Annual Conference: Barcelona, Spain (IASA solo conference)
President: Kurt Deggeller, MEMORIAV, Switzerland. Richard Green, National Library of Canada, Canada
Editor: Ilse Assmann, The South African Broadcast Corporation Sound Archive, Auckland Park, South Africa
This is my last President's letter and, somehow, it seems that it was only yesterday I wrote the first one. Three years is in many situations too short, and at other times too long. Why? It is too short really to change something in the life of the association; but it is sometimes too long when you have a full time job as well and are under pressure from all sides.
This is a crucial dilemma of IASA and - to be honest - I don't know how to resolve the problem. The role of NGOs (IASA has the status of a Non-Governmental Organisation) becomes more and more important in our global society. Even if we are a small NGO acting in a niche, we can feel this. We should raise our voice on many occasions, for instance the WSIS, the world summit on the information society, with its countless preparation meetings; the process leading up to the UNESCO convention on cultural and linguistic diversity; not to mention the increasing demand for training in developed and developing countries. But to become a really significant player on this scene, you need time and money. And we have no time, because we have a full time job besides our mandate as a member of the Executive Board of IASA, and we have no money, because our association is financially weak.
Considering this situation using commercial logic the advice would be clear: you have to merge with a more powerful association, otherwise you will not survive. The intention of the acting Executive Board is to try to avoid this solution by building up partnerships. The main partner we have chosen for the moment is the ICA, the International Council of Archives. Among the larger NGOs in the heritage sector it is the closest to our activities and our philosophy. And it is willing to accept us as a partner covering the expertise in the field of audiovisual documents. Another interesting partner - to my mind - could be AMIA, the Association of Moving Image Archivists, with which we hope to meet in a few years' time. But this model of co-operation also needs time for its development, and again three years is too short, even if we have done the maximum.
IASA also still has a problem identifying its clientele. Our friends from FIAT/IFTA and FIAF are addressing a relatively well defined public: Broadcasting Archives for FIAT/IFTA (even if the radio archives are still true to IASA - but in the broadcasting world there is a trend to merge them with the TV archives), traditional film archives for FIAF. There is a large community of archives that do not hold FIAT and FIAF membership, and this could be a chance for IASA. They are mostly non-specialised archives that have some important audiovisual holdings and an urgent need for expertise in this field. They often do not know IASA exists, and IASA ignores their existence for the time being. We should motivate them to join us and thus considerably increase our membership. But for this, too, we need time and money.
I am not pessimistic. Our association has the potential to survive and to grow. Our publications satisfy a wide range of interests, also outside our usual clientele. Our sections and committees are working hard to produce more documents proving the expertise of their members. My feeling is that we have to work on topics that meet the needs of a large community of archives, and to avoid themes that reflect only the needs of a small, highly specialised group.
The open concept of our association puts us in an excellent position as an integrator of the various needs of audiovisual archiving. IASA has played a primary role in setting up the CCAAA ,the Co-ordinating Council of Audiovisual Archives Associations (see www.ccaaa.org), and thanks to its convenor, lASA's immediate past president Crispin Jewitt, this umbrella association is gaining more and more importance.
As you know, according to the Statues of IASA I cannot stand for a second term of office, but I will remain a member of the Executive Board for another three years. I promise to do my best and to help the new board develop our association further.
Kurt Deggeller
June 2005
President's letter
My first President's letter! It seems like only yesterday we were enjoying the sunshine and warm welcome in Barcelona. Now, I am readying my garden for winter, with snow in the air this morning, while anticipating eagerly my first visit to Mexico City. This will be my first opportunity to participate in a training session and to speak, as President, on behalf of IASA. It will also provide an opportunity to see the facilities for next September's IASA conference and to experience Mexican hospitality. The fact that it will be warmer than November in Ottawa is an added, but welcome, bonus.
My own contribution to the seminar's programme, AV Memory in the Digital Society, will look at the evolution of our understanding of digitisation. From the acceptance of computerised databases, and the idea of sound files for preservation, restoration and access, to an integrated digitised approach to collection management, and the forward thinking concepts presented in some of the papers at the Barcelona conference, digitisation has been, and continues to be, an evolving concept that dominates archival discussions. IASA has always been in the forefront of these debates. This is reflected in our Journal articles and in our publications, in particular TC-04, Guidelines on the Production and Preservation of Digital Audio Objects, more and more the standard source for information on digitisation. Digitisation is a topic that illustrates the importance and complexity of training and education in a fast changing AV world.
Training and education have become priorities for IASA. It is certainly an area where IASA, and IASA members, have had a significant impact. The seminar in Mexico City is just one of several to be held this autumn. There have been, or will be, seminars, meetings, and training courses in Latvia, South Africa, the Netherlands, and Italy. Each will have strong representation from IASA members. I would like to thank everyone who has participated in these sessions. Several have been in partnership with our colleagues in FIAT and received extensive co¬operation from various host organizations and governments. The increasing attendance at these events, and the willingness of broadcasters and other organisations to provide organisation and sponsorship, suggests that there are further possibilities for promoting the care and preservation of the world's audiovisual heritage. Both Ya Pele in South Africa and Pan-Baltic Images: Reaching out to the World in Riga in October left the strong feeling that a breakthrough had been achieved and there could be opportunities for progress and regional co-operation in the development of sound and audiovisual archives in these parts of the world. UNESCO's declaration of October 27 as the World Day for Audiovisual Heritage is another milestone in raising international awareness of AV archiving issues.
lASA's participation in these seminars and workshops, and our ongoing outreach through the CCAAA, provide opportunities to promote IASA and bring attention to the broader issues of AV preservation. IASA needs to balance these successes with our sometimes limited personal, organizational, and not to mention financial, resources. If IASA is to continue the active role in training and education pioneered by this year's Special Recognition Award winners, Dietrich Schüller and Albrecht Häfner, it will need to look seriously at developing more trainers, working with our partners in the CCAAA, and taking advantage of these opportunities to build IASA as a successful organization. Training was a priority of the last Board, and it will continue to be so for the new Board.
The mid-year board meeting is planned for March in Paris. It will have a full agenda as these are busy times, if the volume of emails circulating among board members is any indication. The call for papers for this year's conference should be issued shortly and by March we will be in full programme preparation mode. Please watch for the call and reserve 9 to 14 September for the Mexico City conference. The theme Between Memory and Oblivion should elicit interesting papers from both within and outside lASA's membership.
The Board will also continue the process started in Barcelona of mapping out lASA's direction for the next three years, working towards lASA's 40th birthday in 2009. With contributions from you the members and the hard work of your board it should be an exciting process. We welcome your input.
Richard Green
December 2005
