELEC is also responsible for the school's online publications, which include databases, editions of texts, minutes of symposia, bibliographies, and studies.
The Société de l'École des Chartes[edit]
The Société de l'École des Chartes is registered as a public-interest association, which students and alumni can join. Its current president is Marie-Françoise Limon-Bonnet, who was elected in 2018. Twice a year, the Société publishes the Bibliothèque de l'École des Chartes with the support of the École. This scientific review, founded in 1839, is one of the oldest in France.