appear after a long delay, which in many cases causes loss of attention and at least topicality. Advertising in the Bulletin is clearly insufficient. According to some suggestions it would be reasonable to invest more in providing archivists in non-industrialised countries with free copies of specialist literature than in air-tickets of which benefit only a few individuals. ICA's Executive Committee recognises this problem and wishes to take action to improve the distribution of publications.59 The opinions about the effects of workshops, consultant missions, specialised training and the like diverge to such a degree that it is impossible to draw an unequivocal conclusion. Although there are complaints about the arrogance of some experts and their lack of knowledge of and respect for local conditions, many respondents from developing countries do appreciate this kind of co-operation and assistance. Others however, reject this kind of "neo-colonialism", or state bluntly that expert missions and advisers are useless if they are not followed by permanent attention and material aid. It is obvious, however, that a relatively weak organisation like ICA is not able to meet such requirements. This weakness is no secret and is an inevitable consequence of its limited resources. For its manpower ICA depends mainly on the voluntary co-operation of archivists and the authorities to which they are subject. Financially it is dependent on membership contributions which are hardly sufficient to maintain a modest infrastructure. The absence of a perma nent budget for fixed tasks is not compensated for by the money which ICA receives from Unesco and other supranational bodies in order to carry out parti cular projects. A better, but of course more expensive, structure would create a framework for decision-making procedures which follow a bottom up direction whereas the project oriented method of financing allows mainly an ad hoc and top down policy. Finally I want to discuss two points on which ICA has been criticised. In the first place it must be remarked that there is an almost general impression that there is too big a distance between the leading structures of ICA and the "base". The ICA top is regarded as a closed club which communicates poorly with archivists "in the field". The Executive Committee itself acknowledges this problem and stated that it is "imperative to improve communications between the ICA and the professional community which comprises too many individuals who show no interest for international activities".60 I wonder, however, how one is going to tackle this problem. It looks as if we are facing here a neat example of a vicious circle. Distance hinders communica tion and lack of communication widens the distance. I am sure that the enlarge ment of the number of copies of publications being printed and improvements in their distribution will not be enough, although availability is, of course, an important factor. The problem, actually, is that people are not inclined to pay attention to things which they do not feel attracted to or involved in. For most of our colleagues international co-operation of archivists is no goal in itself. Therefore I do not agree with the Executive Committee's just quoted statement that "too many [colleagues] show no interest for international activities". On the contrary, I think that the number of colleagues taking an interestin international co-operation is greater than it ever was, that it is steadily growing and that many individuals are ready to take part in international projects, within or outside the ICA framework. However, in order to translate their interest and readiness into concrete activities the majority of them will surely need projects which link up with their own practice and lie within their own horizon. Secondly, it might be useful to draw attention to an answer I received more than once when respondents were asked to indicate what kind of international activities could be considered to be the less successful. The answer runs that though it would be possible to mention examples of failures, it would not be very wise to do so. I agree that it would be pointless to tell negative stories to an outsider, but the impression which nevertheless arises is that of international archival bodies being unable to handle criticism and of artificial courteousness preventing a normal exchange of opinions. Even if this impression is only slightly in accordance with reality, it indicates that ICA is in danger. An organisa tion that wishes to avoid stiffening must stay critical toward itself and must encourage others to come forward with their opinion. One of the most successful means of prompting positive criticism is showing that constructive remarks are dealt with in a serious way. But, as I said before, ICA is on the right way now. In Montreal the Executive Committee made a deliberate statement about the necessity of introducing "a continuing system to evaluate the impact of the activities of the organisation".61 This implies as a matter of course the consultation of those who are or have been involved in activities as collabora tors, clients or beneficiaries. Dealing with failures which may have occurred, we must be honest with ourselves and take into account the essential weakness of international organisa tions in general and that of our ICA in particular, representing a branch of the public service which everywhere shares the same low rating on the political scale and relying mainly on the voluntary co-operation of people who are more devoted to their profession than to their jobs as representatives of nations or cultures. In this light one cannot but appreciate highly the achievements of the international archival community. ICA rightly enjoys a remarkable prestige which enables it to obtain co-operation and financial means from a variety of public and private sources without which the realisation of many projects would be impossible. It has secured itself a lasting position as an indispensable source of information and adviser in archival matters on an international level and as a partner that can be entrusted with the execution of projects in the fields of archives and records management. For many colleagues from all over the world the structures of international professional co-operation have provided the opportunity to break up their isolation and to get access to a permanent forum for debate and exchange of experience. I am inclined to believe those who know better than I do, asserting that ICA makes a good figure on the international scene and is, in fact, the most effective NGO. DE PROFESSIE 59 ICA Bulletin no 39 (December 1992) p. 7. 60 Ibid. 176 JAN VAN DEN BROEK FROM BRUSSELS TO BEIJING «1 Ibid., p. 8. 62H.J. Rose, A Handbook of Greek Literature (London, 1964), p. 370. 177

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