Sonderband 2. International Council on Archives. Dritte Europäische Archivkonferenz, Wien 11. bis 15. Mai 1993. Tagungsprotokolle (1996)
3. Session / Séance. Sharing of Experience and Exchange of Staff / Partage d’Expériences et Echange des Personnes - Boven, Maarten van: Scope and Aims of Mobility. A Dutch View / Cadres et Objectifs de la Mobilité. Un Point de vue néerlandais (english 293 - français 302)
3. Session/Séance: van Boven, Scope and Aims of Mobility. A Dutch view The national and provincial record offices are modern and efficient, and their staffs devote a great deal of thought to the profession and the introduction of new developments. Accordingly, placement schemes would not only be instructive for the foreign archivists concerned but would confront Dutch archivists with different ideas, forcing them to re-evaluate their own policy decisions. This would be an excellent way of stopping everyone from dozing off. Official exchange schemes I should like to begin at one end of the spectrum, with the opportunity to work abroad as an archivist. Under current EC policy, there should be no obstacle to employment in another country. As early as 1968 the Member States agreed that their nationals were entitled to accept and carry out salaried employment in the territory of another Member State. In most cases no work permit is required. As a rule, the EC countries which permit the free movement of employees inform other countries only of vacancies which have proved difficult to fill. They do this by notifying the International Employment and Placement Agency (IABS) which then distributes the particulars to employment agencies in the Netherlands. No vacancy for an archivist has ever been advertised in this way, probably because such vacancies are not difficult to fill. Speaking for myself, I know of only one example of a Dutch archivist being appointed - as keeper of municipal records in Bergisch-Gladbach - in the absence of candidates from the country concerned. Incidentally, the person in question recently returned to work in the Netherlands. The scope for exchanges is much greater. However it is remarkable that the archives service, an outstanding area of cultural life which is regulated by statute in every country, still has no official exchange programme. In this it differs from many other vocational training courses which do provide exchange schemes, including secretarial work, public relations and marketing, computer science, finance, tourism, catering and hotel management, the media and technical occupations. Universities, too, may take advantage of EC programmes which make it possible to work abroad for a period of time. The Erasmus programme is perhaps the best known of these. The subsidies provided are considerable, and a number of institutions are willing to organise exchanges under such programmes. Towards a mobility plan The employment situation both in the Netherlands and abroad would indicate that there is little prospect of pursuing an active policy on archivists working abroad. Mobility should be promoted, in the first instance, by encouraging people to acquire experience in and exchange experiences with other countries. I believe that the existing structures are either too general or too makeshift. Without doubt, it is important for existing international consultation fora and symposia to continue. And they should be organised in such a way as to produce the best possible returns. The experiment I referred to earlier by Belgian, German and Dutch 299
