The American Archivist / Vol. 43, No. 2 / Spring 1980 231 The International Scene: News and Abstracts RONALD J. PLAVCHAN, Editor MICHAEL J. KURTZ, Assistant Editor WE ARE INDEBTED to the following correspondents: Australia: R. G. Neale; Bahamas/Car- ibbean: D. Gail Saunders; Brazil: Maria Amelia Gomes Leite; Canada: D. Lee McDonald; China: Sun Fangjiu; Federal Republic of Germany: Wolfram Werner; France: Michel Duchein; German Democratic Republic: Horst Schetelich; Great Britain: Michael Cook; India/SWARBICA: N. H. Kulkarnee; Italy: Donato Tamble; Malawi/East and Central Africa: Steve M. Mwiyeriwa; Malaysia/SARBICA: Zakiah Hanum Nor; New Zealand: Ju- dith S. Hornabrook; Nigeria/West Africa: J. C. Enwere; Organization of American States: Celso Rodriguez; Peru: Cesar Gutierrez Munoz; Rhodesia/Zimbabwe: R. G. S. Douglas; Scotland: Andrew M. Jackson; Senegal/West Africa: M. Saliou Mbaye; South Africa: Mar- yna Fraser; Spain: Margarita Vazquez de Parga; and Vatican City: Claudio De Dominicis. NEWS AUSTRALIA New Facilities Planned for J.S. Battye State Library. Construction of a new Library Services Building in Perth to house the J.S. Battye State Library of West Australian history began in late 1979. According to the architect's plan, the Battye Library will be situated on the third floor of the new building, and there will be four separate search rooms for archives, printed records, maps, and photographs. In addition, there will be special areas for an oral history unit, photographic laboratory, and conservation laboratory. The State Film Archives, placed under the jurisdiction of the Library Board in July 1978, will be part of the Battye Library in the new building. Plans also envision a small theatre for historical films, lectures, and other extension services, and possibly a publishing unit. Transfer of Victoria State Public Record Office. In December 1978, the Victoria Public Record Office (PRO) was transferred to the newly created Department of Property and Services. Since passage of the Public Record Act in 1973, the Victoria PRO had been part of the Chief Secretary's Office. Conservation Program at Canberra College. Canberra College of Advanced Education instituted in 1978 a two-year program on the conservation of materials. The aim of the program, offered at the undergraduate and graduate levels, is to provide a sound scientific D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 232 The American Archivist / Spring 1980 base for conservation practices. The graduate course includes the study of the conservation of a wide range of materials such as paintings, prints and drawings, paper and books, artifacts of Aboriginal origin, and objects created from metal, wood, ceramics, and textiles. The graduate course requires a six-month internship upon completion of the two-year academic program. The undergraduate course concentrates on paper and ethnographic conservation and technology. Both courses include the study of modern products such as plastics, films, and magnetic tapes. Further information on the two programs may be ob- tained from the Executive Assistant, School of Applied Science, Canberra C.A.E., Bruce, A.C.T. CANADA ABC A Becomes First ACA Affiliate Member. Early in 1979 the Association of Canadian Archivists (ACA) amended its constitution to create an affiliate status. Affiliated associa- tions are those Canadian regional associations of archivists who want to advance the aims of ACA through jointly sponsored projects, studies, and courses in archival education and who want to assist ACA financially by means of an annual per capita assessment for each non-ACA member in the regional association. At its April 1979 annual meeting, the mem- bership of the Association of British Columbia Archivists (ABCA) voted to affiliate with ACA; in June, ABCA became the first ACA affiliate member. Since the affiliation, ABCA has increased its dues by three dollars, and all non-ACA members will receive the ACA Bulletin. Free World War II Source Guide Available. The Public Records Division, Public Ar- chives of Canada (PAC), has published Sources for the Study of the Second World War. This new pamphlet will assist researchers in using all the record groups at PAC that include documentation on this subject. Also, the division has produced its annual list of new ma- terial, Accessions 1978/79. Both of these publications are available free of charge from PAC. International Archives Week Celebrated at PAC. The Public Archives of Canada cele- brated International Archives Week, 1-8 November 1979. As part of the week's activi- ties, PAC organized an open house, 2-3 November, the first since the opening of the building in 1967. PAC also organized a national conference on records management, 16- 18 October, under the theme "New Directions in Records Management." In addition to this conference, PAC sponsored a conference, 1-3 November, on the development of standards for building a computerized inventory of iconographic works of art. Information Management Meeting Held. On 8 June 1979, at the Government Confer- ence Centre in Ottawa, the Records Management Branch of PAC sponsored a one-day seminar on information management. The main purpose of the seminar was to inform departmental managers, micrographic coordinators, EDP coordinators, and privacy coor- dinators about the various services available through PAC. A secondary goal was to de- scribe the time and resource limitations at PAC and to stress those areas in which depart- ments must work out some of their own records management problems. Photo Exhibit Marks Century of Service for Public Works. The Public Archives of Canada mounted an exhibit, Public Works Canada, 1857-1975, to illustrate the use of pho- tography by the Public Works Department in its planning, design, and construction of projects. The exhibit, which ran from 15 January to 3 March 1980, consisted of fifty illus- trations. At the opening of the exhibit, Dominion Archivist Wilfred Smith hailed it as a visual document of the department's important role in the development of Canada. 1980 ACA Annual Meeting Scheduled for Montreal. The Association of Canadian Ar- chivists will hold its 1980 annual meeting at the Windsor Hotel in Montreal, 2-4 June. The D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 233 theme of the conference is "The Challenges of Archives." Some of the sessions will deal with such concrete problems and issues as the Cultural Property Import and Export Act, the report of the Consultative Group on Archives, archives display, freedom of informa- tion legislation, Canadian studies, film archives, and archives inventory. York University Archives Becomes CBC Television Drama Repository. Officials of York University Archives, Toronto, Ontario, announced they have reached an agreement with the Canadian Broadcasting Company (CBC) concerning television drama produc- tions. Under the agreement, the Archives will become the repository for all scripts, pro- duction records, and financial papers of the CBC's English-language national television network dramas produced since 1952. Access to the CBC Television Drama collection is with the permission of CBC. Archives Booklet Marks International Archives Week Celebration. For International Archives Week, the Provincial Archives of Alberta has published a booklet surveying major archival repositories in the province and their documentary collections. The title of the booklet is Alberta's Archives, 1979: Preserving Our Documentary Heritage. Computerized Land Records Index Available. The Archives of Ontario has prepared a computerized land records index of the Crown Land Papers, Canada Company Papers, and the Peter Robinson Papers. The index includes the name of the individual owner, land location, type of transaction, and date. The provincial archives will make the printout of the index available on microfiche to various archival institutions throughout the province. New Municipal Archives Established in British Columbia. On 17 October 1978, the City Council of Trail City, B.C., passed a resolution establishing the Trail City Archives as a function of the municipal administration. Previously, the archives was a part of the Trail City Historical Society museum. The archives, now under the jurisdiction of the city clerk's office, is proceeding with plans to establish a records management program and to serve as the repository of all historic records of the city, both public and private. It is hoped that, with the establishment of an official city repository, the alarming exodus of relevant ma- terial from the area will stop. New Arrangements for Records of the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference. The Conference of Mennonites in Canada built the Mennonite Heritage Centre in Win- nipeg, Manitoba, in 1978 to serve all Mennonite and other church groups in Canada. One aspect of this mandate was that those church bodies that have no repository for their ar- chives may use the Heritage Centre. The first body to choose this option is the Evangelical Mennonite Mission Conference (EMMC) which has twenty-seven congregations scattered across Ontario, Manitoba, and Saskatchewan. The EMMC Education and Publication Board is encouraging its congregations to deposit in the Heritage Centre valuable historical material relating to the whole group. Mennonite Brethren Archives Moved. For the past ten years, the archives of the Con- ference of Mennonite Brethren Churches in Canada (MB) has been housed in a small office, and later in a classroom, on the campus of the Mennonite Brethren Bible College in Winnipeg. Both locations soon became inadequate. When the college began planning for an expansion of its library and music building, it was decided to include more space for the archives in the plans. Upon completion of the expansion in the spring of 1979, the Centre for Mennonite Brethren Studies moved to a new location in the basement of the new addition. The MB archives facility now includes 1,500 square feet of usable space, office for the archivist, a microfilm reading room, and a room to house the J.A. Toews rare book collection. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 234 The American Archivist / Spring 1980 CHINA First American Contact with Archivists of the People's Republic of China. In July and August 1979, Marilyn Ghausi, museum archivist at the Detroit Institute of Arts, accom- panied scientists and a delegation of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers on a two-week tour of major cities in the People's Republic of China. Acting as a special SAA representative, Ghausi was delegated to try to make contact with Chinese archivists and to explore the possibilities of an SAA study tour of Chinese archives. During the tour she was able not only to meet with Chinese archivists; she had the rare privilege, granted to only a small number of Western scholars, of visiting the Archives of the Forbidden City (also known as the Palace Museum Ming Ch'ing Archives), in Peking. As a result of her trip, Ghausi has been able to compile a partial list of Chinese archives and institutions with archival holdings. GREAT BRITAIN International Archives Week Is a Success. British archivists sponsored more than 100 special events throughout the country during 1979 to celebrate International Archives Week. One unusual feature of the nationwide celebration was the large number of record offices that held open-house activities for the general public. This was a new development in Great Britain. 1979 Annual Report Issued by the Society of Archivists. According to figures released in its annual report, current membership of the Society of Archivists stands at 823. The figure includes fifty-five commonwealth members and twenty-one student associates. The slow growth in the Society's membership, despite an increase in the number of archivists trained annually by the universities, is attributed to financial cutbacks in public administra- tion. The report also reveals that the Society has established a regional fund of £1,000, to be administered by the regional branches, to stimulate local and regional archival activities. Report on the Sales of Aristocratic Archives Released. The Royal Commission on His- torical Manuscripts makes reference in its report to the alarming tendency of aristocratic owners of personal or family papers to withdraw materials from deposit in record offices and to offer them for sale. During 1979 there were five major instances of this. The com- mission estimates that 40 percent of the archival collections it has reported have been sold since 1914. One encouraging check on this tendency has been a slight tightening of the export controls on documents. The new regulations now apply to fifty-year old documents instead of only to those seventy years old and over. 1979 Wrap-up of Business Archives Council Activities. The Business Archives Council completed an unusually active year with regional meetings and displays, a one-day sym- posium in London, and a reception at Goldsmith's Hall in London. Its regional exhibition, Scraps of Paper, opened in Liverpool during November and is the first archival exhibit entirely prepared by the Northwestern Museum and Art Galleries Service. The exhibit, assembled to tour the country, will be available to the public for the next two years. Burma Recollections Scheme Now Available. The India Office Library and Records has opened the Burma Recollections Scheme. These, consisting of memoirs written by prominent British participants in the government of Burma during the pre-independence period (1948), were collected as part of the Foreign and Commonwealth Office project. Liberalization of Time Restrictions on Municipal Records. The Carlisle City Council has announced a liberalization of its policy on closing of records. Adoption of a 15-year closure period by the City Council runs counter to the 30-year rule for national govern- D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 235 ment records. It also is counter to the national trend. Government secretiveness intensified during 1979 by sudden closures of record series in the Public Record Office and in North- ern Ireland, and by introduction of the Protection of Information bill. Seminars on Manuscript Indexing Planned. The Manuscript Division of the British Library has been organizing a series of seminars on the indexing of manuscripts. These seminars accompany publication of the division's new handbook, Manuscripts Indexing (1979), edited by J. P. Hudson. Archives Catalogs Available on Microfiche. The Contemporary Scientific Archives Centre, Oxford University, has now published its catalogs in microfiche. Oxford Micro- form Publications, Ltd., produced these in accordance with archival standards. The exist- ing fifteen catalogs will be periodically updated in further notices issued by the centre. Business Archives Included in New Museum. The international business firm of Cable and Wireless, Ltd., has built and opened a telecommunications museum at Mercury House, Theobalds Road, London. The company, now known as Cable Trust, Ltd., has included its archives, which dates from 1856, in the new museum. Automated Data Processing Activities. The network computer system PROSPEC-SA has completed its experimental pilot project. The report has been published as British Li- brary Research and Development Report No. 5458. Also d u r i n g 1979 the Data Protection Com- mittee published a report (HSMO, Cmd. 7341) which includes archival clauses (26.31-34). These clauses propose a code of practice on preservation of and access to machine-readable data bases. The report also proposes the licensing of holders of such information and fees for inspection. The Society of Archivists has indicated it would like to extend these meas- ures to cover paper documents. Archives Services in Metropolitan Counties. The Society of Archivists has issued a statement on archives services in metropolitan counties (major conurbations). The Society recommends that archives services should be organized over large areas by the principal government agency, that is the county, while allowing local agencies to hold existing archi- val collections pertinent to their localities. Such a policy would prevent the continuation of under-resourced and inefficient small archives services, and at the same time provide uni- form and better services in all districts. ITALY International Seminar on Latin Paleography. In 1976 the International Center of In- formation on the Sources for Balkan and Mediterranean History (CIBAL) was founded at Sophia, Bulgaria, for the collection, publication, and microfilming of sources of Balkan history. Since then, CIBAL has promoted a series of seminars on the study of Latin, Greek, Slav, and Ottoman paleography. CIBAL, in cooperation with the Archivio di Stato di Roma and the School of Archival Science, Latin Paleography and Diplomatics, held a month-long seminar (20 November-20 December 1979) at the Archivio di Stato di Roma. This was the first seminar on Latin paleography. NETHERLANDS New Archives Constructed in the Netherlands. The Dutch Government has opened a new archival repository complex in The Hague. It is nine stories high with two under- ground levels, and includes about 400,000 square feet of stack space as well as work areas, reading rooms, and exhibit space. Six archival institutions, previously housed in separate D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 236 T h e American Archivist/ Spring 1980 locations either in Utrecht or The Hague, were centralized at a single location on 15 De- cember 1979. The six institutions are the General State Archives, Central Register for Private Archives (Manuscript Collections), Iconographical Office, Central Office for Ge- nealogy, Royal Society for Genealogy and Heraldry, and the State School for the Training of Archivists (Rijksarchiefschool). fl I | UlftcMsf Bo«ir Prins Cluuslaan JC PERU Peruvian Social Security Sponsors Archival Seminar. The Seguro Social del Peru (Pe- ruvian Social Security) held for its employees, 24-27 September 1979, a seminar on ar- chives. Members of the Archivo General de la Nacion conducted the four-day seminar that dealt with handling records of insured Peruvians. Departmental Archives Commemorates National Independence. On the occasion of the 158th anniversary of the independence of Peru (22 July 1821), the Archivo Depart- mental de Cajamarca organized a documentary exhibit of colonial and republican artifacts. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 237 1 -2 s .5 a D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 238 The American Archivist / Spring 1980 Second Archives Training Course Offered. The Archivo Historico Riva-Aguero (Cath- olic University) offered, 1-27 August 1979, a second course on document description. The course was designed for archivists of historical repositories and university history students. [Translated by MARIO F. LOPEZ-GOMEZ, National Archives and Records Service] SINGAPORE Renovation at the National Archives and Records Centre. In early 1978, after consid- ering several buildings as an alternative archives building and finding none suitable, the National Archives and Records Centre (NARC) resubmitted its proposal for a new pur- pose-built building. The government again rejected the proposal, and asked NARC to reconsider the possible use of the Hill Street Police Building. After lengthy discussions with Public Works Department architects and structural engineers, it was agreed that the Hill Street Police Building could be reinforced with additional support columns to meet archival floor load requirements. In November 1978 the proposal for NARC to occupy the entire ground and first floors of the Hill Street Police Building was approved and the necessary renovation work begun. NARC intends to move into the building as soon as the construction work has been completed. The new larger and more centrally located prem- ises will permit NARC to expand its services to government bodies. Oral History Program Established. During 1978 NARC initiated a new activity, an oral history program. An advisory committee was formed to establish an oral history unit in NARC whose purpose is to document on sound recordings peoples' reminiscences of im- portant historical events in Singapore. These tape-recorded reminiscences will supplement or fill gaps in the textual records on Singapore's history. SPAIN ADPA Journal to be Translated into Spanish. The ICA Committee on Automation has approved a proposal presented by the Archivo Historico Nacional to translate into Spanish its journal, ADPA: Archives & Automationllnformatique, and other publications. Previously, articles in the journal have appeared only in either English or French with accompanying abstracts in the other language. Spanish archivists will start their translation of the ADPA journal with volume 3, number 1 (1979). There is also the likelihood that all back issues of ADPA will be translated by the Archivo Historico Nacional sometime in the future. JUDAICA Bund Archives of the Jewish Labor Movement Celebrates its Eightieth Anniversary. In 1979 the Bund Archives of the Jewish Labor Movement, now located at the Atran Center for Jewish Culture, in New York, celebrated its eightieth anniversary. This archives, originally established in Geneva, Switzerland, in 1899 by John Mill and Zermach Kopelson, has successfully survived several geographical dislocations (Geneva, Berlin, Paris, and New York) and Nazi occupation. The Bund Archives currently contains approximately 3,000 feet of material in its book and manuscript collection. The materials date from the begin- ning of labor activity and social thought among Jews in Eastern Europe and the United States in the late nineteenth century to the present. It also includes a sizeable collection of underground newspapers from Eastern Europe as well as large collections of photographs, posters, and handbills. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 239 INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL ON ARCHIVES Executive Committee Elects Acting President. At its meeting, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, on 31 October 1979, the Executive Committee unanimously elected Oscar Gauye to serve the remainder of the unexpired presidential term of James B. Rhoads. Since Rhoads re- tired at the end of August 1979 as Archivist of the United States, he was no longer eligible to serve as ICA President. Prior to his election, Gauye, director of the Schweizerischer Bundesarchiv/Archives Federales Suisses, in Bern, was one of the two ICA vice presidents. As acting ICA President, he will preside over the Ninth International Congress on Ar- chives, at London, 15-19 September 1980. 1979 Meeting of the Section of Archivists of International Organizations. The fourth session of the Section of Archivists of International Organizations was held, 10-12 Septem- ber 1979, at the Inter-Parliamentary Union in Geneva, Switzerland. Eighteen persons, rep- resenting various UN agencies or other international organizations, attended the three-day meeting. Topics of discussion included guidelines for preserving records related to tech- nical assistance to developing countries, the use and misuse of microforms, and standards for archives and records management services as well as the relationship between registries and archives services. The next session, scheduled for June 1980, will be held either in Brussels, Belgium, to coincide with a planned symposium on international documentation, or in Luxembourg. Report on the Third Caribbean Archives Conference, 22-26 October 1979. D. Gail Saunders for the past four years has served as the Archivist of the Bahamas, as president of the Caribbean Archives Association, and as the planner of the Third Caribbean Archives Conference, at Nassau. That she has succeeded beautifully would be the opinion of every- one who attended this conference. She had much assistance from her own staff, from the Ministry of Education and Culture (the parent agency of the Archives and Library), and from the "Friends of the Archives." Everyone coming to the meeting received an attrac- tive booklet entitled The First Ten Years, 1969-1979, History of the Bahamian Archives. The Third Caribbean Archives Conference was much more than a celebration by the Bahamians of their progress. Held at the Ambassador Beach Hotel, it was attended by twenty-seven official delegates, twenty-three official observers from other countries, and twenty-three observers from various Caribbean colleges and universities. The theme of CARBICA III was "The Role of the Archivist in Nation Building." Major papers presented included "The Involvement of the Government and the Status of the Archivist," by A. F. Paula, Archives of the Netherlands Antilles; "Education and Training of Archivists," by Christine Matthews, Barbados Archives; "Oral Archives," by Jean Paul Hervieu, of Guadeloupe; "The Making of a Guide to the Caribbean Archives," by Liliane Chauleau, of Martinique; and "Records Management," by Felix Hull, Kent Record Of- fice, England. The conference also included a round table meeting on archival develop- ment in the Caribbean, with participation by representatives of UNESCO and ICA. Not all sessions were devoted to archives. Participants enjoyed lavish entertainment each evening. On 25 October the Second General Assembly of CARBICA met. A. F. Paula, director of the Archives of the Netherlands Antilles, was elected president, and presumably the next meeting will be held four years hence at an island in the Netherland Antilles. The Caribbean islands were well represented at the meeting, and there were more Eu- ropean participants than at earlier conferences. The United States, with its long Caribbean shore line, should be much better represented at CARBICA meetings than it has been at the first three. Let us hope that it will be, four years from now. [OLIVER W. HOLMES, Washington, D.C.] D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 240 The American Archivist / Spring 1980 ORGANIZATION OF AMERICAN STATES New Archives Newsletter Published. In January 1980, the Department of Cultural Affairs began publication of Noticiero Archivistico. The aim of the trimestral newsletter is to provide information on major activities at Latin American archives and among regional associations of archivists in order to promote better communication among Latin American archivists. At present the newsletter appears only in Spanish, but eventually OAS intends to publish both English and Portuguese editions. Requests for free copies of Noticiero Ar- chivistico should be sent to the Department of Cultural Affairs, Organization of American States, Washington, DC 20006. UNESCO Records and Archives Management Program (RAMP) Meeting Held. UNESCO held a meeting, 14-16 May 1979, at UNESCO House in Paris to discuss development of RAMP within the framework of the General Information Programme (PGI). Experts from Argen- tina, France, Great Britain, India, Senegal, Spain, Sudan, and the United States, as well as observers from the International Council on Archives (ICA), International Federation for Documentation (FID), and International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA), at- tended. RAMP has been conceived as a coordinated component or subprogram of PGI. Its dual purpose is: (1) to promote and assist in the creation of an awareness of the value and uses of records and archives as basic information resources, and (2) to help member states in the development of necessary records management and archives systems for effective ap- plication of the basic information resources. Accordingly, the experts at this meeting ex- amined the working document and evaluated the concept of RAMP in relation to current and anticipated needs. [Unisist Newsletter, vol. 7, no. 3 (1979)] ABSTRACTS EDITOR'S NOTE: Abstracts of Archivaria and the merged, or reorganized, its functions or Journal of the Society of Archivists will no longer rights are generally transferred to another appear in this section. Both journals are in Eng- administrative body. Records follow func- lish and are readily accessible to our readers. t i o n s T h i s i s t h e p r i n c i p l e of functional The need for inclusion of abstracts from these • . T A I- I• • • J - U J I U U • sovereignty over records. In Australia, thejournals has been diminished also by the regis- 6 " ' tration of relevant articles in the Annual Bibli- Administrative Arrangements. O r d e r allo- ography and the Professional Reading lists com- cates functional responsibilities, and any piled by Paul V. Guite. changes to this o r d e r are promulgated in the Commonwealth Government Gazette. Al- most all commonwealth departments, al- AUSTRALIA. Archives and Manuscripts, though sometimes reluctantly, recognize vol. 7, no. 4 (April 1979). In the second of the principle of functional sovereignty over a three-part article on archives and admin- records. istrative change, three archivists with the An analysis of the Australian situation Australian Archives (Peter J. Scott, Clive D. reveals five types of changes affecting rec- Smith, and Gail Finlay) discuss (pp. 151- ords: location, name, department, status or 65) the effect of administrative changes on level, and transfer of functions due to ab- records in the government since 1971. Ac- olition or creation of agencies. The types of cording to standard European and Ameri- administrative changes depend upon the can archival theory, the rule is that, when number and nature of predecessor and an administrative body is abolished, successor agencies at the time of the change. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 241 The archivists believe that the transfer of functions causes the most complex archival problems—that is, the decision to transmit entire record series to a single successor agency or to split a series between several successor agencies. Consequently, there has evolved in Australia: (1) the concept of principal successor agency, whereby the principal successor agency inherits the main functions and records of a predecessor agency; and (2) the concept of shared se- ries, in which responsibility for a particular record series is shared between successor agencies under the principle of functional sovereignty over records. This latter con- cept may imply splitting a series between agencies, granting access to a series held by one successor agency to all successor agen- cies, or assigning drawing rights to all suc- cessor agencies without splitting the series. The Australian experience has shown the valuable assistance a national archives can provide during periods of administra- tive change. By closely working with the departments, the Australian Archives has sought to ensure the orderly transfer of records with the least possible disruption of official business. It has also developed a set of general guidelines for departments to follow during these periods of change. These guidelines relate to registry files, file registers, subject and name indexes, ac- count and staff records, and other non-re- gistry records. According to the three ar- chivists, it may be too early to evaluate the degree of success of this involvement, but there is no dispute that departments are taking greater care in the transfer of rec- ords. CZECHOSLOVAKIA. Slovenskd Archi- vistiha, vol. 11, no. 2 (1976). In an article analyzing the Slovak archives law, which became effective on 1 January 1976, Michal Kusik describes (pp. 31-52) archival devel- opment in Slovakia in relation to the new law. During the first twenty years of Czech- oslovakia's national history (1918-38), the Central Archives in Prague functioned without a legal foundation. This hindered not only national archival progress, but impeded developments in the administra- tion of state archives. In Slovakia the situ- ation gradually improved, especially dur- ing the post-World War II period. The first impact on Slovak archives occurred in 1954 with passage of a law organizing ar- chival work based on the Soviet experience. A second boost came in 1969 with the fed- eralization of Czechoslovakia. Under the 1976 legislation the newly created State Central Archives of the Slo- vak Socialist Republic, located in Bratis- lava, was empowered to declare certain documents as "national cultural treasures" and to regulate the pre-archival arrange- ment process of historical material. It is also authorized to protect state documents, regulate the interchange of holdings with foreign countries, and supervise archival material remaining in the custody of pri- vate individuals and non-state organiza- tions. According to the law, archival mate- rial is to be used primarily for consultation and study. The law permits no export or sale of archives, but does provide for the limited transfer of records outside Slovakia with the permission of the Ministry of In- terior. Items determined as national cul- tural treasures can only be loaned for ex- hibit purposes under special permission of the Slovak government. The organization of archives is accord- ing to type of institution and its services. Types of archives range from the state ar- chives, archives of state enterprises, to the archives of socialist organizations. A sepa- rate regulation provides for the archives of the army, security services, political parties, national front, and trade unions. In keep- ing with its Soviet model, the Archives of the Czechoslovak Communist Party is ex- empt from state control and functions as a special archival fonds. Slovenskd Archivistika, vol. 12, n o . 2 (1977). Michal Kusik in this issue describes (pp. 26-34) the administrative organization of the State Central Archives of the Slovak Socialist Republic. In 1978, the Slovak State Central Archives became an autono- mous unit with major responsibility as a research institute. It is organized into nine research and administrative departments: (1) history of feudalism, (2) history of cap- italism, (3) history of socialism, (4) pre-ar- chival care, (5) historical films, (6) maps D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 242 The American Archivist/ Spring 1980 and plans collections, (7) conservation and reproduction laboratories, (8) scientific in- formation, and (9) economic administra- tion. Plans are underway for the construc- tion of a more modern facility to enable the departments to expand their holdings and services. Archivni Zprdvy CSAV, n o . 10 (1978). In an article on the intellectual control of ar- chival holdings, B. Jezek discusses (pp. 79- 88), traditional and modern methods of information preservation. He describes the more conventional methods of preserving original source information: paper docu- ments, photographs, motion picture film. As a consequence of technological ad- vances, archivists now deal with material in new mediums: microforms, magnetic and cassette tapes, video cassettes, and mini- computers. These new archival mediums, because of their nontraditional nature, pose special problems for the archivist and re- quire special handling. IJOSEPH STASKO.JWU; York Public Library] INDIA. The Indian Archives, vol. 24, nos. 1-2 (January-December 1977). The three major articles in this issue deal primarily with archival sources available to research- ers in the study of the various aspects of Indian history. S. V. Desikachar, who was special officer at the Karnataka State Ar- chives, urges (pp. 1-18) in his article on archival wealth and post-Vijayanagara Karnataka history that scholars research this neglected period. According to Desi- kachar, most researchers have erred in be- lieving that there is nothing worthy of study in this area following the 1565 military de- feat of this previously powerful state. De- spite an apparent lack of glamour and the fact that documentation pertaining to Kar- nataka has been dispersed, there are ample archival sources available at records centers and repositories both inside and outside India. Renewed interest and research is contingent, however, upon development of the Karnataka State Archives and the dis- covery of lost archival materials by scholars and universities. B. D. Gupta, chairman of the History Department, Bundelkhand University, dis- cusses (pp. 19-31) available primary sources for studying the history of Bundelkhand under the Moguls, between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries. According to Gupta, primary sources on this subject fall into five categories: Hindi, Persian, Mara- thi, travel accounts by Europeans, and re- gional material. To insure scholars of the constant availability of these primary sources, Gupta calls upon private owners of pertinent archival holdings to deposit their material in either the National Ar- chives or one of the state archives. The last article, written by West German archivist Ernst Ritter, is a description (pp. 32-41) of archival holdings at the Bundes- archiv and other German archives that document German-Indian relations since the first decade of the sixteenth century. In addition to the Christian mission records, there is much material in various reposito- ries in the Federal German Republic that relates to navigation, commerce, and eco- nomics. Unsigned abstracts were prepared by the American Archivist staff. Other Publications Received Argentina. El Papel. Fabrication—Normalization Preservation—Restauracion (1977). Belgium. Miscellanea Archivistica, vol. 20 (1978); vol. 21 (1979). Czechoslovakia. Archivni Casopis, vol. 27, no. 1 (1977); vol. 27, no. 2 (1977); Archivni Zprdvy CSAV, no. 9 (1977); Slovenshd Archivistika, vol. 11, no. 1 (1976); vol. 12, no. 1 (1977). Denmark. Erhvervshistorisk Arbog 1978 (1979). D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021 The International Scene 243 Great Britain. Indian Office Library & Records, Report for the Year 1977 (1979); University of Warwick, Coventry, Modern Records Centre, Report for the Session 1978-79 (1979). India. National Archives of India Annual Report for 1976. (Hindi edition, 1978). International Council on Archives, South and West Asian Regional Branch. SWARBICA Journal, no. 1 (1978). Israel. Central Zionist Archives, Zionist Literature, n.s., vol. 13, no. 11-12 (November- December 1978); vol. 14, no. 1-2 (January-February 1979); vol. 14, no. 3-4 (March-April 1979). Central Zionist Archives, Report of Activities October 1971 -August 1977 (1978). Judaica. American Jewish History, vol. 69, no. 1 (September 1979). Mauritius. Annual Report of the Archives Department for the years 1973-74 (1978). Mexico. ACTAS Historia, Letras y Artes, no. 8 ( A p r i l - J u n e 1979); Bibliotecas y Archivos, no. 9 (1978); CB Ciencia Bibliotecaria, vol. 2, no. 3 (1979); vol. 2, no. 4 (1979). Netherlands. Archiefraad Verslag 1977 (1979); Jaarverslag van de Rijksarchiefdienst 1978 (1979); Gemeentelijke Archiefdienst, Verslagen der bedrijven diensten en commissies van Am- sterdam 1977 (1978). New Zealand. Archifacts, no. 4 & 5, n.s. (March 1978); no. 6, n.s. (June 1978); National Archives of New Zealand,^ Summary of Work 1976/1977 (1978). Norway. Nordisk Arkivnyt, vol. 23, no. 4 (December 1978); vol. 24, no. 1 (March 1979); vol. 24, no. 2 (J u n e 1979); vol. 24, no. 3 (September 1979). Romania. Biblioteca Centrala de Stat a Republicii Socialiste Romania, Centrul National de Schimb, Catalogue (1979). Singapore. National Archives and Records Centre, Annual Report 1977 (1978); Annual Report Jan. 1978-Mar. 1979 (1979). Spain. 1REBI Indices de Revistas de Bibliotecologia, no. 16 (May 1978); no. 17 (September 1978). CORRECTIONS: The Romanian abstracts in the October 1979 issue were erroneously attributed to the American Archivist staff. Joseph Dwyer of the Hoover Institution on War, Revolution, and Peace prepared these abstracts. Joseph Stasko, who prepared the abstracts of Slovenskd Archivistika for the Winter 1980 issue, was incorrectly listed as Joseph Staska. D ow nloaded from http://m eridian.allenpress.com /doi/pdf/10.17723/aarc.43.2.744j0n7p705w 6964 by C arnegie M ellon U niversity user on 06 A pril 2021