The Section of Archives and Archivists of Parliaments and Political Parties in the International Council on Archives (ICA/SPP) will hold a conference on the subject of "Archives and Democracy" in the Austrian Parliament on 29 and 30 October 2009. This conference is to deal with three major issues out of the field of how archives may contribute to promoting democracy:

• What are the most important archival holdings that might provide inspiration for promoting democracy?

• What means may be used to present these holdings to the general public, as well as to specific dialogue groups?

• What methods and instruments may be used by archives, in cooperation with other institutions, to actively contribute to democracy education?

Though some focus will be on the specific options and opportunities of parliamentary and political party archives, ICA/SPP is well aware that the issue might be of interest far beyond its own membership. That is why there will be leading representatives of other ICA sections among the keynote speakers, and why participation in the conference will not be restricted to SPP members, too.

The conference website has now gone online and can be accessed at http://archives-and-democracy.parliament.at/.

Dr. Günther Schefbeck
Vice-Chair of ICA/SPP
Head of the department "Parliamentary Documentation, Archives, and Statistics"
of the Austrian Parliamentary Administration
Dr. Karl Renner-Ring 3
1017 Wien
Austria
Tel: 43 1 40110 2236
Fax: 43 1 40110 2537
Guenther.SchefbeckATparlament.gv.at