American Archivist / Vol. 46, No. 3 / Summer 1983 339 The International Scene RONALD J. PLAVCHAN, Editor WE ARE INDEBTED TO the following correspondents: Australia: R.G. Neale; Austria: Josef Riegler; Bahamas/Caribbean: D. Gail Saunders; Brazil: Maria Amelia Gomes Leite; China: Sun Fangjiu; Federal Republic of Germany: Wolfram Werner; Finland: Eljas Orrman; France: Michel Duchein; German Democratic Republic: Horst Schetelich; England & Wales: Bruce Jackson; India/SWARBICA: N.H. Kulkarnee; Israel: Haya Wolovsky; Italy: Donato Tamble; Malawi/East and Central Africa: Steve M. Mwiyeriwa; Malaysia/SARBICA: Zakiah Hanum Nor; Mexico: Juan Claudio Mayer Guala; Netherlands: T.P. Huijs; New Zealand: Judith S. Hor- nabrook; Nigeria/West Africa: J.C. Enwere; Organization of American States: Celso Rodriguez; Peru/ALA: Cesar Gutierrez Munoz; Poland: Jerzy Szczepanski; Scotland: Andrew M. Jackson; Senegal/West Africa: M. Saliou Mbaye; Solomon Island/Oceania: R.G.A. Chesterman; South Africa: Maryna Fraser; Spain: Margarita Vazquez de Parga; Vatican City: Claudio De Dominicis; and Zimbabwe: R.G.S. Douglas. ARGENTINA Head of National Archives Becomes New ALA President. Cesar A. Garcia Belsunce, Director General of the Ar- chivo General de la Nacion, was elected on 25 November 1982 by the General Assembly of the Asociacion Latino- americana de Archivos (ALA) to suc- ceed Guillermo Durand Florez, Director of the Archivo General de la Nacion (Peru), who has served as president of ALA since 1973. Under ALA bylaws, the presidency is a three-year term with no reelection. With the ascension of an Argentinean to the presidency, the ALA Executive Secretariat has moved from Lima, Peru to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Miguel Angel Cannone of the Archivo General de la Nacion is the new Executive Secretary, succeeding Cesar Gutierrez Munoz, who has returned to an archival position at the Universidad Catolica in Lima. Publication of Nota Informativa, the information newsletter started by Gutierrez Munoz in August 1980 and issued periodically by the Executive Secretariat, has been suspended and no decision has yet been made about con- tinuing the program. The new address of the ALA Executive Secretariat is Ar- chivo General de la Nacion, Leandro N. Alem 246, 1003 Buenos Aires, Argen- tina. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.46.3.w 01352516602m 402 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 340 American Archivist / Summer 1983 BOLIVIA Proceedings of the Second Meeting of Bolivian Archivists Published. The Cen- tro Pedagogico y Cultural de Portales, Cochabamba, has published the pro- ceedings of the second meeting on Boli- vian archives that was held on 5-7 July 1982 in Cochabamba. It includes the program; a list of participants; the in- augural address of Gunnar Mendoza, director of the Archivo Nacional de Bolivia; the various proposals presented; and the final resolutions. CANADA Third Anniversary of the Maison des Archives. Three years ago, on 4 June 1980, the Maison des Archives officially opened in the Pavilion Casault of Laval University at Sainte-Foy, a suburb of Quebec City. It not only became the new home of the Archives Nationales du Quebec (ANQ) but proved the feasibility of converting older existing buildings in- to modern archival repositories. The story of the conversion process is in- teresting and filled with valuable lessons for archivists and government officials who seek additional archives space but are hampered by limited financial re- sources. From both an architectural and archival standpoint, the Maison des Ar- chives is a marvel. The building, constructed in 1958 and called the Grand Seminaire, was originally designed by Ernest Cormier to serve as a seminary for the Catholic Diocese of Quebec. It served in this capacity for the next twenty years, although by 1970 the building was no longer being used for the training of young men to the priesthood, as enroll- ment had declined. In 1978 Laval University acquired the property and renamed the building the Pavilion Casault. At about the same time the ANQ moved to the campus, and the decision was made to transform the ma- jor portion of the university chapel into an archives. The major challenge was how to transform the existing structure into the specialized needs of a modern archival repository without sacrificing the aesthetic and impressive architec- tural character (modern Gothic) of the original structure and within reasonable cost estimates. To accomplish this, it was necessary to undertake major in- terior alterations but yet not destroy the significant interior architectural ele- ments of the former seminary chapel. Within the former chapel area, an eight-story structure was built to house the various archives services. Four levels serve as storage areas for documents and microfilm, two levels contain research rooms and a library, one level is a recep- tion area for researchers and exhibi- Coupe longitudinale, apres intervention. La section occupee par la Maison des archives est indiquee en gris. Pavilion Casault 1978 Niveau: coupe apres les travaux Maison des archives 1. magasins 3. hall 4. accueil 5. salle d'exposition Unlversite Laval A. salle de cours B. ecole de musique 6. administration 8. salle des chercheurs et bibliotheque 9. cartes et plans et audio-visuel C. £cole des arts visuets D. futur centre museographique 10. tri et classement 12. atelier de restauration et de reliure I. ascenseur public E. studio d'essais F. geodesie II. ascenseur personnel et archives G. mecanique D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.46.3.w 01352516602m 402 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 341 tions, and one level houses administra- tive offices and a preservation/restora- tion laboratory. The unique construc- tion quadrupled the amount of floor space available for archival use. Total cost of the conversion project was $18 million, or half the estimated cost to construct a new facility of the same dimensions. For the province's tax- payers, it was a bargain. Another resulting benefit has been the preserva- tion of a building with considerable ar- chitectural appeal that might otherwise have been destroyed with the demise of its original function. The Maison des Archives is indeed a tribute to the in- genuity and practicality of university of- ficials and members of the provincial government's Ministry of Public Works and Supplies. Other portions of the former Grand Seminaire are used by the university to house its schools of music, visual arts, and journalism; department of geodesy; museographic center; and classrooms and special testing facilities. For further information about the con- version or ANQ, write to Archives Na- tionales du Quebec, CP 10450, Sainte- Foy, Quebec G1V 4N1 Canada. Mennonidsche Rundschau Microfilmed. The oldest Mennonite periodical pub- lished continuously under one name, Mennonitische Rundschau (1877- ), is now available on microfilm through University Microfilms of Ann Arbor, Michigan. The coordination of the proj- ect, which required almost two years, has been under Ken Reddig, archivist at the Center for Mennonite Brethren Studies in Winnipeg, Manitoba. The principal part of the project, which also proved to be the most difficult, was to locate and collate all existing copies of the Rundschau. The collection is in- complete, because Reddig has been unable to locate copies of twenty-seven separate issues, as well as the entire year of 1897, even though he made every ef- fort to locate the missing copies in both North America and Europe. It was decided to proceed with the microfilm- ing project with the understanding that, if additional copies eventually are located, these will be added to the microfilm collection. MHSO Genealogy Committee Formed. The Genealogy Committee of the Men- nonite Historical Society of Ontario (MHSO) held its first meeting at Conrad Grebel College, Waterloo, on 18 November 1982. The aim of the commit- tee is to record information found on tombstones, set up a filing system, pro- mote the collecting of family photo- graphs, and assist those individuals who are working on their own family histories. FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY Tenth International Congress on Ar- chives Preparations. Planning for the tenth International Congress on Ar- chives scheduled to be held in Bonn 17-21 September 1984 is well under way. The Beethovenhalle has been chosen as the site of the congress, and other ICA bodies will hold meetings at nearby Bonn University. The theme for the 1984 international meeting of archivists is "The Challenge to Archives: Growing R e s p o n s i b i l i t i e s and Limited Resources." A special session is also planned for the exchange of archival materials through reprography. In addi- tion to the regular schedule of meetings and sessions, there will be planned ex- cursions to Aachen, Cologne, and Trier. On 20 September, delegates to the con- gress will have the opportunity to tour the new construction of the Bundes- archiv in Koblenz. SAA is planning to sponsor a study tour to Western Europe that will include the congress. Further information about D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.46.3.w 01352516602m 402 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 342 American Archivist / Summer 1983 the study tour will appear in forthcom- ing issues of the SAA Newsletter. For more information about the congress or accommodations, write to Klaus Olden- hage, ICA Secretariat, Postfach 320, D-5400 Koblenz 1, Federal Republic of Germany. FRANCE New Look Announced for UNISIST Newsletter. C. Coudert-Schklowski, editor of the UNISIST Newsletter, has announced (vol. 3, no. 2, 1982) a major change in the content for subsequent issues of the newsletter. One of the stated aims for the change is to make the newsletter complementary with the UNESCO Journal of Information, Science, Librarianship and Archives Ad- ministration. Consequently, articles in the newsletter will deal solely with the activities of the General Information Programme (PGI) Division and of other UNESCO sectors in the information field. A c c o r d i n g to C o u d e r t - Schklowski, the change will also mean that the newsletter will only be published at irregular intervals—whenever material is available. The resulting ad- vantage to its readers will be that they will receive current information. The April-June 1982 issue of the UNESCO Journal is dedicated to ar- chives. It contains articles by Frank B. Evans (UNESCO), G.P.S.H. de Silva (National Archives of Sri Lanka), Ber- nard Faye (UNESCO), Y.P. Kathpalia (National Archives of India), Oleg A. Mihailov (Soviet Research Center for Technical Documentation), Michael Roper (British Public Record Office), and Michael Cook (University of Liver- pool). The journal is also available in Spanish. ISRAEL Major Israeli Institution Receives Ein- stein's Private Papers. The private papers of Albert Einstein (1879-1955) recently arrived at the Jewish National and University Library in Jerusalem. The famous German-born physicist had bequeathed these materials to the Hebrew University, J e r u s a l e m . Einstein's private papers, comprising about 50,000 pages, include his writings, unpublished drafts, notes, notebooks, lecture notes, personal and scientific correspondence, touring diaries, family papers, photographs, and a variety of items suitable for exhibition. New Building for Central Zionist Ar- chives Planned. In its report to the 30th Zionist Congress, 1982, the Central Zionist Archives revealed that the Zionist Executive has taken steps to im- plement its 1965 decision to construct an archives building. Political events and economic problems have been responsi- ble in the past for the project's delay; but space problems have reached a critical point, affecting storage, acquisitions, and reference service. The planned new archives will be erected near Binyenei Ha-Oomah in Jerusalem. Detailed archi- tectural plans have been drawn up and submitted for approval by the town planning committee. In 1977 the 24th Zionist Congress defined the status of the Central Zionist Archives as the historical archives of the World Zionist Organization and the Jewish Agency. MEXICO Computerized Finding Aids for Notarial Records. In August 1982, the University Computing Center at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, published the Guide to the Notarial Records of the Ar- chivo General de Notarias of Mexico City for the Year 1829. The 301-page finding aid was compiled by Robert A. Potash of the University of Massachu- setts in collaboration with Jan Bazant and Josefina Z. Vasquez of El Colegio D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.46.3.w 01352516602m 402 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 343 PERSONA NOHBRADA ABREU ABREU L U I S ABA L U I S ABA LUIS ABA LUIS LUIS JUAN GASPA JOSE JOSE JOSE MANUE FRANC MAR LOR EN: REFUG TERES K . G . A i BENIT' F R . J O S JOSE JOSE JUAN JUAN KATIA •I A MO IAKO I A NO IANO ' I A NO • I E ARCA RCA A A B O L A F I A A A B O L A F I A ABREN Y NARIN ABREU EU Y RODRIGUEZ EU Y RODRIGUEZ BURTO ICEVEDO : ACEVEDO : Y •ON ACOSTA A R I A ACOSTA ,RDO ACOSTA IOSTA CLASIFICACION NACIONRLIDAD PROTESTA DE LIBRANZA FIAHZA EHPLEO FIANZA CURADOR TESTAMENTO TESTAHENTO TESTAHENTO ESPANOL COHPRAVEHTA CASA PODER GENERAL SUBROGACION ARRENDAM PROTESTA OE LETRA COHPRAVENTA PARTE HDA PROTESTA DE LETRA PROTESTA DE LETBA RECIBO DE DOTE ARRENDANIENTO NEGOCIO EEUU PODER GENERAL DECLABACION TESTAH PODER ESPECIAL PLEITOS TESTAMENTO PODER ADHINISTRAR SUBROGACION H1POTECA TESTAHENTO FECHft HOT 1 / 1 2 / 8 1 7 169 5/1/84- 20/5/347 9/6/847 13/8/347 28/1/817 7/4/817 7/1/817 19/6/34 16/5/81 8/5/84 28/1/84 30/3/34 30/3/84 22/5/84 2/12/84 7/12/81 5/5/84 9/6/84 27/7/84 15/12/34 3/2/81 19/4/34 20/5/81 17/10/04 2 6 2 6 2 6 2 1 1 1 •11 69 75 4C 361 426 11 39 4 2 6 529 175 170 180 7 i c 3 6 ' Sample from the Guide for 1847, general index to persons. de Mexico. The significance of this volume was that it demonstrated that computers can be used to prepare com- prehensive indexes for notarial records —a first for Latin America. Under the pilot project, begun in 1980, there will be three such computerized indexes for the selected years: 1829, 1847, and 1875. The second guide was published in No- vember 1982, and the third is scheduled for publication in September 1983. Prior to this project, notarial archives presented a special challenge to scholars who wished to use them in their studies on Latin America. Although these rec- ords contain a wealth of useful informa- tion, the nature of the records' internal arrangement and the absence of compre- hensive name and subject indexes greatly limited their use by scholars. In 1980 a group of scholars met in Mexico City to discuss the problems and possible use of computers to provide a comprehensive index. From this meeting emerged the pilot project. The Tinker Foundation of New York provided the initial funds; and subsequent funding has been sup- plied by the Organization of American States, Centro de Estudios Historicos of El Colegio de Mexico, and the Universi- ty of Massachusetts. A team of archival assistants under the supervision of Ba- zant and Vasquez recorded the necessary data on specially designed forms at the Archivo General de Notarias and then forwarded the data to Potash at Amherst for processing on the universi- ty's computers. When the project is completed—upon publication of the third volume—the university will undertake to train one of the team's members at the computer center and to transfer to Mexico all of the software and other documentation associated with the pilot project. It is in- tended that El Colegio de Mexico, Ar- chivo General de Notarias, or some other Mexican institution will assume responsibility for continuing with the project. Furthermore, it is hoped that Mexico will be able thus to provide assistance to other archives in Latin America in the use of computers to pre- pare finding aids of their archival hold- ings. Copies of the guide may be purchased from the University Computing Center Bookstore, A-123 Graduate Research Center, University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA 01003. SPAIN First ALA General Conference. At the invitation of Spanish archival officials and the government, the Asociacion D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.46.3.w 01352516602m 402 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 344 American Archivist / Summer 1983 Latinoamericana de Archivos (ALA) held its first general conference in Madrid on 23-26 November 1982. This event also marked the first time ALA has held such a general meeting outside of Latin America. In addition to the election of a new president and govern- ing board, the General Assembly ap- proved an increase in annual member- ship dues as well as a very ambitious five-year plan (Plan de Mediano Plazo) for archival development in Latin America. Some of the elements of the plan for the 1983-87 period envision fulfillment of the resolutions passed at the 1980 Rio de Janeiro meeting that related to the training of archivists, establishment of committees to prepare for the 500th anniversary of Columbus' discovery of America, solicitation of na- tional archives to conduct nationwide celebrations of Archives Week begin- ning in 1984, and the identification of nonarchival organizations in setting up archival programs. Other aspects of the plan include drafting guidelines for the profession; compiling current archival legislation in Latin America; establish- ing guidelines for the organization of municipal archives; expressing support for CID (Centro de Information Docu- mental de Archivos, Madrid, Spain), CIDA (Centro Interamericano de Desar- rollo de Archivos, Cordoba, Argentina), and CENTROMIDCA (Centro Taller Regional de Restauracion y Microfilm- acion de Documentos para el Caribe y Centroamerica, Santo Domingo, Do- minican Republic); and conducting a survey of the technical facilities and budget allocations in the region. In the area of preservation, ALA intends to survey the general conditions of docu- ments in Latin American respositories and to ask CID to prepare preservation/ conservation standards for the region. Under the five-year plan some efforts will be made to encourage the use of audiovisual materials by sponsoring a seminar on audiovisual archives and by providing adequate training for persons who work with such materials. UNITED KINGDOM University Establishes Literary Manu- scripts Register. After three years of planning and fund-raising, Reading Uni- versity Library reports that it is setting up a computerized location register to trace manuscripts and letters of British and Irish writers, especially those of the 20th century. David Sutton, formerly of Warwick University Library, has been appointed the Senior Research Officer to supervise the project, which is estimated to cost over £185,000. Fund- ing for the project is being provided by The Leverhulme Trust, the British Library Board, the Strachey Trust, the Arts Council, the British Council, the British Academy, the Longman Group, National Westminster Bank, Lloyds Bank, Barclays Bank, and Hewlett Packard Ltd. As a result of this financial backing, maintenance of the location register in the university library is assured until 1987. In addition to the financial support, International Com- puters, Ltd. has promised to assist in computerizing the register. The concept of the register arose in July 1979 during a debate at a two-day SCONUL (Standing Conference of Na- tional and University Libraries) seminar in London on the manuscripts and let- ters of modern writers. Shortly after- ward a SCONUL Working Group was formed to examine more closely the idea of a location register. Between May and November 1980 a pilot project, financed by the Strachey Trust, was carried out by James Edwards, Keeper of Archives and Manuscripts at Reading University, to determine potential problems. By March 1981 the decision was made to proceed with the establishment of a full location register at Reading. For further D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.46.3.w 01352516602m 402 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 345 information about the register, write to H.E. Bell, Senior Assistant Registrar, University of Reading, Whiteknights, Reading RG6 2AH England. Golden Jubilee of British Library's Newspaper Library. In the fall of 1982 the British Library's Newspaper Library, located on Colindale Avenue in London, celebrated its fiftieth anniversary. Over the years this library has become one of the major newspaper archives in the world increasingly committed to micro- film. The present building opened in 1932 and contained thirteen miles of shelving to accommodate 275,000 volumes. Its designers boasted that there was sufficient records storage space to last fifty years before the building need- ed expansion, but this prognosis was shortsighted. Since the opening the library has been expanded twice and of- ficials have introduced a microfilm pro- gram to store the current holdings of 650,000 printed volumes and 140,000 reels of microfilm. Microfilming began in 1950 with the opening of a microfilm annex and has accelerated since its in- troduction. Preservation and space re- quirements have not been the only reasons for pursuing a microfilm pro- gram. Officials point to the benefits in the area of reference service. By microfilming the collections the library can provide microfilm duplicates or elec- trostatic copies to both local and foreign researchers. The library reports that it sends about 16,500 reels of microfilm duplicates each year to other libraries, principally those located outside of the United Kingdom. Draft Data Standard for Archives List- ing. The Specialist Repositories Group (SRG) working party on methods of listing has compiled a draft data stan- dard for the manual and computerized listing of archives. Participants at the 1982 Cambridge in-service training course held 7-9 July practiced listing documents from their repositories ac- cording to the data standard. One major problem was the definition of prove- nance, and the working party intends to discuss this in depth at its next meeting. Although SRG started the working par- ty, it has hoped to attract as many members as possible from various ar- chival insititutions to ensure that the data standard is suitable for use with any type of record. The Museums Documen- tation Association (MDA) has been assisting in the preparation of the draft data standard with the aim that it would be capable of use with any computer system and compatible with interna- tional standards. Copies of the draft data standard may be obtained from Ruth F. Vyse, Assistant Archivist, Ox- ford University Archives, Bodleian Library, Broad Street, Oxford OX1 3BG England. Cambridge University Conservation Project. In May 1982 a conservation project was established at Cambridge University Library under the director- ship of F.W. Ratcliff. The British Library is funding the project. One of the objectives of the conservation proj- ect is to describe existing facilities for the training of people in paper conserva- tion and craft bookbinding and to assess precisely what educational or training opportunities exist at all levels in order to compile a comprehensive list of con- servation and related courses available in the United Kingdom. Questionnaires are being sent out to every training course known or brought to the atten- tion of the project's staff. Guide to Archives Resources Available. Globe Book Services Ltd., a member company of Macmillan Publishers Ltd., has announced publication of British Archives: A Guide to Archive Resources in the United Kingdom. This general guide to British archives has been com- D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.46.3.w 01352516602m 402 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 346 American Archivist / Summer 1983 piled by Janet Foster, archivist with the City of London and Hackney Health District, and Julia Sheppard, archivist in the Contemporary Medical Archives Centre at the Wellcome Institute. It is being publicized as more comprehensive than previous guides and is fully indexed by name of institution, country and town, subject, and named collections. Each of the 708 entries provides infor- mation about major holdings, access conditions, acquisitions policy, publica- tions, historical background, finding aids, facilities, and the name, address, and telephone number of the person to contact for fuller information. For fur- ther information about this guide, write to the publisher, Canada Road, Byfleet, Surrey KT14 7JL England. Over a century of business history for your reference collection . . . ANNUAL REPORTS MAJOR AMERICAN CORPORATIONS If "The business of America is business," then one way to understand the history of America is to study the history of American business. A unique and invaluable reference aid to this study is available from the micro- publishing subsidiary of Pergamon Press, Microforms International Marketing Corporation (MIMC). Through an agreement with the Baker Library at Harvard University, MIMC has converted to microfilm more than 125 years of American business and finan- cial history in the ANNUAL REPORTS of major American companies. Using the Fortune Double 500 Directory for 1975, the Baker Library assembled the annual reports of the "Fortune 500" industrials, plus those of 25 companies from each of the "Fortune 50" lists of top commercial banks, life insurance and diversified financial firms, and retail, transportation, and utility companies. The file has been kept up to date and is complete through 1982. MICROFORMS ARE ALSO AVAILABLE FOR THE REPORTS OF INDIVIDUAL COMPANIES OR ANY GROUPS OF COMPANIES For complete price information and contents of the Collection, write or call: P E R G A M O N P R E S S , I N C . Attn: Dr. Edward Gray Fairview Park, Elmsford, NY 10523 914/592-7700 3183/G/215 D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.46.3.w 01352516602m 402 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021