The American Archivist / Vol. 42, No. 1 / January 1979 89 The International Scene: News and Abstracts RONALD J. PLAVCHAN, Editor REGIONAL SEMINAR ON ARCHIVAL TRAINING IN ARAB STATES. UNESCO sponsored at Khartoum, Sudan, 13-15 March 1978, a regional semi- nar for individuals who are responsible for archival training programs in Arab countries. Experts from eleven Arab states (Egypt, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Leba- non, Morocco, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, Tunisia, and the United Arab Emir- ates) attended the seminar and represented the diverse interests within the re- gion. Topics of discussion included a definition of categories of archives and records personnel and assessment of specific training needs, regional advanced training courses to be organized in connection with the Arab Archivists Training Institute at Baghdad, organization of a traveling seminar for prominent archival personnel to update professional knowledge in the rapidly changing technical and specialized areas and to increase the exchange of archival experiences. The main part of the discussion focused upon the Training Institute at Bagh- dad, which was established in accordance with recommendations from ARBICA and began limited operation in the fall of 1977. Salim Abboud Al-Alousi, dean of the institute, called upon the participants for improvement of the study courses on archives administration and archival techniques as well as enlargement of the number of students from other Arab countries. A majority of the participants advocated revision and completion of the institute's program, which currently offers a two-year certificate leading toward advanced academic degrees in ar- chives. Detailed discussions on existing training programs stressed the necessity of adequate language proficiencies, and special attention focused on the need for establishment of a model laboratory for archival restoration and reprography to serve as a technical training center for the Arab region. Materials for this department should be sent to Ronald J. Plavchan, Presidential Materials Staff, Na- tional Archives and Records Service, Washington, DC 20408. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 90 The American Archivist / January 79 ECARBICA. The fifth general conference of the East and Central African Re- gional Branch of ICA (ECARBICA) was held in Khartoum, Sudan, 24-29 April 1978. Delegates from Kenya, Malawi, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zambia at- tended the week-long conference. Topics of the eleven papers which were pre- sented included a wide variety of interests: utility of archives in development planning, role of the Committee on Archival Development (CAD), progress in the retrieval of migrated archives, Sudanese records in Great Britain, effectiveness of archival legislation in East and Central Africa, problems of appraisal, archives in East Africa in a scientific and technical information network, progress in the re- gional survey of business archives, the new PRO building at Kew, and a report on a visit to the Regional Training Center at Accra, Ghana. During the conference delegates passed resolutions dealing with the role of CAD, continuing support for archival training at the Regional Training Center, support for the concept of a microcopying assistance fund managed by UNESCO with regard to the retrieval of migrated archives, the retirement and appraisal of records, and preservation of the archives of Zanzibar. The next general conference, which will celebrate the tenth anniversary of the founding of ECARBICA, will be held in Nairobi, Kenya, in 1979. INTERGOVERNMENTAL COUNCIL OF UNESCO GENERAL INFOR- MATION PROGRAM. The first session of the Intergovernmental Council for the General Information Program, established by the UNESCO General Confer- ence in 1976, was held at UNESCO House in Paris, 21-25 November 1977. Par- ticipants from thirty member states attended in addition to representatives from various United Nations organizations as well as from the International Federation for Documentation (FID), the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA), ICA, the International Council of Scientific Unions (ICSU), and the International Organization for Standardization (ISO). The coun- cil endorsed the proposed outlines of the 1979-80 Program and presented a number of recommendations. These recommendations were that: (1) priority should be given to the development of information infrastructures and the train- ing and education of information professionals as well as users; (2) a balance should be achieved in carrying out the program between archives, information, and library activities corresponding to the needs of member states; (3) more atten- tion should be given to the archives, information, and library needs and problems of developing countries and to the promotion of mechanisms for bilateral and regional cooperation in these activities; (4) member states should take effective action at the national level and the UNESCO Secretariat at the international level to coordinate information policy within the UN systems and urge the director- general to undertake appropriate studies; and (5) UNESCO should continue to arrange annual informal conferences on the planning and implementation of na- tional information, library, and archives activities on the same level as has been done with conferences on national scientific and technical information activities. JOURNAL NAME CHANGE. In an expression reflective of the new vitality and growth of American Jewish studies, the American Jewish Historical Society announces changes in the format of its journal, American Jewish Historical Quarterly. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene: News and Abstracts 91 With the publication of the September 1978 issue (vol. 68, no. 1), the journal becomes American Jewish History. Other changes include new feature articles; larger, more readable, type size; and a new cover color (blue). The Academic Council of the society and its Editorial Board are seeking to stimulate and dissem- inate high historical scholarship to an ever widening audience and to show that scholarship does not necessarily imply dullness. Subscribers can expect to see other differences in subsequent issues including a special annual issue (compris- ing about two hundred pages) based on a major theme in American Jewish life, regular special feature articles by individuals who were themselves involved in the making of history, expansion of the book review section to incorporate more re- views and occasional review essays, a yearly review of the entire field of American Jewish studies, and periodic thematic essays by distinguished American historians and social scientists on major recurrent questions in American Jewish history. INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ARCHIVES (ICA). Preparation for the Ninth International Congress on Archives, scheduled to be held at London, 15- 19 September 1980, is proceeding. A list of the individuals who have accepted invitations to prepare papers for discussion at the four plenary sessions of the Congress, and the subject matter of each of the papers, appear in the ICA Bulletin (No. 10, June 1978). Each of the sessions and associated meetings will be held in the London Hilton Hotel. In connection with the planning of its program, the Publications Committee is soliciting information about unpublished manuscripts of technical and profes- sional works which might be appropriate to include in either the ICA Handbook series or the Studies in Archival Science series. Please direct any suggestions along with a copy of the manuscript to Peter Walne, chairman of the Publications Com- mittee, Hertfordshire County Council, County Hall, Hertford SG13 8DE, Eng- land. A meeting of the Working Party charged with the preparation of a multilingual glossary of archival terminology was held in Strasbourg, 17-19 April 1978. At this meeting it was resolved that the base language of the proposed glossary will be English with definitions of the terms in both French and English and equiva- lences in German, Russian, and Spanish. The order of the terms will be alphabet- ical in English, in addition to alphabetical (except in English) and classified in- dexes of terms in all languages. As a result of the meeting, the total number of terms to be included in the glossary was expanded to about six hundred. The Working Party also appointed Peter Walne and F. Himly as general editors for the multi-lingual glossary. A further meeting of the Working Party is scheduled for either late 1978 or early 1979 to review progress on the work and to consider definitions. INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ARCHIVES. The Publications Committee of the International Council on Archives (ICA), at its meeting at the heaquarters of Verlag Dokumentation Munich, 27-28 February 1978, tentatively endorsed a proposal to launch a new international periodical primarily devoted to archival techniques and methods as well as records management. Based upon the report of the Publications Committee, the ICA bureau decided at its regular meeting, D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 92 The American Archivist / January 79 held at Princeton, New Jersey, 22-24 March 1978, to pursue the matter further and also approved the appointment of James E. O'Neill, Deputy Archivist of the United States, to direct the project. Final approval of the project came from the Executive Committee, meeting in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 16-18 October 1978. The new international archives periodical, to be known as the International Journal of Archives, will appear twice a year under the editorship of O'Neill and be published by Verlag Dokumentation Munich. No date has been set for the inaugural issue, but it is expected that it will be published in late 1979 or early 1980. Articles will be printed in either English or French at the choice of the author. Individuals wishing to submit substantive articles should write to James E. O'Neill, National Archives and Records Service, Washington, DC 20408. SWARBICA. The second meeting of the Executive Board was held at Srinagar, India, on 6 April 1978. Among the decisions of the Board were the launching of a membership drive in SWARBICA member states, and arrangement for the training seminar and general conference to be held at Colombo, Sri Lanka, in the last week of January 1979. Other important decisions taken at this meeting in- cluded the approval for establishment of a Regional Reprography Demonstration Center at New Delhi as a part of the already existing Institute of Archival Train- ing, appointment of N. H. Kulkarnee to Dacca and Islamabad for greater liaison, and possible appointment of countries in the SWARBICA region for a survey of records in private custody. THIRD WORLD ARCHIVAL AWARENESS SYMPOSIUM. The report on the proceedings of the Third World Archival Awareness Symposium, held in New York City on 21 March 1978, under the sponsorship of ICA and its Committee on Archival Development (CAD), has been included as a supplement to the ICA Bulletin No. 10 (June 1978). The twofold purpose of the symposium was: (1) to provide internationally-oriented foundations with background information on the importance of archives/records management services for developing countries as well as on problems and needs of such institutions in offering these services, and (2) to seek supplementary aid from private foundations in helping to meet those needs. Twenty-five individuals, representing various international archives, organizations, and foundations, attended the one-day symposium at the Center for Inter-American Relations and heard a nine-member panel discuss various as- pects of the problem. In a luncheon address, Jeffrey Ede, Keeper of Public Rec- ords, stressed that, despite the demonstrated value of archives, Third World gov- ernmental authorities have awarded a low priority to archives/records management because of pressing socio-economic goals and have thus had to rely upon external assistance which has been frequently slow and/or inadequate in meeting the needs. ICA and CAD have tried to supplement conventional sources of archival support, but the scope of the problem is too great for their limited resources. Ede, therefore, called upon internationally oriented foundations to expand their as- sistance for archival purposes by either contributing to the ICA International Ar- chival Development Fund or increasing their own assistance to specific archival projects. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene: News and Abstracts 93 CANADA. The Public Records Division of the Public Archives of Canada (PAC) has received and made available for research the exhibits, transcripts of hearings, reports, files, and indexes of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry (Berger Commission). The core of the collection consists of 281 volumes of tran- scripts of the formal and community hearings, and 1,767 submissions and exhibits filed by individuals, environmental and native groups, oil and pipeline compa- nies, and government organizations. The record group documents all activities of the inquiry during its existence from 1974 to 1977 and provides a rich source for the study not only of resource development and pipeline routes, but also of north- ern wildlife, native culture, environmental issues, and land claims. The War Diaries from World War II of units and formations of the Canadian Army, both in Canada and overseas, have been transferred to the Public Records Division. Case records of the Supreme Court of Canada containing documents produced by the court for use in its deliberations, documents introduced as evi- dence and from hearings of lower courts, and records of judgments (1876-91) have been accessioned by the division. This is the result of an agreement con- cluded with the Supreme Court by means of which the division is to acquire all case records of the court up to 1927, and on a yearly basis for each successive year thereafter. Provincial Archives of Alberta. Recent acquisitions include: a diary, photo- graphs, and twenty-four oil paintings (ca. 1905-74) depicting aspects of Al- berta's history, by Viola Martin; fourteen sketches (ca. 1973-77) by Philip Silver of Citadel Theatre sets and costumes; the papers (ca. 1906-28) of Hugh W. Morrison, a former Vegreville lawyer and Edmonton judge; records (ca. 1952- 72) of the Strawberry Plains Community Association; records (ca. 1956-75) of the Bow Valley Mutual Telephone Company; inmate case files (ca. 1911-62) of the Lethbridge Correctional Institution; files (ca. 1965-67) from the Centennial Branch, Alberta Provincial Secretary; and the files (ca. 1938-73) of former min- isters of Alberta Municipal Affairs. The provincial archives has also published a new information leaflet entitled Sources of Genealogical Information at the Provincial Archives of Alberta. The Provincial Archives of Ontario was host for the annual meeting of the dominion, provincial, and territorial archivists, held in Toronto, 31 May-1 June 1978. On 1 June, the provincial archives introduced a new schedule of reproduction rates reflective of rising costs. This schedule is available upon request from the Archives (Address: 77 Grenville Street, Toronto, Ontario M7A 2R9). Recent accessions of note include: the Norris-Neelor Papers (1858- ), ship- owners in St. Catharines; records (1876-1950) of the Paisley City Roller Mills; records (1919-72) of the Ontario Music Educators Association; records (1845- 1974) of the Toronto Typographical Union No. 91; the Hardy Family Papers (1813-1956); records (1951-76) of the University Women's Club of North York; the notebooks (1956-65) of Judge Eric Cross; the R. C. Smith Photograph Collection (1895-1900) pertaining to the Village of Swansea which is now a part of Metropolitan Toronto. A calendar to the Mackenzie/Lindsay Collection has been completed and is available to researchers in the Public Reading Room. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 94 The American Archivist / January 79 The Ottawa City Archives has expanded its activities to include both official languages. With the appointment of a francophone member to the staff, it has been possible to organize an exhibition of the "French Canadians of Old Lower- town" which draws on material from the local community. Also, the Conserva- tion Unit, established in September 1977, is now fully operative. Queen's University Archives. Recent accessions include the papers of Jason Albert Hannah (ca. 1905-74), John Rhodes Sturdy (ca. 1938-60), Gail Fox (ca. 1961-75), Hugh Gordon Conn (ca. 1935-76), Lawrence Gladwyn Macpherson (ca. 1940-77); some records related to the Thousand Islands Area Residents Association (TIARA); and additions to the Hugh Garner Papers (ca. 1972-77), the Ontario Federation of Agriculture records (ca. 1961-75), the Kingston Chamber of Commerce records (ca. 1975-76), and the Liberal Party of Canada (Ontario) records (ca. 1965-76). A catalog of the major holdings of the Queen's University Archives and the City of Kingston Archives was published in the fall of 1978 and is available at a cost of $4 per copy. Requests should be addressed to the Queen's University Archives, Douglas Library, Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 5C4. The university archives and the United Church Archives are now engaged in a cooperative project involving the microfilming of the Presbyterian Church of Canada records at the university archives. These records consist of the correspon- dence, minutes, reports, memorials, petitions, memoranda, and reports for the period from 1815 to 1895. The bulk of the documents, however, relate to the years from 1830 to 1875. Archives of the Maritime History Group. The Maritime History Group was formed in 1971 with a mandate to acquire documents relating to the history of Fisheries and shipping on a worldwide basis, and to undertake research into this field and assist others in their research. The archives, located at Memorial Uni- versity, St. John's, Newfoundland, is open to the public Monday through Friday between the hours of 9 A.M. and 5 P.M. The Maritime History Group will under- take also to answer inquiries and prepare data sets for persons who cannot per- sonally visit the archives. The holdings of the archives amount to approximately 20,000 feet of docu- ments together with a large collection of microfilm. Scope of the collection is worldwide, covering the period from 1500 to the present with a special emphasis on shipping of the British Empire and Commonwealth. Documents held include crew lists and agreements of the British Empire (1846-1939); copies of the reg- istries of all colonial vessels registered (1812-1920); a large collection of the reg- isters of classification societies such as Lloyds, American Bureaux of Shipowners, Norske Veritas, Bureau Veritas, and Germanischer Lloyd; Polish, Russian, and Japanese registers of shipping; and a wide variety of specialized shipping journals and newspapers. A general inventory is in the process of being published. Conference of Mennonites in Canada Archives. Existing explicitly as a reli- gious archives, the holdings of the Conference of Mennonites in Canada Archives (CMC) form the largest Mennonite archival deposit in the country. Built around such collections as the immigration records of the Canadian Mennonite Coloni- zation Board, the Mennonite Central Committee (Canada), and the 25,000-mem- D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene: News and Abstracts 95 ber CMC, these files provide a major source in the study of religious, social, and institutional history of Western Canada. Integral to this body of material are several series of German and English news- papers published by the Mennonite community. Der Bote (1924—present), origi- nating in Rosthern, Saskatchewan; Der Mitarbeiter (1906-34) and the Red River Valley Echo (1941-present) of Gretna and Altona, Manitoba, respectively; and Mennonitische Rundschau (in Canada from 1923 to the present) represent substan- tial sources of information on regional and interprovincial developments of the country. Special collections of documents from European points of origin for Canadian Mennonite immigrants provide a further insight into the history of both the Men- nonite community and the country. Microfilm records of Prussian church regis- ters and newspapers, German diaries and memoirs from southern Russia, and several runs of Mennonite periodicals from Germany form this dimension of the CMC holdings. Over a thousand photographs, part of a larger 5000-item picture collection, relate to the Prusso-Russian past of the Mennonite experience. [D. L. MCDONALD, Public Archives of Canada] GREAT BRITAIN. With the retirement of Jeffrey R. Ede at the end of May 1978, Alfred W. Mabbs, formerly deputy keeper since June 1973, became the new Keeper of the Public Records. Mabbs has extensive experience in archives with various departments of the Public Record Office (PRO) since the 1940s. The January 1978 issue of The American Archivist reported a public controversy as described in an article of The Times of London (22 April 1977) concerning the effectiveness of the procedures for selecting public records for transfer to the PRO and making them available for public inspection. As a result of disclosure of this controversy, the government has set up a three-member committee of in- quiry. The members of the committee are Sir Duncan Wilson, master of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge; Margaret Gowing, professor of the history of science at the University of Oxford; and Paul Osmond, secretary to the Church Commis- sioners. They have been appointed by the Lord Chancellor to: review the arrangements for giving effect to those provisions of the Public Records Act 1958 and 1967 which relate to the selection of records for permanent preservation and to subsequent public access to them in the light of (1) the requirements of public business, of historical and other researchers, and of other users of public records generally, for an efficient records service; (2) the volume of records generated by Government departments; (3) technological changes in the format and storage of records; and (4) the staff and accom- modation costs of maintaining public records and the need for economy in the use of resources; and to make recommendations. Bedfordshire Record Office reports the resumption of a plan for the publica- tion of indexed transcripts of important genealogical sources: parish register in the county; non-parochial registers; and baptismal, marriage, and burial registers of the major dissenting churches (Baptist, Congregational, Methodist, and Mora- vian) to cover the period up to and beyond 1812. The first volume was planned to appear during 1978, and it is hoped to publish one or two volumes each year thereafter. Only a limited number of copies, however, will be printed and these D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 96 The American Archivist / January 79 will be made available to subscribers at a cost of about £2.50 (approximately $5) per copy, plus postage. Full details may be obtained from the Bedfordshire Rec- ord Office, County Hall, Bedford MK2 9AP. Devon Record Office (East and West branches) reports a plan to adapt PRE- CIS, a multi-faceted computerized index being developed by the British National Bibliography, to the needs of a local archives office. The Computer Applications Committee of the Society of Archivists is undertaking a survey of such applica- tions in records offices, and it is thought that a significant proportion of such offices now have some plans for developments along these lines. Gloucestershire Record Office, at present scattered among a number of old buildings, is to move into a new headquarters. The record office will be housed in a specially adapted former school building erected in 1924, in the center of Gloucester. The adaptions provide storage areas which will conform to British Standard 5454 (Storage and Exhibition of Archival Materials) and also to the re- quirements of recent health and safety legislation. The county archivist, Brian S. Smith, reports that "It is our experience that fire prevention and health and safety inspectors demand conditions for the safeguarding of life which conflict with ar- chival security needs." The records office's new address is Gloucestershire Rec- ord Office, Worcester Street, Gloucester GL1 3DW. Lancashire Record Office has received the largest deposit in its history of rec- ords from outside sources. The deposit consists of the archives of Platt Saco Low- ell, the textile machinery manufacturing division of Stone Platt International. They comprise a total of eight tons of records and have been occupying, prior to their deposit with the record office, an embarrassingly large proportion of work space at the firm. The Society of Archivists during 1977 established a Records Management Group, which has adopted an active program. This includes a series of one-day conferences, of which three conferences have already been held at Liverpool (Oc- tober 1977), Glasgow (April 1978), and Warwick (September 1978). Proceedings of these conferences are scheduled to be published by the group sometime in the near future. This program, which seeks to introduce records management con- cepts to business and other agencies, will continue in 1979 with meetings at Lon- don and in the North East. In addition to the one-day conferences, the group held a two-week residential course on records management at Liverpool Univer- sity in July 1978, attended by twenty-four participants who occupy managerial- level positions with records management responsibilities. The Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre, Oxford, sponsored jointly by the Royal Society and the British Library, has announced a grant from the Well- come Trust. It will enable the centre to continue its work until 1981. By Septem- ber 1978, the centre had completed work on three more collections and work was in progress on thirteen additional collections. Completed collections were placed in the universities of Glasgow, Birmingham, and Oxford. The centre's Progress Report No. 10 (1 April-30 September 1978) provides details on the collections. Training. The Roehampton Institute of Higher Education has announced a course leading to a diploma in archives and records administration. It is intended to be a day-release training course for those individuals involved in archives or records work in the London area. The course will last one year, starting in the D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene: News and Abstracts 97 autumn of 1978 or the spring of 1979. The Society of Archivists has also started an in-service training course in archives administration. The society's course is a correspondence course lasting two years, and is open to those who occupy posi- tions of professional responsibility in archives but who have not received any professional training. The course starts in January 1979 with a preliminary en- rollment of twenty-nine students. Students who successfully complete the course will receive the society's certificate. These two training courses are in addition to those courses provided by the universities of Liverpool, London, Wales, and Oxford. Final figures for the num- ber of students who successfully completed training courses in the 1977/1978 academic year are not yet available. Indications at present, however, reveal that virtually every graduate was successfully absorbed into the full-time job market by the autumn of 1978, and thus temporarily put aside the fear that there would be a high rate of unemployment among diplomates (graduates). Enrollment of stu- dents for the new 1978/1979 sessions is expected to show a slight increase in numbers. [MICHAEL COOK, University of Liverpool] INDIA. The English edition of the annual report of the National Archives for 1975 (Annual Report of the National Archives of India 1975 [1976]) notes that the Indian Archives has been elevated from the status of a subordinate office to that of an attached office. The elevation allows it greater authority and will facilitate its work in the area of records management. Mentioned in the report is the notice that the archives has established a school for archival training of both local and foreign archivists. A progress report is included on its regular program of micro- film exchange with the India Office Library and Records, London, and other foreign repositories, and also on efforts made to share its experience in record keeping practices with other developing nations. The report also includes a reg- ular selection of accession lists, comments on preservation programs and re- search, and a review of reference services and significant publications. [LAWRENCE H. M C D O N A L D . National Archives and Records Service] NEW ZEALAND. The Archives and Records Association of New Zealand (AR- ANZ) has recently published the report of Wilfred I. Smith, Dominion Archivist of Canada, who had visited various archives repositories in the country between 4 February and 17 March 1978. The purpose of Smith's visit was to evaluate current archival institutions and practices and to make recommendations for fu- ture archival development and appropriate legislation. Smith's survey of archives, as well as analysis of a questionnaire which ARANZ had circulated, reveal seven basic problems: (1) the fragmented nature of archival collections which do not have the mandate, resources, and staff to provide ade- quate archives services; (2) a lack of a distinct identity with regard to separate budgets, accommodations, and relationships with records creators, and lack of authority to perform archival functions; (3) a lack of adequate archives to serve the major regions in the country; (4) serious records management weaknesses for central government bodies and a lack of any records management systems for most private corporate bodies; (5) a lack of rationalization in the collection of private archival material; (6) inadequate provision for education and training for D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 98 The American Archivist / January 79 archivists, records managers, and technicians; and (7) a lack of conservation facil- ities for most archival material. The twenty-eight specific recommendations Smith provides in his report attempt to resolve the problems listed above in greater detail. Most of the recommendations seem to pertain in one manner or another to strengthening the National Archives. According to Smith, the core of a national archives system must be a strong National Archives which has the necessary au- thority, resources, and staff to execute its assigned functions and to provide lead- ership, guidance, and assistance to other archives in the country. Also, a strong National Archives must set archival standards, develop new techniques, and foster an awareness and appreciation of the value of archives as an important national resource among government officials, users, and the general public. Some of the recommendations call specifically for the establishment of regional archives, a national film archives for motion picture film, sound and video recordings, a na- tional oral history program, and the nucleus of a map section in the National Archives; the planning for a new National Archives building; revision of the 1957 Archives Act; public access to more recent records and lowering of the thirty-year restriction to twenty-five years; greater efforts to preserve the records of busi- nesses, churches, and labor unions; development of university archives; develop- ment of educational uses for archives; and continued support for ARANZ as a professional association. PERU. T h e first issue of theRevista del ArchivoDepartamentalde Ayacucho (1977) has appeared as a 176-page mimeographed periodical. Articles in this issue per- tain to such topics as the new image and social feeling of archives by Guillermo Durand Florez, the need of an archival awareness by Cesar Gutierrez Munos, and other historical themes. Lorenzo Huertas Vallejos, director of the departmental Archives of Ayacucho, provides a transcription of the valuable document: "Rein- spection of the doctrine of Santa Maria Magdalena of the city of Huamanga (1770)." There is also a miscellaneous section dealing with the activity program of the departmental archives for 1978 as well as various cultural notices of the city. The Riva-Agiiero Institute (Catholic University) and the Institute of Historical Maritime Studies of Peru organized a course on document description at the uni- versity, 2-28 August 1978. This course was intended to teach archivists at his- torical repositories, and history students, the theory and techniques of description of archival documents including textual, audiovisual, and cartographic records. The Archives of Fuero Agrario organized and held a seminar, between 2 Oc- tober and 10 November 1978, on the dual subjects of Peruvian agrarian history and the theory and techniques of archives. This seminar was directed toward university students and archivists of historical repositories. In September 1978, Hoja Archivera, the monthly bulletin of the Peruvian Asso- ciation of Archivists (APA), completed its first year of publication. The purpose of the bulletin is to serve as a vehicle of communication between APA and archi- vists and friends concerning Peruvian and international archival news. [CESAR GUTIERREZ MUNOS, Riva-Agiiero Historical Archives] SCOTLAND. Political events in Scotland are having consequences on archives. The growth of a powerful nationalist movement aiming at independence has led D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene: News and Abstracts 99 to pressure on Parliament to create an elected legislative assembly in Edinburgh with wide devolved powers. The result of this pressure has been the Scotland Act (1978) which provides for such an elective assembly on condition that it obtain sufficient support in a referendum to be held probably in 1979. The field of records, both private and public, including those in the Scottish Record Office, would be within the powers of this assembly, but to what extent its activities would be in this area is difficult to foresee at this time. There are fears in some quarters, however, that the assembly might reorganize local government into smaller units financially incapable of providing adequate archives services. Within the profession itself, a number of Scottish archivists feel that the admin- istrative and legal differences already existing would make the formation of a separate Scottish Society of Archivists preferable to the current situation in which Scotland forms a region within the British society. This attitude is naturally viewed with disfavor by the Society of Archivists, and there are doubts about the practicability of such a separate Scottish association. On the other hand, the soci- ety is not in a position of strength in Scotland. In Great Britain as a whole, it has traditionally been dominated by local-authority archivists, with a small, almost token, membership from such national institutions as the Public Record Office. In Scotland this has been true to a lesser extent, but the corresponding national repositories, the Scottish Record Office and the National Library of Scotland, are numerically and in other ways much more important, and the comparative weak- ness of the society in this area is the more important. Those individuals who oppose the fragmentation of the present society are cur- rently discussing ways to make the local regions within the Society of Archivists more active—for example, by enabling local regions to organize archival events and perhaps issue publications. As on the wider political stage, the alternative to devolution along these lines might be a demand for separation, perhaps on lines similar to the Association des Archivistes du Quebec. It is certainly debatable, however, whether the currently fashionable demands for smaller and more local governmental units should be reflected in the organizational structure of such small professional bodies as societies of archivists. [ANDREW M. JACKSON, Strath- clyde Regional Archives] SINGAPORE. The National Archives and Records Centre, a department within the Ministry of Culture, has published its 1977 annual report. Increasing attention during the past year seemed to focus on records management. With the return of Teo Seng Hwee, senior archives officer, from Australia where he com- pleted a diploma course in archives administration at the University of New South Wales, the department established a Records Management Division. In order to insure proper planning of a records management program, division personnel carried out a survey in April-July 1977 to secure up-to-date information on spe- cific aspects of records management practices in the government departments. A report on the survey is expected in 1978 and will probably be published in 1979. The director also reports that the department surveyed several old buildings offered by the Government Buildings Committee, but is continuing its search for alternative accommodations. The department hopes to obtain either a new or suitably renovated building to accommodate its fast growing holdings as well as to D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 100 The American Archivist / January 79 improve its services to users and simultaneously bolster its efforts to preserve Singapore's national historical resources. The National Archives received the first installment ($10,000) of the $50,000 gift from the Lee Foundation for the purchase of old newsreel film about Singa- pore. During 1977 the archives purchased 4,300 feet of newsreel film from the British firm of Visnews Limited. The rest of the newsreel film will be acquired over the next five years in regular increments. SOUTH AFRICA. In compliance with the terms of section 10 of the Archives Act (Act 6 of 1962), J. F. Preller, Director of Archives, issued his annual report on the activities of the Government Archives for 1976 to the Minister of National Education. The report has been published by the Department of National Edu- cation as Annual Reports of the Director of Archives for 1976. In it he mentions that special attention was given during the year to measures for promoting the pres- ervation and care of archives of statutory bodies and institutions in the private sector. Although the archives of these bodies and institutions do not fall under the provisions of the Archives Act, the Archives Commission and other members of the profession are greatly concerned about these archives and their potential loss as a significant source for the study of South African economic history. He also states that a full-time archivist has been canvassing and collecting archives still in private possession in the Transvaal. In another area of the report, Preller reports the completion in June of the publication of the List of Archivalia in South African Archives Depots. This publica- tion, stressing the complete holdings of archives, will supersede the List of Finding Aids in Archives Depots which was compiled in June 1969 and concentrated on avail- able finding aids. As a result of the new publication, for the first time the total archival content of all the archives depots are fully described in a single publica- tion. Also, since a computer compiled and printed the data in the List, it can be easily kept up to date. Other areas mentioned in the report include problems of securing additional storage space at the archives and intermediate archives depots, progress toward data processing of archives, records management, microfilm projects, and a list- ing of the arrangement and description of records at the eight archives and inter- mediate archives depots. Appendix B contains a listing of the most important accessions at the various archives depots, and a list of donors. In the sixteenth (1977) annual report of the Director of Archives, which has been published in a bilingual (Afrikaans/English) edition, Preller reports that the South African Parliament has passed the Archives Amendment Act (Act 54 of 1977). The important provision of this amendment is that it is now possible for a statutory body to be declared a government office for purposes of the 1962 ar- chives act, and that the archives of such bodies can be administered under the provisions of the act. In other areas of his report to the Minister of National Education, the director states that, to facilitate the retrieval of information, the Archives Service is com- puterizing all information on files in all archives depots to provide faster refer- ence service via a display screen terminal. Installation of the first terminal took place during 1977 in the reading room of the archives depots in Pretoria. Also, D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene: News and Abstracts 101 with the storage space at the Central Archives Depot reaching the critical point, Preller urged the government to construct a national archives building in Pretoria as soon as possible. The Anglo-American Corporation of South Africa Limited, Johannesburg, and De Beers Consolidated Mines Limited, Kimberley, implemented archival programs during 1978. The archives of these two companies, together with the records in the Barlow Rand Archives, will provide an excellent coverage of the history of the South African diamond and gold mining industry from its earliest beginnings in the 1880s. A one-day archives workshop, the first of its kind in South Africa, was held in Johannesburg on 1 May 1978. The main theme, "Current Issues Confronting Archivists and Manuscript Librarians," was discussed during the morning ses- sion under the headings of coordinated collecting, copyright problems, and care of collections and sensitive materials. During the afternoon session, a paper on the National Register of Manuscripts was presented and discussion on this topic followed. The session chairman then proposed the formation of an association which would represent the interests of archivists, manuscript librarians, and other interested parties. This proposal was unanimously accepted by the participants, and a steering committee consisting of three members was elected to investigate the matter. National Register of Manuscripts. This project, known by the acronym NA- REM, is the joint undertaking of the Government Archives, Pretoria, and the South African Library, Cape Town. It supersedes the Union Catalogue of Man- uscripts in South African Libraries (UMISAL) which was begun by the South African Library in the 1960s. [MARYNA FRASER, Barlow Rand Archives] ABSTRACT CANADA. [MAIDA LOESCHER, National Archives and Records Service] Archi- varia, no. 6 (Summer 1978). Several of the articles in this issue concern access and privacy. Gordon Robertson, a career public servant, supports (pp. 3-11) a greater degree of openness but believes there are three categories of information that should still be considered confidential. The first has to do with the process of decision-making in a parliamentary government; the second includes matters that can affect the integrity of the state such as information concerning defense, na- tional security, and international relations; and the third embraces a variety of classes of documents whose disclosure could injure individuals or particular groups. To increase access, the author suggests using different security marks for these three categories. Except in cases involving litigation, Robertson does riot believe the courts should make the final decision as to whether a particular doc- ument should be opened to the public. Linda S. Bohnen disagrees (pp. 12-15) with Robertson's outright rejection of judicial review. She accepts an Information Auditor as an alternative to judicial review if the auditor's decision would be conclusive and binding on the govern- ment. Jean Tener describes (pp. 16-31) the growing trend toward accessibility throughout history and recent developments affecting access in the United States, Sweden, the Soviet Union, and, most specifically, Canada. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.42.1.x1m n035586284q3h by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 102 The American Archivist / January 79 The author discusses also problems which archivists will face if current restric- tions are significantly reduced and the dilemma created by demands both for access and the individual's right to privacy. The privacy problem is further ex- amined by Peter Gillis in his article (pp. 32-39) on the acquisition of and access to federal case files. Other articles in this issue concern specific collections or specific types of rec- ords which either create special problems for archivists or have been neglected by archivists. Jean E. Dryden describes the history of the William Lyon Mackenzie King papers (pp. 40-69) from 1946 to 1977. Veronica Strong-Boag accuses (pp. 70-82) archivists of neglecting to collect the type of documents most relevant to women's history. Geographer Conrad E. Heidenreich describes (pp. 83-112) the five periods of seventeenth-century maps of the Great Lakes and explains how one should examine a map. Geographers A. J. W. Catchpole and D. W. Moodie discuss (pp. 113-36) the value of archives to the environmental scientist. Ken Larose of the National Film Archives discusses (pp. 137-50) some of the problems facing archivists who must decide which films and television programs should be preserved. Larose warns, however, that although archivists are aware of the needs of film scholars and television producers, they need to learn more about how films can be used by historians. 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