Sonderband 2. International Council on Archives. Dritte Europäische Archivkonferenz, Wien 11. bis 15. Mai 1993. Tagungsprotokolle (1996)

1. Session / Séance. Experiences gained, current Situation, future Prospects / Expériences acquises, Situation actuelle, Perspectives futures - Körmendy, Lajos: International Cooperation in Europe. A Survey / Programmes de Coopération internationale des archives en Europe. Un bilan (english 13 - français 27)

1. Session/Séance: Körmendy, International archival Cooperation

tion3. The reason for the success of the ICA is two-fold: its programmes are sufficiently varied (conferences, training, publications, microfilming, etc.) to allow everyone to find an area which interests him. Secondly, the ICA has access to the top experts, with the result that its programmes are worthwhile to all those working in the profession. These two factors made the ICA the major organizing force in European archive activities in the 1980s.

4. The Principal Areas of International Cooperation 4 .1. Exchange of Copies

With regard to acquiring complementary copies (in practice, microfilms) from abroad, the attitudes of archives depend on various factors such as the tasks assigned to them by law or the extent of sources within the country, etc.

The first stage in acquiring microfilm copies is searching the sources. This requires in situ research which can be carried out by an archivist on mission or a member of the staff of the archives holding the documents in question. The purpose of the searches is to identify which documents are to be copied.

Replies received over the last ten years indicate that only nine countries (Andorra, Bohemia, Bulgaria, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Slovakia and Yugoslavia) regularly carried out systematic searches abroad. In view of the history of past countries, it is not surprising that seven of these countries are from Eastern and South-eastern Europe.

As the second stage, namely the production and transfer of copies, normally depends on the results of research, which one or two exceptions the countries cited above are those most active in this field too4. Copies are often aquired under exchange agreements which have the double advantage of avoiding monetary transactions and guaranteeing a long-term relationship. Twenty-one countries in all indicated that they exchanged microfilms with one or more foreign partners, six of them without having signed agreements. Signing an agreement presupposes that both parties are interested in acquiring microfilms. It is very obvious that the countries/archives with the greatest wealth of documents are the least inclined to sign exchange agreements.

Naturally, there is also the possibility of acquiring copies by outright purchase. Eleven countries replied that they buy microfilms on more or less regular basis. The contract between the Italian archives and the US National Archives deserves to be mentioned: the Italians are microfilming an enormous quantity (4 000 cubic feet) of documents in Washington concerning Italian history.

For each operation, the most favourable legal framework is chosen. The identification of sources and the transfer of copies are both normally carried out within the terms of a bilateral arrangement. Although the duplication of microfilms is techni3 Some of them probably do not know that certain archives in their countries are members of regional organizations, so that in reality the number indicated is smaller.

4 Canada and Norway are also very active in microfilming documents.

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