Photographic and Audiovisual Archives Working Group – PAAG

The ICA Working Group in Photographic and Audiovisual Records was created to attends the needs arising from the safekeeping of photographic and audiovisual archives. The “Working Group” is composed of archival specialists that should develop a general framework, creating educational resources within and for the archivist community, it’s to say, suitable to its needs.

We know that many archives keep photographic and audiovisual records, but not as exclusive material if not as complementary material among another kind of documentation, especially textual documents, in paper o electronic format.

A lot of archivists work alone in their institution and at a local level there are important quantities of photographic and audiovisual records that come from the photographers, local production companies, amateur filmmakers or local televisions.

Also, the general training of archivists is often insufficient to attend the needs of this heritage and complementary training options are usually limited or inadequate because they are not, and they probably won’t be, specialist in this area.

In this website, the ICA Working Group provides some educational and professional resources to the archival community, and a forum for a debate in an international level.

Mission

To attends the needs arising from the safekeeping of photographic and audiovisual archives.

Goals

  • To establish the basic guidelines for intervention in photographic and audiovisual fonds and collections.
  • To provide to archivists working tools to do works of description, conservation, digitization, etc.
  • To promote activities and resources for training.
  • To create a virtual place for communication and dissemination of resources.
  • To bring to archives, on a non-elitist way, the issues of interest related to photographic and audiovisual heritage.