the arrangement and description of archives (1898).1 The State Archivist in
Groningen who died in 1913 was the man who, together with his colleagues
Muller and Fruin, had constituted the triumvirate that published this book, the
authority of which was bound to be become acknowledged worldwide. It was the
time when archivists became conscious of their professional identity and, again
in the Netherlands, by means of an Act on Archives succeeded in securing for
themselves a safe position in public administration.
In circles of archivists these are facts which continue to deserve to be described
and even celebrated. However, what is crucial within the circle of peers, be it
Dutch archivists or thousands of colleagues from all over the world here in
Beijing, looses its compulsive power if being confronted with the interests which
prevail in the outside world. Just as Johan Feith evidently played roles which
earned him much more esteem from his Groningen fellow citizens than his
being an archival theoretician or even a successful practitioner of the archival
profession, many members of today's audience will acknowledge that they do
lots of other things than think about classification methods, appraisal strategies
and the like.
I admit frankly, what I am going to say is a mere truism. We are here in an
impressive crowd, calling ourselves archivists. We are from many countries and
speak different languages. But, apart from these salient differences there are still
others which I think are at least equally important. In my practice as a municipal
archivist in a provincial town in an small country, I am constantly aware of
these differences, observing colleagues in leading and subordinate positions,
colleagues in various municipalities -each of them with its own culture and
priorities -, colleagues in the State Archival Service, in big archives, where there
is place -and need- for specialisation and competition, and in small ones, where
the archivist resembles a single-handed sailor, experienced colleagues in an
advanced phase of their personal development and young ones, enthusiastically
embarking on their new jobs. Everyone plays his part, and many of us play the
roles of a complete cast being at the same time information manager, head of a
branch of the public service, historian, welfare worker for drop-outs, computer
programmer, editor, teacher, etc. Furthermore, in playing these roles we act at
various stages in collaboration with practitioners of a diversity of other
professions. Every set of roles entails a specific cluster of loyalties, the inevitable
result being that the picture everyone of us has of the profession must be
completely different. No doubt, those archivists who can describe their job
almost completely in expressions taken from the terminology of archival science
constitute a minority here.
Given this peculiar situation, one is the more surprised in seeing that it is
just this science, even in its everyday appearance of a special attitude towards
information, which helps us to recognise colleagues from all over the world.
How mutual understanding and international archival co-operation on a global
level have developed is the subject of the first part of this paper. After that I will
attempt to assess the results of the efforts in this field and even try to formulate
an outlook. The topic of the diversity of our contexts will reappear by then.
2. Historical survey2
International archival co-operation is an extremely complex and multi-faceted
field of research. Comprehensive studies do not exist. The ICA archives must be
an extremely important body of sources but is likely to leave the field of bilateral
relations largely uncovered. It is clear that for this occasion no inquiry could be
carried out which meets scientific standards. What follows is a sketch in which I
concentrate on a series of issues I myself found worthwhile telling. A much more
detailed report has been written by Eckhart G. Franz for the IXth International
Congress on Archives in London (1980).3 In the subsidiary papers for this
session a number of particular domains of international co-operation will be
outlined. But let us now turn to the beginning of this century.
At the turn of the century, during the World Fair, an international congress
of librarians was held in Paris. Technical development and a growing awareness
of the international character of societal phenomena was opening up the world.
Travelling abroad was, however, still an expedition and international profession
al congresses were rare, nouveautés. For the congress of librarians of 1900 no
invitations had been sent to archivists, although several subjects on the agenda
might have raised their interest as well. At the end of the meeting the enthusias
tic participants decided to organise a similar congress every five years.4
One of the participants of the Paris congress was Joseph Cuvelier, who later
was to become State Archivist of Belgium. This brilliant professional followed the
example given by other archivists in other European countries who united in
professional organisations and founded the Association des Archivistes et
Bibliothécaires beiges. Only a few months after its start this Belgian association,
with Cuvelier at its head, decided to revive the idea of an international congress
for both librarians and archivists 1907)5 The World Fair in Brussels, planned
for 1910, seemed to offer a splendid occasion for such an international congress.
To work out this ambitious plan a preparatory committee was set up. According
to the principles of the constitution of the Belgian Association, the committee
paid equal attention to archival and library issues. To guarantee the indepen-
DE PROFESSIE
1 S. Muller, J.A. Feith and R. Fruin, Handleiding voor het ordenen en beschrijven van archieven (Groningen,
1898). Cf. Eric Ketelaar, "Muller, Feith and Fruin", Miscellanea Carlos Wyffels, Archives et Bibliothèques de
Belgique (Archief- en Bibliotheekwezen in België) 57 (1986), pp. 255-268.
2 I wish to express my gratitude to Mr. Hans Ouwerkerk, mayor of the city of Groningen, who enabled me to
have the research for this part of my paper done by an assistant, and to Ms. Jet Spits, graduate of the
Department of History of Groningen University, who did the investigations I could not do myself and
wrote the first draft of this part.
3 Eckhart G. Franz, "Der Internationale Archivrat: Vergangenheit, Gegenwart, Zukunft", Archivum 29
(1982), pp. 155-173.
4 For that reason a bureau was founded, which however failed to succeed in organizing a second congress
within the agreed terms. See Henry Martin, "Le Congrès international des Bibliothécaires de 1900.
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JAN VAN DEN BROEK FROM BRUSSELS TO BEIJING
2.1 The Brussels Congress
Résultats matériels et effet moral", in J. Cuvelier et L. Stainier, Congrès de Bruxelles 1910. Actes (Actes)
(Bruxelles, 1912) lvi-lxiii.
5 "Assemblée Générale d'ouverture", in: Actes, pp. 601-614. At a statutory meeting of the Association des
Archivistes et Bibliothécaires beiges, which was held in Liège in 1907, a proposal to organise a congress of
archivists and librarians was welcomed enthusiastically. Probably many librarians cherished favourable
recollections of the Paris congress of 1900. According to the initiators library and archives science were to
be seen as "maïtresses branches d'un arbre unique, [qui] ne peuvent pas subsister les unes sans les autres
Le domaine qu'ils exploitent est presque identique".
The objective of the congress was to study technical and professional questions concerning archives and
libraries: "Conservation, d'une part; de l'autre, utilisation des documents contenus dans les Archives et les
Bibliothèques: c'est en ces deux points que se résumé tout ce qui doit faire l'objet de vos discussions."
153