Language(s) of presentations:
Simultaneous translation:
Abstract:
The structural transformations introduced by states or administrations have serious consequences for the professional practice of archivists and records managers. The reverse, however, is also true. This presentation will show that archives and archival professionals, by their expertise, can and should contribute to conversations about the evolution of governance and management. To put it differently, it is necessary for professionals to move beyond the role of passive spectator when structural reforms are underway and to become an active participant in this process.
Target audience:
Archivists in public administrations, records managers, administrators
Overall purpose and significance of session:
If the state, in a context of reduced budgets, tends to consider archives in strictly financial terms, archival professionals must insist on the financial, legal, and administrative value of a good records management system. But how to join together the political and archival realms; how to demonstrate the important role of archives in a time when public service is being reformed and reorganized; how to go along with or participate in a structural recasting of state institutions? All these questions speak in favor of a coherent policy for information management.
I wish to extend a warm invitation to all archivists and information professionals to the 16th ICA Congress in Kuala Lumpur from 21- 27 July 2008.