Abstract
This article reviews and analyzes the collection experience and methodology for the formation of personal funds and access to them in the archives of Kazakhstan, Poland and Russia. The purpose of the study is to study the experience of Kazakhstan, Russia and Poland in the collection, formation of archival personal funds and access to them. The article was written using extensive literature - unpublished archival documents, regulatory legal acts and methodological documents. The research methodology is based on an integrated approach using historical-descriptive, content analysis, and comparative methods. Results: Personal documents, along with official documents, replenishing and enriching state archival funds are the source base for research. The complex of personal documents created as a result of human life and activity forms an archival personal fund in the future. Being an important part of any archive, personal funds are varied and multifaceted in their content and significance. Personal funds contain unique and valuable documents varying in composition and content about the life and activities of government and political figures, heroes, workers, poets, representatives of culture and art, artists, art historians and scientists. In studying the experience of Kazakhstan, Russia and Poland, this paper reveals their differences in terms used in the archival sphere. Moreover, common features and peculiarities in the methodology for creating personal funds have been identified, and their composition has been determined. We have considered the issues of access to archival personal funds in three countries and identified their features.