Section for Archival Education and Training

The Section for Archival Education and Training

The Section for Archival Education and Training is an organ of the International Council on Archives (ICA) which is the international non-governmental organisation representing the interests of archives and archivists.

The ICA Section for Archival Education and Training aims to establish closer contacts among teachers of archival science and to work towards the development of methodology and preparation of tools to assist them in their teaching tasks and in their contributions to the development of the profession. Archival education and training institutions and teachers of archival science have a crucial role to play in pursuing the establishment of a discipline of archival science which is scientifically and intellectually autonomous, administratively effective, and recognised by society. Teaching and research are principal ways in which to reach these objectives.

Origins of the Section
The Section for Archival Education and Training was formed after decisions taken at the XIth International Congress in Paris in 1988. In 1990 it succeeded the ICA Committee on Professional Training (ICA/CPT) which had its first meeting in 1977.

Objectives of the Section

To promote co-operation between archival training institutions and all those who are responsible for the education and training of archivists, and of other archives professionals
to assist in the development of archival research and the definition of standards, methods and qualifications for archival education
to gather and disseminate information about programmes of training institutions and other training activities and evaluate them
to co-operate with other bodies of the ICA in the preparation of training activities, training programmes and teaching for the various fields of archival work

Membership of the Section
Members of the Section are institutions or persons engaged in or responsible for archival training, who are institutional or personal members (Category C or D) of ICA or work with a member institution. There are more than 100 members of the Section. It is the Section¹s goal to achieve the participation of all archival schools that exist world-wide and all those who are teaching in the field of archival science.

The Sections´s Bureau
Responsibility for the work of the Section is entrusted to a Bureau elected at the Plenary Assembly of the Section at the ICA Congress, which takes place every four years. The Bureau has an annual meeting. The President, Vice-Presidents and Secretary form the Inner Bureau, which takes care of current affairs. The current members of the Bureau and their addresses are listed on this website.

Achievements of the Section
Concurrent with annual meetings, Committee and Section have organised international symposia

1988 Paris (France): "The Teaching of Archival Science".
1989 Milano (Italy): "Archival Training Programmes".
1990 the Hague (Netherlands): "Manuals and Textbooks on Archives".
1991 Beijing (China): "Symposium on Archival Training in Asia and Oceania", followed by a series of lectures and discussion meetings at Chinese teaching institutions.
1992 Montreal (Canada): "Archives: From On-the-job Training to University Education".
1993 Piraeus (Greece): "The Role of Technical Aspects in Teaching Archival Science".
1994 Ljubljana (Slovenia): "The Impact of Political Changes in Central and Eastern Europe on Archival Science and Archival Training".
1995 Austin (Texas, United States): "Is Teaching all there is to it? Archival Educators and Advocacy".
1996 Beijing (China): "Distance Education".
1998 Salamanca (Spain): "Continuing Education"
2000 Sevilla (Spain): "Archival education: the State of the Art".
2001 Marburg (Germany): "Reading the Vital Signs: Archival Training and Education in the 21st Century".
2002 Perth (Australia): "Recordkeeping in a Digital World: International Challenges".
2003 Härnösand (Sweden): "A Step Further - Postgraduate Studies and Supplementary Education in the Archival Field".
2005 Amsterdam (The Netherlands): "One Archival Europe...".
2006 Tokyo (Japan): "The Archival Science and Archival Education in the Electronic Age".

Publications:

Directory of Schools and Courses of Professional Training for Archivists has been published by Paule Rene-Bazin as ICA Studies no 6, Autumn 1992, 402 pp.
What students in Archival Science Learn. A Bibliography for Teachers, by Theo HPM Thomassen, the Hague, August 1996
The second edition of What students in Archival Science Learn. A Bibliography for Teachres revised by Masahito Ando, Feng Huiling, Irena Mamczak gadkowska, Silvia Schenkolowski-Kroll and Theo Thomassen will soon be available

To make the results of its symposia available to the profession, the Section secured the speedy publication of its proceedings distributed free to its members:

Proceedings of the First International Colloquium on Archival Education and Training (Paris, August 1988), in: ICA Studies no 4, Paris 1989, 108 pp.
The Second Colloquium of the Committee on Professional Education and Training (Milano, 1989), in: JANUS 1990.1 pp 21-52.
Proceedings: Third International Colloquium on Archival Training, the Hague 1990: "Manuals and Textbooks on Archives", and Symposium on Archive Training in Asia and Oceania, Beijing 1991, in JANUS 1991.2 pp 10-64 & 65-110.
Proceedings of the Regional Colloquium on Consequences of Political Changes in Eastern and Central Europe in Archival Education and Training (Ljubljana, Slovenia, October 1994), in ICA Studies no 7, Paris 1995, 97pp.
In connection with the Third International Symposium, UNESCO published in 1992 a RAMP Study on Manuals and Textbooks for Training in Archives Education and Records Management prepared by a Committee member Pirkko Rastas.
Proceedings of the Fourth International Colloquium on Archival Education and Training: "Archives: From On-the-job Training to University Education" (Montreal 1992), in Archivum, vol XXXIX, pp 485-532
Papers of the Piraeus Symposium have been published in: JANUS 1993.2 pp 95-12
Papers of the Seventh International Symposium in Austin were published in: Janus 1997.1 pp 7-50
Janus 1992.2 pp 37-65 contains the papers of the 1996 Symposium in Beijing on "Distance education"
Papers from the 1998 Symposium in Salamanca (Spain), "Continuing education" are in Janus 1998.2 pp 116-141

Two sets of audio-visual supports for archival training have also been started. Each set of slides is accompanied by explanatory texts on cassette and in printed form (French/English):

Archival Buildings by Michel Duchein
Seals by Stefiana Ricci and Aldo Martini

Current projects of the Bureau:
Each new Bureau elected compiles a Medium Term Plan of Projects it aims to achieve within its four-year term of office. Committee members work together in teams to complete these projects for the benefit of the Section´s membership and archival educators and trainers in general. Current projects are listed under Current Projects.
The Bureau also:

Organises symposia for archival educators and trainers;
Provides consultative liaison with the ICA Executive on training and education matters as necessary.

How to participate in the activities of the Section
Become a member of the International Council on Archives. Requests should be addressed to:

Secretariat of the International Council on Archives
60 Rue des Francs-Bourgeois
F-75003 Paris
France

OR email:ica@ica.org

Please include the following information:

Contact Name: ....................................................................................
School or Department: .....................................................................
University: .....................................................................................
Phone: ..............................................
Fax: ..................................................
e-mail: ..............................................................................................
Address: .............................................................................................

URL:http://www.ica-sae.org/description.html
e-mail to Dr. Karsten Uhde, As at: 24.09.2008