International Archives Day 2009 poster from Japan. Image courtesy of the International Council on Archives.Today is the second International Archives Day. Most American archives and archivists have yet to focus on International Archives Day, but repositories and archives professional associations are taking the opportunity to highlight the importance of archives to collective memory and governmental accountability and transparency.
Among the many archives that have chosen to observe International Archives Day are:
- Glasgow School of Art Library (United Kingdom)
- Macau Historical Archives
- National Archive of Andorra
- National Archives of Malta
- University of Glasgow Archive Services (United Kingdom)
- Wellcome Library (United Kingdom)
International Archives Day likely hasn't gotten much traction in the United States because of its newness and the established nature of American Archives Month, but it would be great to see lots of American repositories organize around International Archives Day 2010: as the International Council on Archives, which established International Archives Day, points out, it offers "countries which already have well-established celebrations at other times of year . . . another chance to reinforce key messages about the significance of archives."
Tip o' the hat to Felipe Diez of Solidarity Köln Historisches Archiv.
It would be great to figure out how to do this effectively in our own repository. I imagine we could partner pretty effectively with the Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands, if nothing else.
ReplyDeleteIt would also be nice to see the ICA get more traction here in the States. It would help archivists figure out how to convert dollars into euros, at least.