International Council of Archives

You were certainly interested in the answer to this question. You maybe will find something to start your reflection with, in the resolutions adopted by the congress of the Association of Archivists of Catalonia (AAC).

  “The 13th Congress of Catalan Archivists which met at Lloret de Mar to discuss the theme ‘Archivists, should we reinvent ourselves?’ was attended by over 200 professionals in archival science and records management. Resulting from the presentations and debates which took place at the Congress, the Scientific Committee now proposes that the following conclusions be adopted:

1. To establish the importance that the concept of archive has acquired in the last 15 years in different areas of contemporary culture.

2. To make evident the need to expand the field of archival science at university level and to provide it with the appropriate tools and methodologies to enable it to confidently deal with ever- evolving technological challenges.

3. To promote fields of theoretical research linked to the universities in order to increase the body of research in archival science.

4. To take advantage of the opportunities and possibilities offered to us by social networks, both in collaborative projects and in the dissemination of information on the contents of archives and the services they offer.

5. To move forward in determining and establishing the mechanisms for the validation and certification of our profession.

6. To advance, within the framework of the project established by the International Council on Archives (ICA), the process of establishing professional competencies and functions of our profession as a whole and to ensure they are adequately developed.

7. To verify that contemporary diplomatics offers archival science new methods which will ensure that the essential values of documents can be guaranteed.

8. To establish the need to form the partnerships necessary to facilitate our profession's expansion into the world of private business.

9. To ensure that the government agency responsible for the archival policy of Catalonia maintains and develops the structures and bodies necessary to guarantee the appropriate development of archival science and records management.

10. To ensure that archivists have the basic skills with which to position themselves successfully in the processes derived from the Semantic Web. This situation must guarantee our growth as professionals, must respond to the new challenges posed and must allow us to continue with our vocation of serving both organizations and citizens as a whole.

Lloret de Mar, 7 May 2011"