PRESENT: 61 attendants of whom 46 were members entitled to vote (36 category A members, 10 category B members)
President of EURBICA, Mrs Martine de Boisdeffre (Director of the French archives) acted as the chairman of the General Assembly. Mr Jari Lybeck (Director of the Provincial Ar-chives of Hämeenlinna, Finland), Secretary of EURBICA, kept the minutes. The agenda that was followed in the meeting was posted beforehand to the members of EURBICA as well as to the National Archives Services of the three possible observer countries (Canada, Israel, the United States).
1. ADOPTION OF THE AGENDA: The agenda was adopted with one addition (item 2).
2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES OF THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY HELD IN REYKJAVIK:
(October 12, 2001): The minutes were approved.
3. CONSTITUTION:
Madam chair gave the Assembly an overview of the constitution issue. She told that a draft constitution of EURBICA was discussed during the General Assemblies of Florence and Reykjavik. The draft received some feedback which was taken into account when a working group of the Executive Board began to prepare a second version of the draft. Members of the working group included Mrs Martine de Boisdeffre, Mr Viktoras Domarkas, Mr Andreas Kellerhals and Mr Norbert Reimann. Madam chair emphasised that the draft produced by the working group is wholly in line with the present constitution of the ICA.
With regard to the two language versions (English, French), Madam chair pointed out that there are two inconsistencies between them which need to be mended. The first point con-cerned the objectives and functions of EURBICA which include the organisation of semi-nars, symposia and other meetings. In this connection the expression ‘intéres-sant l’ensemb-le des membres dans la région’ (item II g) should be changed into ‘intéressant les membres dans la région-´. The English version was correct: ‘of mutual interest to the members in the region’. The second point was about the functions of the General Assembly. Among them there is the admission of new members. In the English version it said that ‘application for membership has to be approved unanimously’ (item VI) which should read, however, ‘ap-plication for membership is approved by a simple majority’. The French version was cor-rect: ‘l’adhesion doit etre acceptée à la majorité des suffrages´.
After this introduction and the two amendments described above Madam chair asked the General Assembly to approve the draft constitution. The proposal was approved unani-mously and the draft became thus the constitution of EURBICA.
4. MEMBERSHIP:
This agenda item was about admitting three observers (Canada, Israel, the United States) to EURBICA. Madam chair told that the question was discussed in the Executive Board in Reykjavik. According to the newly approved constitution, it is the General Assembly that invites or admits observers. Madam chair proposed that Canada, Israel and the United States be invited to join EURBICA as observers. The heads of the Nationals Archives Services of these three countries had expressed their willingness to join beforehand. The General As-sembly approved -Madam chair’s proposal unanimously and thus Canada, Israel and the United States became attached to EURBICA as observers. Madam chair emphasis-ed that the observers will be in the regular mailing list of EURBICA and will receive the same docu-ments and materials as the members.
5. STRATEGIC PLAN: TRAINING AND APPRAISAL QUESTIONNAIRES:
Vice-President of EURBICA Mrs Daria Nalecz briefed the Assembly on the two Europe wide questionnaires (on training and appraisal respectively) which were prepared by her service (Polish State Archives). As regards training, Mrs Nalecz told that 24 count-ries have responded, 13 count-ries have not. According to her the result is satisfactory. On the basis of these answers it is possible to detect the general tendencies in the field. The questionnaire mapped the general training needs. There were 17 options to be chosen in the questionnaire. Arrangement and access policy to electronic records, records management, appraisal and audiovisual archives were areas were training needs are urgent. Mrs Nalecz pointed out that there is no balance between training needs and the actual training that is available. She was of the opini-on that the ICA committees and sections should organise more comprehensive training. ‘Train the trainers’ concept would be very useful in this context.
After Mrs Nalecz another member of the Executive Board, Mrs Gigliola Fioravanti (Italian archives administration) took the floor and presented some proposals on how to respond to the training needs made transparent by the Polish questionnaire. The proposals were emerged from conversations within the Executive Board. Mrs Fioravanti said that it is obvi-ous that there is a need for good technical skills. This is connected with the question of ‘new archives’ (audiovisual, sound and electronic records and systems). The crucial issue is how to manage and preserve this material over time.’ Train the trainers’ concept is particularly usable in this connection. There could be e.g. three or four day courses for best national ex-perts who would, on their part, spread the expertise in their respective countries. Besides train the trainers courses there could be different type of seminars and worksho-ps as well. Mrs Fioravanti was of the opinion that the language used in these courses should be English As regards the programmes of the future courses, seminars and workshop-s, one thing is clear: traditional archival training must be taken care of at the national level in respective mem-ber countries.
What would be EURBICA’s role in this scenario? It can hardly be an organiser of training. What it can do, however, is to show possibilities and disseminate information (e.g. on its website) and take part in the planning of training programmes. Perhaps EURBICA could also maintain a list of available teachers.
As regards the economic side of the matter, there are some potential sources of funding: ICA, the European Commission and the European Commission of Preservation and Access.
After Mrs Fioravanti’s presentation Madam chair opened discussion on the training issue.
Mrs Christine Martinez, (Ministry for Foreign Affairs, France) the new President of the ICA Committee on Professional Training, emphasis-ed the need of co-operation between EURBICA and the Training Committee and expressed her wish to get the results of the EURBICA training questionnaire. She told the Assembly that her committee has also prepared a questionnaire on training. The purpose of the questionnaire is to find out those who are in need of training on the one hand and on the other hand those who can offer training. Mrs Martinez mentioned that the Training Committee will have a meeting in Fin-land in May 2003 and it would be good if EURBICA were represented there too.
Mr Raimo Pohjola’s (National Archives of Finland) comment on Mrs Martinez’s views was that co-operation will certainly give new impetus to the work of the Training Committee. He also said that it can be arranged that EURBICA’s Executive Board is represented in the meeting of the Training Committee in Finland next May.
Madam chair welcomed Mrs Martinez’s appeal for co-operation and pointed out that co-operation is the very idea on which EURBICA is built.
Mr Gérard Ermisse (Direction of the French archives) pointed out that the present top train-ers may become ‘stressed’ if new demands are put on them. That is why it might be a good idea, according to Mr Ermisse, to try to recrute a slightly different corpus of teachers (good but not the national top level-). Mr Ermisse also told about a project on distant learning which takes place on-line on the Internet. Mr Ermisse was strongly of the opinion that Eng-lish shou-ld not be the only language used in ‘EURBICA courses’.
Mr Charles Farrugia (National Archives of Malta) emphasised the usability of a list of avail-able trainers.
Mrs Angelika Menne-Haritz (Federal Archives of Germany) referred to recent develop-ments in methodology and the need to take them into account while planning training courses. She also emphasis-ed the importance of international co-operation.
Mr George McKenzie (Public Record Office, Scotland) pointed out that the different bodies of ICA do not necessarily know about each other’s activities. Mr McKenzie warned about the possibility that EURBICA becomes a sort of ‘mini-ICA’. EURBICA should work together with the committees and keep itself informed about their activities. We should not re-invent the wheel, Mr McKenzie con-cluded.
Mrs Daria Nalecz welcomed the presence of Mrs Martinez. Mrs Nalecz said that the pre-vious contacts with the Training Committee have not been very fruitful. This is in sharp contrast to the co-operation with the Committee on Appraisal which has functioned very well. Mrs Nalecz expressed her wish to have precise information about the results of the committee meeting which is going to take place in Finland in April.
Mrs Sarah Tyacke (Public Record Office, UK) informed the Assembly that the ICA Com-mittee on Information Technology will have a meeting at Kew in April 2003. She invited those who were interested in training in the IT field to join the meeting.
Mrs Martinez emphasised the role of the regional branches of ICA. Their point of view is needed in the gathering and dissemination of information.
Madam chair ended the discussion by underlining the importance of enhanced co-operation between EURBICA and the different committees of ICA.
Training issues being handled Mrs Nalecz told the Assembly about the other questionnaire, that is, the questionnaire on appraisal. There are a number of countries which have not yet answered the questionnaire. Mrs Nalecz urged them to respond because a meaningful syn-thesis on European appraisal principles and practices is not possible without precise knowl-edge about the situation in all European countries. In the field of training, general tendencies can be detected on the basis of a corpus which is not complete but appraisal is a different matter; it requires complete and precise knowledge.
Mrs Nalecz told that there is good co-operation between EURBICA and the ICA Appraisal Committee. There are plans to discuss appraisal matters with the Committee on Current Re-cords in an Electronic Environment before the International Congress on Archives in Vienna in 2004.
Madam chair commented the issue, on her part, by emphasising how important it is to get information not only about relevant national legislations but also about the methods and criteria applied in different countries. She also raised the question of harmonization in the field of appraisal. According to her, there is hardly any possibility or even need for har-monization. Common guidelines could be reached, however.
Mrs Rosine Cleyet-Michaud (Archives départementales du Nord), President of the ICA Committee on Appraisal, told that the Committee is now working on a manual on appraisal. She pointed out that EURBICA is very useful in this context as a source of information.
Mr Gérard Ermisse had a comment on the harmonization issue. Instead of strict uniformity he emphasised the exchange of ideas. According to him, it would be useful if a kind of best practice recommendation on appraisal could be produced in EURBICA. Archivists in differ-ent countries could refer to this recommendation in case appraisal decisions arouse criticism in their respective countries.
6. STRATEGIC PLAN: OTHER BUSINESS: (INCLUDING ALSO THE ORIGINAL AGENDA’S ITEM 5: OTHER BUSINESS):
Madam chair informed the Assembly about the project on the legal database (database of archival and other relevant legislation in Europe-). There is now a halt in the project due to the lack of personnel resources. Madam chair pointed out that the only way to proceed now is to do it gradually, step by step. The translation of laws and decrees into English and French is probably the most expensive part of the project. Madam chair said that perhaps it would be possible to acquire funding or other help (translations) from the Council of Europe.
Madam chair asked the members to send, if possible, their archives laws to the secretary (Mr Lybeck) or, alternatively, to send information about their location on the Internet.
The next issue was EURBICA’s website which was presented by Madam chair. The website can be accessed via the website of the Direction of the French archives (www.archivesdefrance.culture.gouv/en/international%20relations.index.html). It is only in French at the moment but an English version is coming soon.
Mr Josip Kolanovic (National Archives of Croatia) gave a report on archival co-operation in South Eastern Europe. Mr Kolanovic emphasised the unifying factors (language, history) in the area and also its ties to the rest of Europe. Croatia has played an important role in the archival co-operation in the area recently. The Association of Croatian Archivists arranges annually a colloquium to which colleagues from abroad, also from the countries of ex-Jugoslavia, are invited. In October 2002 the National Archives of Croatia organised, in context of EURBICA, a two day meeting for the countries of South East Europe. The meeting was dedicated to two subjects, ISO Standard 15489 and records management. The attendants of the meeting came from Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Croatia, Macedonia, Jugoslavia, Serbia, Montenegro and Slovenia. In connection with this meeting there was also a one day meeting on electronic records management organised in Ljubljana in Slove-nia in collaboration with the Archives of the Republic of Slovenia.
Mr Kolanovic pointed out that there is also co-operation that takes place at a broader level. The National Archives of Croatia were one of the organisers of a two day colloquium which took place in Zagreb in April. The theme of the colloquium was the modernisation of the Croatian administration. Besides Croatia there were attendants from Slovenia, Austria, Germany and Switzerland. The other of the two days was dedicated to the problems of man-aging archives. The National Archives of Croatia have also taken part in the planning and realisation of an exhibition dedicated to Milan ¦ufflay, a Croatian expert in Albanian history and culture. The exhibition takes place in Tirana, Albania. ‘Guide to the sources of the Illy-rian provinces’ is a major project which is being realised jointly by Austria, Croatia, France, Italy, Montenegro and Slovenia.
The National Archives of Croatia have been active on the publication sector too. It has pub-lished translations of ISAAR (CPF) and ISAD(G) standards and distributed them to all the countries of ex-Jugoslavia. The National Archives have translated ISO 15489 and sent cop-ies of it to the aforesaid countries. The National Archives have also published translations of certain Recommendations of the Council of Europe and distributed them to the countries of ex-Jugoslavia. Among the translations of the National Archives is also MoReq (Model re-quirements for the management of electronic records) which will soon be published and distributed.
Mr Kolanovic ended his report by emphasising two things. On the one hand, the archival problems in the countries of ex-Jugoslavia are similar to those of the rest of Europe, and on the other hand, Slovenia and Croatia have, from the historical and archival point of view, close ties with Italy, Austria and Hungary. That is why Mr Kolanovic was in favour for spe-cial archival co-operation between the countries of South East Europe. Besides that, co-operation with other European countries is important, too, when there are mutual subjects and interests.
After Mr Kolanovic’s report Mr Patrick Cadell, ICA’s representative in the European Un-ion, gave his report on initiatives with archival implications taken by the EU and the Coun-cil of Europe. With regard to the Council of Europe, Mr Cadell told that the Council Rec-ommendation on access to official information was adopted by the Committee of Ministers on 21 February 2002. The recommendation is targeted to administrators and it complements and strengthens the Recommendation on access to archives. Mr Cadell told that the Council of Europe will hold a seminar in Strasbourg at the end of November 2002 on the implica-tions of the recommendation. Mr Cadell also informed the Assembly about a new recom-mendation which is in preparation. This recommendation is about archiving of electronic re-cords in the legal sector. The working group responsible for it included at the beginning no archivist which had some unfortunate consequencies with regard to the content of the rec-ommendation but later on archivists have been consulted. The text is now finalised but the recommendation must still go before the Committee of Human Rights and then before the Committee of Ministers.
On the EU side Mr Cadell reported about the developments concerning the ‘Black Book’ and the ‘Guidelines on access to archives’. The new edition of the Report on Archives in the European Union (‘Black Book’) has met with several setbacks. The ministers of culture have not yet accepted a draft resolution in support of this initiative. Mr Cadell said that this support, although not absolutely necessary, would make the work easier and more useful. Nevertheless the group set up by the national archivists of the member states to compile the new Report is continuing its work. Work is also continuing on the ‘Guidelines on access to archives’ which were put before the national archivists at Brussels in November 2001. The idea is to make the guidelines applicable in the whole of Europe, not just in the EU.
After Mr Cadell’s report Mrs de Boisdeffre said a few words about DLM Forum which is a network of experts on electronic records. DLM Forum is an initiative of the European Commission and Madam chair had been asked to spread information about it among the members of EURBICA. Madam chair pointed out, among other things, that INSAR, or The European Archives News, is a highly relevant publication from the point of view of the DLM Forum.
After Mrs de Boisdeffre’s presentation Mr Erik Norberg (National Archives of Sweden) in-formed the Assembly about current DLM-activities and the DLM Forum which took place in Barcelona in May 2002. This was a third DLM Conference and, according to Mr Nor-berg, particularly important because of the fact that it was strongly supported not only by the National Archives and the EU Commission but also by the ICT industry. Mr Norberg told that the conclusions of the Forum concerned, among other elements, reinforcement of co-operation with the ICT industry to promote best practices and solutions for electronic rec-ords management and progress on professional education and training with focus on the European Training Programme on Electronic Records Management (E-Term). According to Mr Norberg, one of the major results of the Barcelona Conference was the launching of the European DLM-Network of Excellence on Electronic Archives in order to continue com-bining inter-disciplinary efforts at a European level. Mr Norberg pointed out that the newly established DLM-Network Monitoring Committee will further develop this project, includ-ing the application for the 6th Framework programme of the European Union.
The project described by Mr Norberg received the unanimous support of EURBICA’s Board and General Assembly.
After Mr Norberg Madam chair took the floor again. She underlined the necessity of keep-ing contacts between EURBICA and the meeting of the national archivists of the EU mem-ber countries and the applicant countries. She told that in Copenhagen she had been asked by the Danish presidency to prepare a paper on co-ordination of these two ‘organs’ for a meeting that will be organised by the Greek presidency. Mrs de Boisdeffre promised to dis-tribute the paper to all members and observers of EURBICA.
Madam chair also informed the Assembly about a Compendium of Pacific archives legisla-tion produced by the sister branch PARBICA.
Two forthcoming courses / seminars were mentioned too. The Direction of the Fren-ch ar-chives will arrange an international course on archival buildings in Annecy in May 2003. In 2005 ICA Section of Professional Associations and EURBICA will arrange a seminar in Poland.
With regard to the dissemination of information, it was decided that information on relevant European projects should be sent to the Secretary of EURBICA, Mr Jari Lybeck.
At the end of the Assembly Mrs Daria Nalecz informed the members about a programme called Common Archival Heritage of Central and Eastern Europe. The main goal of the pro-gramme is to provide as broad an access as possible to information on archives considered as the source base for the common history of Central, Southern and Eastern Europe, based on new information technologies. The programme has its own website (www.archiwa.gov.pl/CAH/index.html). The site contains information e.g. on relevant con-ferences and seminar-s as well as on common projects. There are also full-text articles and other texts available on the site. The section called Common Archival Heritage Database gives instructions how to create databases to be used via this website. On the website there is a link to the- Polish National Archival Databases. Mrs Nalecz encouraged- all archival in-stitutions that are interested in the Common Archival Heritage programme to join it and of-fer material to be published on the website. The proposals should be sent to the Head Office of the State Archives of Poland.