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 - Huyda, Richard: Coordination Research in Archival Sience and Dissemination of Professional Information / Coordination de la recherche en archivistique et diffusion de l’information professionnelle (english 231 - français 251)

For the dissemination of professional archival literature we can already identify different categories of eventual partners and different modes of partnership.

The first group of potential partners are, without doubt the clients destined to receive the professional information being disseminated. Here in Canada, the different archival bibliographic data bases conceived and developed by the CCIDA are routinely updated as a result of references brought to our attention by a team of specialist users. These people have been graciously collaborating because they see the major benefits that the members of their profession gained because of our initiative in the area of research and professional development.

It is evident that professional trainers in archival science are among this group because of their particular concerns. CCIDA has, since the beginning, identified these clients as a strategically important target group. In creating products responding to the specific needs of this clientele, critical links have been established and maintained. Today, there is a continual recourse to the knowledge of various professionals working in the academic sector, in order to pose and resolve particular complex or theoretical issues. Moreover, insuccessfully meeting the needs of this clientele, a dependency upon CCIDA was created. In effect, CCIDA is now assured of the vibrant support of an important segment of the archival community, particularly in terms of strategies related to the dissemination, through the communication networks of academic institutions, of professional information being processed by CCIDA.

Aside from individuals, corporate information brokers are equally potential partners of the first rank. One includes normally under this grouping libraries, documentation centres, records centres - in short, all those organizations serving as intermediaries between their clients and the information being sought. We have already mentioned how professional archival information plays a vital role for the sectors within which these organizations evolved. What we must now consider is the fact that they possess the inborn disposition and the material infrastructure necessary for rapid and effective diffusion of this professional information. Let us take, for example, the predilection of libraries towards bibliographic data bases, their experience in this domain, their high level of automation, their well established networks that serve them well in making information about their collections accessible. It is folly not to take advantage of this seemingly ready-made platform for the diffusion of professional archival information.

Finally, there are all those other useful partners - the public and private organizations that might profit from the dissemination of professional archival information. In the public sector, there are those organizations implicated in the administration of records registries, records management, or the preservation of culture. These partners are generally ready to contribute on several levels, and their most desirable objective is greater effectiveness at the best price. For the private sector, participation is nearly always conditional upon immediate or eventual financial gain. Most of the time, their contribution is likely to be on operations that are

3. Session/Séance: Marcoux - Huyda, Coordinating Research in archivai Science

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