The audio-visual presentation in Bonn The presentation of a dozen audio-visual pro
ductions in Bonn was a new activity for an International Archival Congress. Despite
some technical difficulties, the Congress participants enjoyed very much the program
me offered. They admired the video tapes done by their colleagues as well as the hard
work they had put in to the production of films on archival subjects.
The impossibility of presenting the film of the People's Republic of China was unfor
tunate. Despite the assistance of a technician from the University of Bonn, the projecti
on equipment would not accept the tape. Neither would it project the colors of the film
presented by the USSR.
Nevertheless we can conclude that, thanks to the films produced by the national or
municipal services and archival associations of Brazil, Mexico, Indonesia, p.r. of Chi
na, USSR, Scotland, Austria, Switzerland, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands, the Con
gress was made more interesting for the participants.
I hope that at future International Archival Congresses, participants will have oppor
tunity to see films produced by fellow archivists on the management of their archives,
on their cultural heritage and, if possible, on the themes of the Congress.
Bijlage 2
Recommendations
The xxiiird International Conference of the Round Table on Archives, considering
that the extension of the right of privacy to archives encounters difficulties, not only
because of the lack of an adequate and general applicable definition, but also because
of certain moral and legal concepts, such as the right to oblivion, which are inconsistent
with the essence of History and with archival administration,
that the capability of modern technology to store, combine and disseminate vast amounts
of data demands efficient measures to prevent misuse of information concerning living
individuals,
that the archivist, as the custodian of the archives which reflect the conduct of the go
vernment and are also the basic sources for historical research, has a mission to acquire,
conserve and make accessible the archives, balancing the interests of government, indi
viduals, society and history,
the Conference agrees,
that archivists, because of their knowledge of public records, the interests of users, and
the necessity for avoiding premature disclosure of sensitive personal information, are
in a position to make a valuable contribution to the development of sound legislation
and regulations governing access to information and protection of privacy,
recommends that archivists in those countries where legislation on freedom of informa
tion and protection of personal privacy does not exist be prepared to give advise on the
se issues, and recommends that archivists in other countries make available to them their
knowledge and experience,
that legislation and archival practice should not prevent or unduly delay historical re
search by extending excessively the protection of privacy to deceased persons,
that a well-proportioned balance between the right to privacy on the one hand, and the
right to information and the interests of historical research on the other, will lead to
the release of all restricted material at the conclusion of whatever period of closure may
be necessary,
agrees that special clearance procedures are necessary, especially with respect to archi
ves which are closed for a long time period; it is underscored that these procedures should
be transparent and governed by objective criteria, so as to guarantee equal treatment
of all interested parties,
agrees that from an archival point of view protection of privacy requires, in addition
to legislation, efficient intellectual and physical control of the records, proper storage
conditions, and an adequate and well-trained staff,
recommends that private archives in custody of archival institutions should be acces
sible under conditions which are clear, non-discriminatory, limited in time, and consistent
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with the policy governing access to comparable information in public archives,
calls the attention of archival authorities to the fact that the protection of privacy requi
res that the so-called private papers of public officials containing sensitive information
on individuals should be subject to the same access rules as public records,
recalls the long-standing consensus of the profession that, since access to information
requires retention of records, no destruction of records should be permitted without the
concurrence of the archival authority, and it expresses its concern about the trend to
wards privacy legislation requiring agencies to destroy records or data without archival
review,
agrees that destruction of valuable machine-readable records and archives containing
sensitive personal information can be easily avoided by introducing ways to assure ano-
nimization of personal identifiers.
The Conference, while consious of the results achieved in Austin, recognizes that a number
of controversial issues are emerging, such as:
new developments in privacy and freedom of information legislation and jurisprudence,
the demarcation between public and private archives,
the implications of office automation and disposition of records,
the distinction between a private citizen and a public official with regard to the right
to privacy, and that they require further in-depth study by the competent ica bodies.
The xxiure? International Conference of the Round Table on Archives, expresses its ap
preciation to the authors of the case-studies which stimulated a fruitful and constructi
ve discussion, its heart-felt gratitude to the National Archives and Records Administra
tion of the United States of America for providing excellent working conditions for the
Conference, and to The Lyndon Baines Johnson Foundation for its generous hospitality.
Society of American Archivists
49th annual meeting, Austin 1985
Een impressie
Vijf dagen lang congresseren archivarissen uit Noord-Amerika in Austin. Twee
verdiepingen van het Hyatt-hotel slokken overdag de achthonderd deelnemers
op. Tussen de bedrijven door lijkt het totale hotel door saa-badges dragende
personen bezet.
De saa telt ongeveer 2500 leden. Normaal neemt de helft van hen deel aan
het jaarlijkse congres. Dit jaar niet. Texas ligt te ver van de bewoonde wereld.
Dit jaar heeft het congres wel een internationaal tintje, want een aantal van
de Ronde Tafelgangers heeft de uitnodiging aanvaard en blijft een paar dagen
langer. Een enkeling van hen, onder wie onze eigen algemene rijksarchivaris,
treedt op als spreker.
De eerste indrukken zijn overrompelend. In Amerika is alles groter, in Texas
nog groter. Het duurt even voor ik in de chaos herkenningspunten vind en daar
aan vaste netwerken van orde. Congres is een verkeerde naam, Annual Mee
ting is een meeromvattend begrip.
Oude vriendschappen werden beleefd, kennismakingen hernieuwd, sollici
tatiegesprekken gevoerd, er hangt een prikbord met vacatures en tijdstippen
waarop vragers bereikbaar zijn. Computercursussen worden gegeven, program
matuur getoetst en gekocht. Regionale verenigingen werven leden en abonnees.
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