Mitteilungen des Österreichischen Staatsarchivs 39. (1986)
Archive Buildings and the Conservation of Archival Material. An Expert Meeting, held in Vienna, Austria October 30 - November 1, 1985 - STEWART, William J.: Summary of Discussions
Summary of Discussions 253 So we have come to a point where we have much technical information to exchange concerning fire protection, document infestation, pollution, air conditioning, and so forth. Thus we concluded that a meeting on these matters was required. We are most grateful to UNESCO, the International Council on Archives, and the government of Austria for making this gathering a reality. In order to have a fruitful exchange it was decided to limit attendance to a select few participants and observers, all of whom can claim a specialized background in archival buildings and conservation. As this seminar will embrace many points of shared concern between architects and archivists, I am pleased to tell you that a representative of the International Union of Architects will join our dialogue, my fellow countryman, Mr Gérard Benoit of Paris. I personally have worked with many architects during my career in planning archival buildings and I must say that in all, save a very few cases, I have found them most cordial and cooperative. It is equally gratifying to have with us the representative of the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), Franz Kroller of Austria, the International Records Management Council observer, Carl Newton of the United Kingdom, and Wilfried Feindt of West Germany who is here at the behest of the ICA. Their appearance in Vienna is indicative of the attention this symposium has attracted and how much is expected from it. Of course a gathering of representatives of eighteen nations poses a problem of language. Unfortunately the contribution of UNESCO, important as it was, was not inexhaustible. Simultaneous translation in three or four languages would have far exceeded our means. Therefore we opted for English as the language of the seminar as it is the official tongue of more than one third of the countries represented and is now the prevailing means of international discourse. I, myself, apologize for my own imperfect English because my mother tongue is French. So let us be gentle with each other in the matter of language and let us not hesitate to ask our colleagues to repeat something if we do not understand. May I conclude by reminding you of the themes we will treat in our three formal sessions. The first, Planning an Archive Building, the Cooperation between Architects and Archivists, a most crucial topic, will be presented by Dr Wolf Buchmann (West Germany). The second theme, How to Adapt Old Buildings as Repositories, will be reported by Ms Cristina Usón (Spain) and the final topic, Architectural Design and Technical Equipment for the Physical Protection and Conservation of Documents, is in the care of Mr David Thomas (United Kingdom). The first session will be chaired by our host, Dr Neck, Mr Haris de Silva (Sri Lanka) will lead the second, and Ms Angeline Kamba (Zimbabwe) will serve as chairperson for the third forum. I now declare open this symposium on Archive Buildings and Conservation of Archival Materials and I relinquish the floor to Dr Neck. Neck: Thank you, Mr Chairman. Now may I ask Dr Buchmann for his report.
