The History of Archive Keeping in Altai according to the Materials of the State Archive of the Altai Krai (the 18<sup>th</sup> - Beginning of the 20<sup>th</sup> Centuries
The article considers the initial stage in the development of archival keeping in Altai. The work relies primarily on documentary evidence of sources of funds from the State Archive of the Altai Krai of the 18th - early 20th centuries. The main emphasis of the article is made on the history of archives under the bodies of regional governance: the history of the archive of the Office of the Kolivan-Voskresensk mining office. This archive was the main repository of documents on the management of the region which were subsequently incorporated into the structure of documents of archive of the Department of the Altai mining district (Mining archive). The latter formed the basis of the current State archive of the Altai Krai. In addition to the history of the archive, the article discusses the issues of storage and use of archival documents; highlights the main issues specific to work with archival documents in the period under review. Finally, the conclusions are made on the state of archival Affairs in Altai, on the role of Mining archive to organize, store the documents, as well as on the degree of preservation of archival documents and their relevance in practical and scientific purposes.