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Among the numerous specialized international intergovernmental organizations, only Unesco has been given primary responsibility for promoting the development of archives. During its first two decades most of its projects involving archives were of limited duration and usually in direct response to specific requests from Member States. In 1970, with the active support of the International Council on Archives (ICA), Unesco began to develop guidelines for a policy on archives development, but a series of internal reorganizations and financial problems prevented implementation of many of the proposed projects. It was not until 1979, following the establishment of the Division of the General Information Programme (PGI), which combined many of the functions and activities of an earlier unit dealing with documentation, libraries and archives with those of the UNISIST programme concerned with scientific and technological information, that Unesco was able to address adequately the problems of archival development.
The Unesco General Conference had earlier directed PGI to give special attention "to promoting the development of archives services", not only as "a factor in the preservation and presentation of the cultural heritage and of national identity" but "particularly as a tool for administrative efficiency". PGI was thus given clear responsibility not only for promoting archival development, but also for emphasizing the development of records management systems and services. As the Programme Specialist of PGI responsible for archives at that time, it was my pleasure and privilege to work closely with ICA in implementing these instructions from the General Conference. The result of our joint efforts was the Records and Archives Administration Programme (RAMP) which has now completed a decade of service to Member States.
As originally conceived, RAMP had two overall objectives:
- to promote and assist in the creation of a full awareness and understanding of the value and uses of records and archives as basic information resources, particularly in relation to planning and development and in conjunction with other information resources; and
- to assist Member States, upon request, in the organization and development of the records management and archival systems and services necessary for full and effective utilization of these basic information resources.
In achieving these specific objectives, it was also necessary that RAMP reflect, in its projects and activities, the overall mission of PGI, which at that time consisted of five interrelated themes:
1) Promotion of the formulation and information policies and plans (national, regional and international).
2) Promotion and dissemination of methods, norms and standards for information handling.
3) Contribution to the development of information infrastructures.
4) Contribution to the development of specialized information systems in the fields of education, culture and communication, and the natural and social sciences.
5) Promotion of the training and education of specialists in and users of information.
The present publication has its origins in the efforts of RAMP to contribute to the second of these themes. As indicated in the Working Document for the Expert Consultation held in Paris in 1979, to review and evaluate critically the draft RAMP programme, this component of the programme would be based upon studies and would take the form of a series of "guidelines, norms, standards and recommended methods, professional and technical (.. referred to collectively as "guidelines"), that would be "prepared by specialists, circulated for comment, [and] revised as necessary...to reflect advances in technology and the results of research in records management and archival policies and practices".
The guidelines were to be based upon existing and especially commissioned studies; they were eventually to cover all basic archival and records management functions and activities, and were intended to be of value to both developed and developing countries. Priorities within both the overall PGI and the RAMP programme, and especially the availability of specialists to undertake studies at a particular time, largely account for the particular studies that were undertaken and the sequence of their completion. Additional Expert Consultations, held in West Berlin in 1982 and in Helsinki in 1986, reviewed the implementation of the RAMP programme to those dates and resulted in necessary modifications to enable the programme to respond better to changing needs and interests. The initial priority given to archival appraisal of various media and the emphasis upon preservation constitute the two major themes in this compilation of guidelines to those studies published between 1981 and 1986. A number of the guidelines have been tested, particularly by developing countries, and, with minor modifications to accommodate unique national circumstances, have demonstrated their value in establishing or improving systems and services. It is intended that this compilation will facilitate even more widespread use.
FRANK B EVANS
Washington, DC
October 1989