International Council of Archives

Lydie Padré GNESSOUGOU BAROAN-DIOUMENCY is from the Ivory Coast. She is known among her African colleagues as a dynamic professional, showing initiative and willingness to undertake new projects. You certainly noticed her if you attended the 2008 International Congress in Kuala Lumpur. Magnificently dressed with her country original clothes and wearing a traditional headdress, she presented in a crowded room the work she achieved with her team in the Direction Générale du Trésor et de la  Comptabilité  Publique, whose records and archives service she is managing as a sub-director.

 

Lydie what is your background?

I am a curator, and was trained as an information manager. I graduated as an assistant in information management in the Ivory Coast, then I got a diploma in Information and Communication Sciences in Senegal. I also graduated as a specialist in training management at the Pittburgh University, and got a graduate degree in Information Sciences and technologies management at the Brussels University.

How did you become the head of your department?

I was recruited by the Public Treasure administration in 1999, to work in the Training, Information and Communication Directorate. The recordkeeping system of the Public Treasure administration was then assessed, and as a follow up, I proposed and implemented with a team of specialists in information management  an emergency plan to improve the situation, arrange and classify the archives. The plan proved to be successful and I got a promotion in 2001. In 2005, I was appointed as sub-director of Records and Archives management.

Could you introduce your team?

I am managing a 15 people team : 8 of them are information managers of librarians, 5 are archivists, and one is an IT professional. Moreover I am monitoring from a scientific and technical point of view the activities of 32 professionals in the archives services of the Treasure central administrations and of the decentralized services both in Abidjan and in the rest of the country. All of them have got diplomas from the University.

Tell us about your recent achievement and your projects.

Most of our efforts tend to promote good recordkeeping in the Public Treasure administration. In this perspective, I have developed a series of procedure manuals, guides and organized awareness conferences and workshops, and visits of the central service. In parallel, we created the appropriate professional tools, starting with finding aids and a guide of the archives of the Public Treasure Administration and a manual about records and archives management and guidelines for database management. We also created semi-current records management units. Of course, I also proposed an action plan.          

The Ministry of Economy and Finances directed us a survey to assess its recordkeeping system. As a result, a project of reorganization of the recordkeeping system was implemented. 

We have to consolidate our system and procedures. I have therefore contributed to develop a policy paper about the organization of the Directorate recordkeeping system: this paper is about to be validated. 

Now we are working on disposal schedules, and will have a series of workshops.    

I thought  that it was time to show our work and to promote it so that other administrations in the Ivory Coast, but also in the region could benefit from our experience : I proposed a project to my administration, in partnership with ICA aiming to realize a promotional film on good recordkeeping,  presenting the case of the Direction générale du trésor et de la Comptabilité publique. The project is almost completed, and I hope the product can be disseminated in other countries.    

Finally, I plan to organize training sessions on description standards not only in the Ivory Coast, but also in the region.    

You seem very active at the international level. What does this experience bring to you?

I am a member of several professional associations, such as the IFLA, the AIFBD (International Francophone Association for Librarians and Information Managers) and of course, of ICA.  I am participating to meetings and conferences of these associations on a regular base.

I am also a member of the ICA Committee on Best practices and Standards : I am contributing as a representative of Africa supported by my institution. Recently, I participated to the WARBICA conference in Dakar (Senegal): ICA organized a workshop on the AtoM software, and I was asked to present the ICA description standards to my African colleagues.

By participating to these conferences I can share with other professionals on the evolution of the profession, enrich my knowledge and experiences and improve my practice. Then we try to implement at our level what I have learnt in order to get better results.      

Moreover the presentations I can hear from other experts reinforce the feeling I have that the profession of information manager federates all the other disciplines.  

What future do you imagine for archives in your country?

Some years ago, records and archives management was overshadowed and not considered as an important part of the institution management. Then recordkeeping was boosted in my institution because there was a clear support from the responsible at the highest level in the hierarchy. This is why every time I want to participate to national and international conferences I get the support of my institution. This is also archives services were created in all the directorates at the central level and  accounting offices. 

At the national level, the example of the Public Treasure administration is an incentive for other administrations; they contact us to get advice or inspiration from our experience. 

The National Archivist is opened to and interested by all these actions.

In order to enhance the experiences developed in the Ivory Coast, I would like ICA to help us to organize an international conference. This would definitively  persuade the decision-makers who are already aware of the importance of records and archives management.

From your point of view, what is a good professional in Africa? Is there a difference with professionals in other parts of the world?

I think that a good professional has to be honest, impartial, objective; he has to respect confidentiality and the international code of Ethics. He has to know and implement the professional standards and practices. But nowadays, a good professional should be a negotiator, a communicator, and a manager. He should know to manage changes, and be adaptable. Human relations are very important in our profession.

Information technologies are part of our world, in general, but also in our professional environment.  

I would not say that there is a difference with professionals in other countries. Nevertheless I am convinced that whatever part of the world you come from, if you do not have objectives and goals to achieve, you are just subjected to events and slave of your environment.       

Your husband is sometimes travelling with you when you attend professional meetings. What does he think about your profession?

My husband comes with me from time to time because he knows that my job can be stressing, and that I need his support. He thinks that I have got a difficult, but exciting job. He considers that it is a profession of the future in Africa which deserves a better place in the administration. 

As a conclusion, I would like to thank all those who make possible my professional life as it is: my institution of course, which trusts me, and the Ivory Coast authorities in general, but also ICA. They give me the opportunity to participate in and contribute to the international professional activities.