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 277 Kroiler: First of all, permit me to extend best wishes from the IFLA to this symposium. I am of the opinion that there are a number of problems common to archives and libraries; conservation, preservation and security, to name the important ones. For that reason, I invite this symposium to make recommendations to ICA for closer cooperation between them and IFLA. Over the years, IFLA has established formal links with many organizations, not only in the field of librarianship but in adult education, reading, information processing, publishing, and standardization. I should note that conservation-preservation is one of our core programs. There are two sections in the program: preservation and conservation being one and library buildings the other. Several months ago, we met in Hungary on the topic of adapting existing buildings to library use and here in Vienna this week you are dealing with the very same subject. Clearly, a connection between us is in order. Duchein: Thank you, Mr Kroller. May I ask a question? In the IFLA section on library buildings, do you have a permanent relationship with architects? Kroller: The intention of the section is to have a seminar every two years. We have had seven biannual seminars thus far. Participation is evenly divided between librarians and architects. This works very well. Duchein: This is one of the subjects which we shall have to discuss when we take up resolutions. Until now, the ICA has no permanent committee dealing with buildings. There is a Committee on Conservation and Restoration, which is represented here by Mr Feindt, but there is no committee on archival buildings. As far as I know, this seminar is the first meeting. There have been roundtables and, of course, the subject of archive buildings is treated at our congresses every four years but there has never been a formal group within the ICA dealing with buildings. I brought this question up during the last Executive Committee meeting in Ottawa and it seems the ICA does not favor the creation of new committees. Is that not so, Ms Kamba? Ms Kamba: Yes, there was a strong feeling that this should not be encouraged. Duchein: Because there are about a dozen standing committees the ICA is not disposed to the creation of new ones. So I am not sure that a resolution calling for a permanent committee on archive buildings would be well received. On the other hand, perhaps we could propose this seminar as the first of a series. We may find support for seminars that show well-defined aims. Additionally, we would solicit support and cooperation from the IFLA and architectural groups. Well, we shall discuss it more at leisure after the coffee break. I do think this could be one way to have a permanent cooperation with IFLA on that subject because we are well aware that libraries and archives share many features, especially security measures, fire protection, air conditio
