Het Archiefforum heeft zojuist het 3000-ste lid mogen begroeten! De digitale kenniskrant over archieven en archiefonderzoek bereikt hiermee een nieuwe mijlpaal in haar bestaan. To be continued......... Op naar de 4000!!
Spring is in the air: geniet van deze prachtige dag!
Friday, March 30, 2007
Thursday, March 29, 2007
AMIGOS EN UNA CANCION
Se me olvido este video de PRESUNTOS IMPLICADOS resume en una melodia mi post de los amigos
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDh7bTfs34 metanse a esa direccion y encontraran el video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eGDh7bTfs34 metanse a esa direccion y encontraran el video
Friday, March 23, 2007
Diary of Saad Eskander (5), Director of the Iraq National Library and Archive
Diary for the Period 11-20 March, 2007
Sunday, 11 March
I held two meetings. The first meeting was with the staff of the library reading room and the book stacks, and the second meeting with the staff of the Planning Department. Three people work in the library reading room, and we need to employ three more people. The readers can use two photocopiers. We do not charge for such a service. But, for financial reasons, we limited the photocopying service to 20 pages. If we have two or three copies of the same book, we will allow the reader to photocopy as much pages as he wants outside the INLA. Outside photocopying will also be under our direct supervision. Around 20 people work in the book storage area, including those who serve INLA's readers. We use traditional methods in serving our readers, i.e. from searching the catalogue cards to providing the reader publications he orders. Next week, our readers will be able to use on-line-catalogue for the first time to search for publications they look for. I hope that some time in the future I can computerize the whole reader service. Mrs. E. is supervisor of the library reading room, is a library graduate. She is a very hard working librarian.
In the first meeting, we all discussed ways to improve our services and to speed up the process of cleaning up the book stacks; this has proved to be an extremely difficult task, because of shortage of cleaners and equipment. I promised to remove these two hurdles as soon as I could. I highly appreciate the hard work of my staff, who serves the readers under unhealthy conditions. We can still smell the smolder and soot caused by the fires of mid-April 2003. A number of my librarians and archivists, who work in the storage areas, have suffered from allergies.
Six people work in the Department of Planning. All are females, including Miss. Z, who is the boss. I asked them to present different types of statistics about INLA's personnel. The obtained data will be analyzed with the aim of developing our human resources in terms of quality and quantity.
Ten minutes after arrival to the flat, I heard a big blast. I learnt that a suicide terrorists attacked a group of people near the university of al-Mustanseriya. As a result, 18 innocent civilians were either killed or injured.
Monday, 12 March
It was a very chaotic scene near the INLA. The US Army and National Guards closed Al-Jemhoriyah Street in the morning. One of the National Guards began to fire towards the sky, hoping to disperse people and cars alike. I had no choice but to get off in Bab al-Mudham round about and to walk to my office. Few Minutes later, two US helicopters flew over the INLA, and then landed in an empty space inside the headquarter of the First Infantry Brigade (about 100 meter away from my office). The two helicopters flew away few moments later. My staff was forced to walk from the Bab al-Mudham roundabout to the building via al-Jamhoriya Street. I was angry about the ill-advised action taken by the National Guards and the police officers, which endangered my staff's lives. Therefore, I sent a letter to the Commander of the First Infantry Brigade and to the Chief of the local police station. In the letter, I criticized their unwise action, and questioned the rationale behind closing two important roads that put the lives of INLA's staff into real danger. I explained that by closing the two roads they would make it extremely difficult for us to keep the INLA open. I ended the latter with this question:'Who will be protected by the closure of the two roads: people or yourselves?' The closing of the roads has been one of the most difficult problems I have faced since 2005, when the First Infantry Brigade turned the former Ministry of Defense's buildings into its headquarters. The first action taken by the commander of the Brigade was to close the Maidan Road completely without consulting or even informing the directly affected parties, such as the INLA. This meant that the INLA's cars would have no access to enter the building through the front gate. The Commander took his action unnecessarily, because the several buildings occupied by his Brigade were 300 meters away from the Maimdan Road. Moreover, his soldiers put up a 150-meter long concrete barrier to shield themselves and their buildings. As we have no concrete barriers to protect our building, our staff was exposed to dangers directly. I tried in vain to persuade the Commander to reopen the Road. At the end, I decided to take the initiative by turning the pavement, which separates the INLA's fence from the Maimdan Road, into a temporary road. This would enable our cars to enter the building through main gate. The INLA's guards worked hard to remove all the barriers from the pavement. Thus, I reopened a new temporary road, which was soon used not only by us but also by other institutions.
Unfortunately, the National Guards and the Police station closed the temporary road last Wednesday (7 March). At once, I sent the head of the INLA's guards to the officers of the First Brigade in the hope that he could persuade them to reopen the temporary road. The military intelligent officer promised to raise the issue with his superiors. On Monday, 12 March, he sent a message to me that the temporary road would remain closed until further notice and that the Police and the National Guards would only allow my car to use the temporary road. I refused their offer.
We have not been using the rear gate for almost a year. Turning the rear gate into the main point of entry and exit means that INLA's car must use the extremely dangerous Al-Jamhoriyah Street. The corridor between the rear gate and Al-Jamhoriyah Street is only 70 meters. My guards are highly suspicious of the behaviors of the people, whose workplaces are located on both sides of the corridor. They sided overtly with armed groups in some of their clashes with the National Guards and the police.
At 9.30, once again the internet system stopped working.
I had a meeting with some of the staff of the Personnel and Administration Department. I put forward some proposals to make the department more dynamic and creative, which would involve the replacement of its head and one administrator. These changes will come into effect within the space of two days.
My deputy rang me in the afternoon that one of the transport contractor accepted in principle last offer, i.e. 113 millions Dinnar.
Tuesday, 13 March
It was a great news to find out that the internet was working properly again, and I began to read all Monday's e-mails.
I met an official from the PM's office. We discussed some issues concerning the reconstruction and the modernization of the INLA. I raised the important issue of the archives of the repressive institutions of the former regime. I criticize d the government for doing almost nothing to protect the cultural heritage of the country. The official promised to pass my views to his superior.
The transport contractor did not show up to submit his official offer; after doing that, we both must sign an agreement, which will also require the approval of the Minister. It is a long bureaucratic process.
At 10.00, the meeting of the heads of departments was held. At the beginning, my Deputy talked in a great length about our efforts to secure a deal with one of the transport contractors. The following issues were also raised: power-cuts, the renovation works of some parts of the building, the air-conditioning system, the transport of the staff, purchasing more furniture, creating a new computer programme for the Legal Deposit Department, the needs of the archive's reading room and stacks, the accessibility of the new publications to the library readers. In the meeting, I redefined and expanded the responsibilities of the heads of all the departments, while asking them to submit work progress reports to my office on a weekly basis. I also asked some of the heads of the departments to resume the holding of the fortnightly meeting with their own staff, like the rest of their colleagues, and that they should send short reports of their departmental meetings to my office. I promised to attend some of the departmental meetings, as I did last year. The meeting lasted one hour and 30 minutes. Mr. K, an Iraqi journalist who works for the American radio station, NPR (National Public Radio), was waiting for me in my office. He explained that Ms. L sent him, to arrange an interview with me. Ms. L is an American radio reporter; I first met her more that two years ago, when she was covering the story of the INLA's destruction. We agreed that Ms. L and her crew would come to my office on in the early morning of Wednesday, if that was possible.
US helicopters were flying very low above our building between 11.10-11.30, making a lot of noises.
My colleague, the Director-General of the Directorate of Kurdish Culture (KC), informed that he would go to Kurdistan for 10 days and that I should act as the acting director general of his institution in his absence. I had no choice but to agree, since he had to leave on Wednesday. I worked twice before as the acting director general of the KC. I know most of its staff. The KC's small building is about 2/5 km away from the INLA.
Wednesday, 14 March
The police officers allowed some cars to use the temporary road. I sent the head of the INLA's guards to them, informing them that all the INLA's car would use the temporary road from Wednesday onwards.
Mr. K. from the American radio crew, rang me, saying that would arrive soon by two cars. I was given the descriptions of the two cars, which I quickly passed to the INLA's guards at the rear gate. Twenty minutes later, the guards informed my office that they opened the gate for the two cars without searching them. At around 9.25, the American radio reporter and her crew arrived to my office. One of her aims was to see how much the INLA progressed during the last two years and how we managed to work under unfavorable security conditions. After the interview, Ms. L and her crew toured the INLA's departments, interviewing some of my staff. After one hour and three minutes, they left through the front gate, after our guards made sure that the temporary road was safe and open.
Thursday, 15 March
It was a very chaotic day. US tanks closed part of al-Mustanseriyah road, which is one of the busiest roads in Baghdad. My driver carried out a long maneuver to get me to my office at 8.20.
I had a meeting with the staff of the English Archival collections, the Arabic Archival collections and the Catalogue Cards. All these sections are parts of the Archive's Catalogue and Classification Department. Three female archivists work in the Catalogue Cards Section, whose main task is to check all completed files and records, before making catalogue cards, which will be used by our readers. They also send the completed files and records to the Micrographic Laboratory. The latter copies them onto microfiche and film rolls. I asked the staff to priorities their tasks by dispatching the historically important files and records to the Micrographic Laboratory, and returning the insignificant ones to their original storage. Seven young women work in the English Archival Collections Section. Two of them have been on leave. Five of them have BA in English language, while the other two have BA in combined Spanish-English languages. I employed all the seven in the INLA in order to work in the newly formed Section of the English Archival Collections. I need to employ at least three more people to work in the section, as our English collections are huge. I have divided the people who work in the INLA's Arabic Archival Collections into two teams. The first team includes eleven people, who are all women. Only two of them their age is above thirty years. Only three of them are librarians. We discussed ways to improve and speed up the process of registering, classifying and cataloguing Arabic files and records. It is true that old habits die hard, when I found out that the head of the Archive's Catalogue and Classification Department dose not pass her and knowledge and experiences to her own young staff, contrary to my instructions. I have warned her that she had to change her attitudes, otherwise she would be released from her responsibilities and would not be promoted. I blamed her for not holding regular departmental meetings with her own staff. I gave ten days to change work conditions radically. My assistant wrote down all the points and comments made during my meeting. I always use his notes for future reference.
I left my office at 12.00, heading to the Directorate of Kurdish Culture, where I should serve as the acting director. I visited two departments, before meeting the heads of the Administration and Financial Departments. We discussed their works and problems, which were not much different from ours. I put my signature to some official papers. After I finished all the paper work, I was not able to leave the building because of very heavy exchange of fires just across the road. The National Guards and the Police closed the nearby roads. Drivers and their passengers quickly left their cars, and hid themselves in some alleys. Everything went back to normality 15 minutes later. I left the building, heading to my home. The exchange of fires and the temporary closure of some roads caused heavy traffic. Before leaving, I told staff of the Directorate of Kurdish Culture that I would visit them on Monday, and that they could ask me to come, whenever they would need me. In the afternoon, I went to the Faily Kurdish Club, where I work as a unpaid member of its general board. I met some friends and went home right away.
Friday, 16 March
I stayed home, spending my time in either writing or reading.
Saturday, 17 March
I learnt that the snipers returned to al-Fadhel area, and that they began to attack innocent people. US helicopters opened fire on the snipers.
Sunday, 18 March
The traffic was unbearable. Most roads were closed. The situation was instable in al-Fadhel, as people and cars avoided the area. Al-Fadhel was shelled by mortar, I think, in retaliation for the returning of the snipers to that area.
I was informed as soon as I arrived that the son of one of the librarians was kidnapped by unknown group. Armed men murdered two people in al-Shurjah. The INLA had electricity for just two hours and 15 minutes.
I received a letter from the Ministry of Electricity stating that it was sorry for not being able to provide the INLA with 6 hours electricity per-day, i.e. 8.30-14.30. The Ministry of Electricity made up a unconvincing justification, that the INLA shares its electricity with some residential areas! I was not surprised by the letter or by the lies it contained.
I instructed the administration to take all the necessary measures to hold new an internal election. It would enable librarians and archivists to select three people who will represent them in the INLA's Managerial Council, whose members consists of the heads of all departments. The age of candidates must be under 30 and two of them must be female. The election consists of two stages. In the first stage, every ten librarians and archivists elect one representative, who will go to the second stage. In the second stage, the elected people in the first stage will elect in their turn three people for the Managerial Council. The latter is responsible for all important decision-making and implementation, including planning and budget. So far, five elections have been held since 2004. In 2006, we were not able to hold any election because of the security situation. This election is a little different from past elections. In the past, the librarians and archivists elected their representatives directly. In other words, librarians and archivists voted according to the system of direct democracy. As the number of the INLA grew, it became difficult to implement direct democracy. Therefore, I resorted to indirect democracy, whereby librarians and archivists can select their three representatives through two stages.
A bomb exploded near al-Mustanseriyah University.
At last some good news were on TV - the man who masterminded car bomb attacks in Baghdad w as arrested in our district. He was a young Palestinian and one of the most influential leaders of al-Qa'ada.
Monday, 19 March
The snipers attacked a number of civilians from their positions in al-Fadhel. The INLA had electricity for only 40 minutes. Power-cuts began to effect our work, especially in the Computer and Micrographic Departments. I raised the issue of repairing the Generator with the engineer of the Ministry of Culture. She told me that she was doing her best to have it repaired, but some people in the Ministry were hindering the paperwork for unknown reason. Corruption and restricted regulations have prevented me from repairing the generator since mid-2006.
Around 10.50, I supervised the first phase of the election for the Managerial Council, in which 26 librarians and archivists participated. They elected three young women for the second stage.
I was surprised to receive an appreciation letter from the Minister of Culture for proving my patriotism during Al-Mutananbi gathering last week!!
I received unconfirmed information from Mrs. Ni., the head of the Catalogue Department of the Library, that yesterday the US Army arrested Mr. J., who was one of her librarians. No one knew the true reason or the circumstances. I decided to wait until Tuesday, hoping that I would receive more detailed information concerning the arrest of the librarian. During the last few weeks, several members of the INLA's staff had their homes searched by the US army and the National Guards, especially those who live in the so-called 'hot areas' of Baghdad, such as al-A'dhamiyah, al-Ghazaliyah and al-Jame'ah.
Around 12.20, because of a bomb explosion a number of people were either killed or injured inside a well-known Mosque in al-Shurjah. Some people thought it was suicide attack while others thought it was a bomb planted in one the Mosque corners.
Tuesday, 20 March
We had no electricity at all. Several departments were unable to work, such as the Micrographic Laboratory, Restoration Laboratory and the Computer Department. I sent one of my staff to the local electricity distribution station. He was told that the reason for the power-cut was that the main cable was severed for unknown reasons and the repairmen would restore the power in a few days. Last year, because of a similar incident, the INLA did have electricity for more than 4 weeks. The repairmen will not work unless they get an order from their engineers; the engineers will not issue order until they receive in advance some payment; the repairmen will not execute the orders properly until they get their share from the payment. It is a vicious circle. The same fact applies to all other public services, such as telephone and water. Corruption has been the main problem since the early 1990's. It has now become far more dangerous than terrorism.
As Wednesday is the Kurdish New Year and a public holiday, the staff received their monthly salaries on Tuesday.
Around 10.30, I supervised the second phase of the election for the Managerial Council, in which 19 librarians and archivists participated. Two people were elected for the next stage, a young woman and a young man. I had a brief meeting with the staff of the Computer Department to discuss some issues, including the new salary system, which will be applied next month. The new system will raise the salary of all those people whose grades are between 4 and 10 by 60 to 45 percent.
Mr. Q gave more information concerning the arrested librarian. He informed me that a group of armed men wearing the National Guards' uniform went to Mr. J.'s house at 20.00. After they checked his ID card, they ordered him to go with them. He was allowed to change his clothing. Now, Mr. J's family is worried. His wife and brother are not sure that the armed men were National Guards. One has no choice but to wait. Usually, members of organized crimes contact the family of the victim after a few days, asking for a big ransom, whereas the religious extremists will sometimes ring the family of the victim, informing it about his fate. I decided to wait until next Sunday, before I send an official letter to the Ministry of Defense to ask about the fate of my librarian.
As I strongly believe that the main ethnic groups, the Arabs and the Kurds, must share each other s' national celebrations, I decided to give all my staff one day off on next Thursday. In this manner they will have four days break (i.e. from Wednesday to Saturday). Needless to say, everybody was over the moon by my decision and I became the most loved director, at least for a few minutes!
Before leaving the INLA to go to the Directorate of Kurdish Culture, three representatives of INLA's al-Ferdos woman society gave me a nice present on the occasion of the Kurdish New Year. I thanked them very much for their nice gesture.
I spent one hour in the Directorate of Kurdish Culture, signing papers and reading the mails, before leaving to go to my home.
In the evening, I spent some time, answering a number of messages which I received from some of my staff and friends, congratulating me on the Kurdish New Year.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
The W.V.S. Tubman Papers Collection
Momenteel wordt waarschijnlijk de laatste hand gelegd aan wat ik gemakkelijkheidshalve maar even het 'Tubman' project noem. Dit project is gericht op de conservering, restauratie, ordening en verfilming van het persoonlijk archief van William Tubman, voormalig president van Liberia gedurende de periode 1944-1971.
Dit project, geleid door Dr. Elwood Dunn and Dr. Verlon Stone samen met andere leden van het Liberian Collections Project, is gestart in de zomer van 2005.
Dit project, geleid door Dr. Elwood Dunn and Dr. Verlon Stone samen met andere leden van het Liberian Collections Project, is gestart in de zomer van 2005.
"[they] traveled to Tubman Farm in Bong County, Liberia in hopes of rescuing the personal papers of William V.S. Tubman"
Christopher Clapham, specialist Afrikaanse studies, bracht in 1979 een bezoek aan 'the Tubman Farm'. Toen werd geschat dat het persoonlijk archief van Tubman ongeveer 30.000 items omvatte. Clapham was van mening dat deze van grote waarde waren voor de studie naar de ontstaansgeschiedenis van de OAU (Organization of African Unity) en verder een goed inzicht gaven in de wijze waarop de West-Afrikaanse diplomatie zich gedurende deze periode heeft ontwikkeld.
Echter:
"Tubman Farm was looted in 2003 during Liberia´s most recent civil war. The looters scoured through the papers in search of money and valuables then scattered everything on the floor. Stone and Dunn visited the Farm in 2004 to assess the Tubman documents and found them damp from the tropical climate and in poor condition."
Dunn en Stone bezagen de situatie en overlegden vervolgens met de familie van Tubman over hun plannen om de persoonlijke documenten te conserveren, restaureren en herordenen. Het plan van aanpak zag er globaal als volgt uit:
"Stage I - Packing and Shipping to Indiana University
Stage II - Freeze-Dry Papers
Stage III - Conservation & Restoration
Stage IV - Description & Arrangement
Stage V - Microfilming
Stage VI - Return Tubman Papers to Liberia"
Tweeentwintig dozen met documenten en foto's werden teruggevonden op het landgoed van Tubman tijdens de reis in 2005.
De dozen werden overgevlogen naar het E. Lingle Craig Preservation Laboratory aan de Universiteit van Indiana om daar een proces van vriesdrogen te ondergaan. Volgens een medewerker van het laboratorium, Garry Harrison, waren de documenten zodanig vervuild dat zij niet in het laboratorium zelf konden worden ondergebracht. In plaats daarvan werden tafels opgezet buiten het laboratorium zodat de conserveringswerkzaamheden daar verder konden plaatsvinden. Het laboratoriumwerk werd voltooid in september 2005.
Archivaris, Colleen McCorkell, begon met het herstellen van de collectie persoonlijke documenten op 1 December 2005.
Hieronder een paar foto's afkomstig uit het beeldverslag van de werkzaamheden. Een volledige weergave hiervan is na te zien op onliberia.org.
Hierboven is afgebeeld in welke toestand de documenten werden teruggevonden op het landgoed van Tubman.
Hier de vochtige vloer in de bibliotheek van het landgoed, waarop de 'Tubman' documenten werden teruggevonden.
Liberiaanse archivaris is bezig om de vervuilde documenten te openen.
Het 'Tubman' project is gefinancierd door het 'British Library´s Endangered Archives Programme' en de 'Title VI Librarians of the Africana Librarians Council'. Veel projecten (en daarmee archieven) zijn al geholpen dankzij de initiatieven van onder andere het 'British Library's Endangered Archives Programma'. Ongetwijfeld zijn er meer organisaties die hun steun verlenen aan dit soort belangrijke projecten. Eén is er hier uitgelicht..... Het mooie aan dit project is tevens dat archivarissen in Liberia, door aan dit project deel te nemen, belangrijke vaardigheden hebben ontwikkeld om voortaan zelf initiatieven op het gebied van archiefbeheer en -behoud te kunnen ontplooien.
Voor mij persoonlijk maakt het dat ik mijn eigen werkzaamheden weer eens even in het juiste perspectief kan plaatsen: ik weet het, een vergelijking trekken met onze eigen situatie is niet op zijn plaats, maar het biedt wel de mogelijkheid om zaken weer eens goed te relativeren.
Met dank aan onliberia.org.
Archival organizations at EU level: about DLM, EBNA and EAG
[I want to thank to Ton de Looijer for the invitation to contribute to Het Archiefforum.]
Nowadays -apart from EURBICA, the European Regional Branch of the ICA-, there are three main organizations concerning the field of records and archives at the European Union level. They are different types of organizations, with distinct aims, but the three are contributing to build a kind of “European archival policy” or, at least, to the European cooperation on this field. In order to avoid my terrible English, I'm going to use some quotes to identify these institutions.
DLM-Forum / DLM Network EEIG
Created by an initiative of the European Commission -based on the recommendations of the Group of Experts’ Report on Archives in the European Union (Blackbook: 1994), ratified by the European Council-,
The DLM Forum is a community of Public Archives and interested parties in archive, records and document and information lifecycle management throughout the EU. In 2002 at the third DLM Forum conference in Barcelona the community recommended to launch the European DLM Network. In 2004 the DLM Forum was founded as a constitutional organisation and a DLM Network EEIG, established in 2003 provides the legal entity to administer the Forum. [DLM Forum Constitution, 2004; Preamble]It gathers a multidisciplinary series of members: from National Archives of any member state or acceding country, to any organization, Public Administration, association or individual involved in (electronic) Records Management. As we can see in his blog,
It has a remit from the EC to provide technology and knowledge transfer and information services, appropriate practice guidelines, benchmark indicators and information, educational, skills development and research opportunities.EBNA
To this end, the DLM was the lead body in producing the MoReq (Model Requirements) specification for Electronic Records Management Systems in 2001. This specification is currently being updated to MoReq2 which should become available in early 2008.
There isn’t much information on EBNA, just some data about several meetings, as the following quote from the website of the Helsinki Meeting in November 2006:
European Board of National Archivists (EBNA) is a gathering of the National Archivists (Directors-General) of the National Archives Services of the EU Member States. EBNA convenes twice a year under the chairmanship of the EU-Presidency in question. In their meetings the National Archivists discuss the strategic questions of their profession and services: preservation of electronic records, digitisation, theft and natural disasters inflicting archives etc. A major recent question is EBNA’s relationship to the new actor in the archives field in the EU, namely the European Archives Group (EAG).The following meeting of the EBNA will take place in Berlin (April 27th), under the German Presidency of the EU. Among its main activities, is worth highlighting its participation in the new Report on archives in the EU:
The members of the European Board of National Archivists (EBNA) played a central role in the experts´ group responsible for the Report on Archives in the Enlarged European Union. They have carried out considerable preparatory work to take forward the Report´s main recommendations, prior to its full approval by the Council of Ministers. [EBNA Conference in UK, November 2005]EAG
The European Archives Group (EAG) was created following the Council recommendation, on priority actions to increase cooperation in the field of archives in Europe, adopted on 14 November 2005. The EAG comprises experts from the EU Member States and the institutions of the Union. It is to ensure cooperation and coordination on general matters relating to archives and follow up the work referred to in the Report on Archives in the enlarged European Union. More in particular the EAG is called on to implement the priority measures referred to in the Council recommendation, i.e.:Moreover, according to the Council Recommendation, “Where and when appropriate, the European Archives Group should also cooperate with other relevant European networks such as the National Representatives Group on Digitisation and the European Bureau of Library, Information and Documentation (EBLIDA)”.The EAG will present a progress report on the implementation of the priority measures to the Council in the autumn of 2008.
- preservation of and prevention of damage to archives in Europe;
- reinforcement of European interdisciplinary cooperation on electronic documents and archives;
- creation and maintenance of an internet portal to the archival heritage of the Union;
- promotion of best practice with regard to national and European law with regard to archives;
- measures to prevent theft and facilitate the recovery of stolen documents.
Some questions on the matter
Since the DLM-Forum takes care (mainly) of electronic records management from a multidisciplinary point of view, gathering a more or less heterogeneous group of members –beyond the archival sector-: Do you think will be necessary the creation of a new organization who also involves other interested parties, as professional associations, regional and local archives services, educational or training institutions, etc., in order to achieve a more representative EU-archival policy?
I don’t think so. One solution could come by opening EAG to other members (including representatives of the DLM-Network), beside the experts appointed by the different Member States and the EU institutions.
On the other hand, it could be good some institutionalization of the EBNA to provide more transparency and participation or, at least, some information spreading (using for example a weblog, as DLM-Forum do).
Better and greater “organizationism” would be beneficial to our profession, providing us more visibility and capacity for action in decision making processes, for example in digitization matters, as the European Digital Library.
What do you think about it?
Paco Fernández - @rchivista
Monday, March 19, 2007
"The Machine is Us": get connected!
Peter van Garderen heeft op zijn weblog archivematica een posting geplaatst met de titel: The Machine is Us. Hierin geeft hij - naast een toelichting op de screencast van Michael Wesch - zijn eigen visie weer op het World Wide Web aan de hand van de presentatie 'Web 2.0 and Archive Access Systems' (hierboven een slide uit deze presentatie waarin een aantal conclusies worden samengevat).
"I think the core ambition of the human race is to connect. Today’s World Wide Web connects us. In the case of archival collections, we are able to use new web technologies to better connect people with their past. We are able to enhance, extend, and share our collective memories. This is the topic that I am exploring in my PhD research and about which I gave a presentation at several conferences last summer. I posted a screencast version of that presentation here. Unfortunately it is not as entertaining and effective as Professor Wesch’s video."
Zie ook: The Machine is Us/ing Us
En verder: "Digital Preservation" en "Web 2.0 and archives" vanuit je luie stoel
Sunday, March 18, 2007
The Archivists' Toolkit: curious for results
December 2006 version 1.0 of the Archivists’ Toolkit (AT) became available for download. As noted in the announcement, “The Archivists' Toolkit is the first open source archival data management system to provide integrated support for accessioning, description, donor tracking, name and subject authority work, and location management for archival materials. The effort to build this application has benefited tremendously from the interested guidance of the archival community and was made possible through the generous funding from The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.”
Thursday, March 15, 2007
Walking Through Archives
Uit de posting memories of records op Reading Archives zijn onderstaande quotes afkomstig:
Dat neemt niet weg dat het natuurlijk wel een optie is om een (P)RKS op een andere wijze te preserveren om zodoende voor de toekomst vast te leggen welke verschijningsvormen deze ooit hebben gekend.
Daarbij komt dat verdergaande automatisering en integratie hiervan binnen het proces van creatie en opslag van documenten met zich meebrengt dat digitale documenten steeds meer dragers zijn en worden van authentieke informatie; informatie die dus niet langer (ook) op papier voorhanden is en zal zijn.
Daarmee komt op termijn het beeld in zicht van een - langzaam - eindigend papieren archief, en een andere manier waarop wij onze bewaaromgeving (lees '(personal) record keeping systeem') inrichten.
Geen rode dozen, maar harde schijven. Geen schijnbare wanorde in kasten met een enkel voor de persoonlijke gebruiker waardevolle toegang in de vorm van krabbels en afkortingen, maar keiharde metadata waarbij social tagging vorm geeft aan de menselijke maat in een digitale bewaaromgeving.
Is dit doemdenken? Zeker niet. Ik ben tuk op al die nieuwe ontwikkelingen en mogelijkheden, die tevens aanleiding geven om eens na te gaan op welke wijze onze huidige traditie van archiveren op één of andere manier kan worden behouden (vanuit archiefstandpunt: voor bewaring in aanmerking komt).
Hiermee dwaal ik wel enigszins af van datgene wat in bovenstaande quote van Richard L. staat namelijk: "Should archivists do more to preserve personal recordkeeping systems such as these?" En dan doelt hij op de persoonlijke archieven van Riefenstahl en Benson en al die andere particuliere archiefvormers, en de wijze waarop de huidige eisen rondom opname en beheer reden kunnen zijn voor deze archieven 'to lose its physical aspect and probably much of its significance'.
Eén oplossing kan hierin voorzien: het vastleggen in beelden (audiovisueel) van de verschillende (P)RKS's, voorzien van een toelichting over de wijze van ordenen en opslaan.
In feite ga je hiermee fysieke (analoge) 'bewaaromgevingen' digitaal preserveren op een wijze die geen volledig recht doet aan de authenticiteit hiervan. Maar het voorkomt in ieder geval dat de persoonlijke bewaaromgeving van de archiefvormer verloren gaat wanneer archiefdocumenten worden omgepakt in zuurvrije omslagen en dito archiedozen waarna de 'oude' worden weggegooid. Waarmee ik overigens niet wil zeggen dat deze werkwijze - ompakken - in veel gevallen geen noodzakelijke voorwaarde is voor een goede vorm van opslag en beheer van het archiefmateriaal dat aan archiefinstellingen in bewaring wordt gegeven of geschonken. Ook hier treedt het spanningsveld naar voren tussen enerzijds de wens om de authenticiteit van archiefdocumenten (en hun omgeving) zoveel mogelijk te behouden en anderzijds de noodzaak om - gelet op duurzame bewaring - hieraan concessies te moeten doen. Vaak is het hierbij schipperen waarbij de koers veelal wordt bepaald door 'beleid' en de pet van de archivaris.
Voor de gelegenheid heb ik een group aangemaakt op You Tube met de titel 'Walking Through Archives'(http://www.youtube.com/group/walkingthrougharchiv - of neem de link in de sidebar) met daarbij de volgende description: attempt of archivists to preserve (Personal) Record Keeping Systems by means of fixing these systems on video.
Los van het feit dat deze 'bewaaromgeving' niet echt voldoet, kan het een eerste aanzet vormen om eens wat vaker met de camera in de hand langs archieven en achterkamertjes te lopen op zoek naar gedenkwaardige en alledaagse situaties waarin archieven worden gevormd en beheerd.
Join the group! Walking Through Archives.
"Jennie Erdal’s memoir of her life as a ghostwriter (....), includes this interesting reference to Leni Riefenstahl’s personal archives in the basement of her home just south of Munich: “Every part of her life had been recorded and labeled and catalogued, and it was all stored in box upon box, shelf upon shelf. The boxes were even color coded: yellow for press cuttings, green for de-nazification documents, red for American correspondence, grey for German, white for personal letters and black for court cases – more than fifty of them”
en even verder:
"Benson also reflects on his keeping old scorecards and related documents. “My old scorecards and scorebooks are on a shelf beside my old journals. Next to them is a box of old calendar pages going back some years now. I designed a way of keeping track of my days on those pages beyond making and keeping appointments. It is complete with little boxes and marks and abbreviations for weather and naps and stuff. For some reason it is important for me to be able to recall whom I wrote a letter to and whom I called and where I went and what I was reading on a given day”geeft in zijn commentaar op deze posting het volgende weer:
"Reading this wonderful post, I wondered what would happen were these collections ever accessioned by institutions: surely Riefenstahl's coloured boxes would be replaced with standard-issue, acid-free ones? And Benson's obsessive shelf-order, although it might be represented in a paper list, would lose its physical aspect and probably much of its significance.Antwoord: ik denk het wel. Echter het preserveren van met name analoge '(personal) record keeping systems' - (P)RKS - zal in veel gevallen niet praktisch zijn - alhoewel de coloured boxes uit Leni Riefenstahl privé archief zeker niet zullen misstaan in menige mistroostige archiefbunker --).
Should archivists do more to preserve personal recordkeeping systems such as these?"
Dat neemt niet weg dat het natuurlijk wel een optie is om een (P)RKS op een andere wijze te preserveren om zodoende voor de toekomst vast te leggen welke verschijningsvormen deze ooit hebben gekend.
Daarbij komt dat verdergaande automatisering en integratie hiervan binnen het proces van creatie en opslag van documenten met zich meebrengt dat digitale documenten steeds meer dragers zijn en worden van authentieke informatie; informatie die dus niet langer (ook) op papier voorhanden is en zal zijn.
Daarmee komt op termijn het beeld in zicht van een - langzaam - eindigend papieren archief, en een andere manier waarop wij onze bewaaromgeving (lees '(personal) record keeping systeem') inrichten.
Geen rode dozen, maar harde schijven. Geen schijnbare wanorde in kasten met een enkel voor de persoonlijke gebruiker waardevolle toegang in de vorm van krabbels en afkortingen, maar keiharde metadata waarbij social tagging vorm geeft aan de menselijke maat in een digitale bewaaromgeving.
Is dit doemdenken? Zeker niet. Ik ben tuk op al die nieuwe ontwikkelingen en mogelijkheden, die tevens aanleiding geven om eens na te gaan op welke wijze onze huidige traditie van archiveren op één of andere manier kan worden behouden (vanuit archiefstandpunt: voor bewaring in aanmerking komt).
Hiermee dwaal ik wel enigszins af van datgene wat in bovenstaande quote van Richard L. staat namelijk: "Should archivists do more to preserve personal recordkeeping systems such as these?" En dan doelt hij op de persoonlijke archieven van Riefenstahl en Benson en al die andere particuliere archiefvormers, en de wijze waarop de huidige eisen rondom opname en beheer reden kunnen zijn voor deze archieven 'to lose its physical aspect and probably much of its significance'.
Eén oplossing kan hierin voorzien: het vastleggen in beelden (audiovisueel) van de verschillende (P)RKS's, voorzien van een toelichting over de wijze van ordenen en opslaan.
In feite ga je hiermee fysieke (analoge) 'bewaaromgevingen' digitaal preserveren op een wijze die geen volledig recht doet aan de authenticiteit hiervan. Maar het voorkomt in ieder geval dat de persoonlijke bewaaromgeving van de archiefvormer verloren gaat wanneer archiefdocumenten worden omgepakt in zuurvrije omslagen en dito archiedozen waarna de 'oude' worden weggegooid. Waarmee ik overigens niet wil zeggen dat deze werkwijze - ompakken - in veel gevallen geen noodzakelijke voorwaarde is voor een goede vorm van opslag en beheer van het archiefmateriaal dat aan archiefinstellingen in bewaring wordt gegeven of geschonken. Ook hier treedt het spanningsveld naar voren tussen enerzijds de wens om de authenticiteit van archiefdocumenten (en hun omgeving) zoveel mogelijk te behouden en anderzijds de noodzaak om - gelet op duurzame bewaring - hieraan concessies te moeten doen. Vaak is het hierbij schipperen waarbij de koers veelal wordt bepaald door 'beleid' en de pet van de archivaris.
Voor de gelegenheid heb ik een group aangemaakt op You Tube met de titel 'Walking Through Archives'(http://www.youtube.com/group/walkingthrougharchiv - of neem de link in de sidebar) met daarbij de volgende description: attempt of archivists to preserve (Personal) Record Keeping Systems by means of fixing these systems on video.
Los van het feit dat deze 'bewaaromgeving' niet echt voldoet, kan het een eerste aanzet vormen om eens wat vaker met de camera in de hand langs archieven en achterkamertjes te lopen op zoek naar gedenkwaardige en alledaagse situaties waarin archieven worden gevormd en beheerd.
Join the group! Walking Through Archives.
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
Hoping for a stay of execution
Op Spellbound Blog kwam ik onderstaande posting tegen. Tekenend, beeldend, ten voeten uit: kies maar een karakteristiek. Deze publicatie geeft maar weer eens aan waar beroepsdeformatie (bij archivarissen) toe kan leiden. Aan de ene kant willen we maar al te graag informatie delen, die we vervolgens weer willen weggooien. Het geeft een aardige blik in onze eigen keuken. En op de één of andere manier deed iets(?) mij besluiten om deze posting - in zijn geheel - op deze weblog te plaatsen.
There has been a lot of discussion (both on the Archives & Archivists (A&A) Listserv and in blog posts) about the SAA’s recent decision to not preserve the A&A listserv posts from 1996 through 2006 when they are removed from the listserv’s old hosting location at Miami University of Ohio.
Most of the outcry against this decision has fallen into two camps:
- Those who don’t understand how the SAA task force assigned to appraise the listserv archives could decide it does not have informational value - lots of discussion about how the listserv reflects the move of archivists into the digital age as well as it’s usefulness for students
- Those who just wish it wouldn’t go away because they still use it to find old posts. Some mentioned that there are scholarly papers that reference posts in the listserv archives as their primary sources.
I added this suggestion on the listserv:
I would have thought that the Archives Listserv would be the ideal test case for developing a set of best practices for archiving an organization’s web based listserv or bboard.
Perhaps a graduate student looking for something to work on as an independent project could take this on? Even if they only got permission for working with posts from 2001 onward [post 2001 those who posted had to agree to ‘terms of participation’ that reduce issues with copyright and ownership] - I suspect it would still be worthwhile.
I have always found that you can’t understand all the issues related to a technical project (like the preservation of a listserv) until you have a real life case to work on. Even if SAA doesn’t think we need to keep the data forever - here is the perfect set of data for archivists to experiment with. Any final set of best practices would be meant for archivists to use in the future - and would be all the easier to comprehend if they dealt with a listserv that many of them are already familiar with.
Another question: couldn’t the listserv posts still be considered ‘active records’? Many current listserv posters claim they still access the old list’s archives on a regular basis. I would be curious what the traffic for the site is. That is one nice side effect of this being on a website - it makes the usage of records quantifiable.
There are similar issues in the analog world when records people still want to use loose their physical home and are disposed of but, as others have also pointed out, digital media is getting cheaper and smaller by the day. We are not talking about paying rent on a huge wharehouse or a space that needs serious temperature and humidity control.
I was glad to see Rick Prelinger’s response on the current listerv that simply reads:
The Internet Archive is looking into this issue.
I had already checked when I posted my response to the listerv yesterday - having found my way to the A&A old listserv page in the Wayback Machine. For now all that is there is the list of links to each week’s worth of postings - nothing beyond that has been pulled in.
I have my fingers crossed that enough of the right people have become aware of the situation to pull the listserv back from the brink of the digital abyss.
Diary of Saad Eskander (4), Director of the Iraq National Library and Archive
Diary for the Period 1-10 March 2007
Thursday, 1 March
The internet system had been not working since Wednesday. Therefore, I was unable to read my e-mails. Sometimes, a few of the e-mails need urgent response from me. My inability to reply quickly puts me often in an awkward position. The deputy head of the computer department contacted the engineers of the state-owned company to repair the internet system.
The engineers promised to restore the system within 24 hours. But, I was sure the engineers would not fix the problem. It usually takes them several days and sometimes several weeks to restore our internet system. Since the early days of 2007, I have been removing with the help of some young workers the Monarchical and Presidential Collections from its present location to my office. The Collections have some valuable books. The vast majority of the books were gifts sent to the heads of the State (i.e. the Kings or the Presidents) from 1921, (i.e. when the Iraqi State was established) and 2003 (i.e. when the Saddam Regime collapsed). A good friend of mine, who used to work as the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority) adviser on libraries between mid-2003 and mid 2004, told me about the whereabouts of the Monarchical and Presidential Collections and the fact that they would be looted if one did not take an prompt action to safe them. I told him I was more than willing to safe these invaluable collections if he helped me. I needed his help, because the collections were kept in a garage within the former Presidential Complex. The latter was located in the Green Zone, which was (is still) heavily guarded. My friend had ID that enabled him and his companions to enter the Green Zone. The problem was that he had no authorization to take the collections let alone bring a big truck to the Green Zone, which we definitely needed to move the collections to the INLA. We were extremely lucky to be helped by someone who was influential in the CPA at the time. That person got us the much needed permission to take the collections and to bring a big truck to the Green Zone. My friend, the driver of the truck and I needed to pass through a series of US checkpoints. It took us two hours just to reach the garage from the main gate of the Green Zone. The collections were hidden in an abandoned office inside the garage, where I found thousands of secret files and records belong to the Presidential Place. They were guarded by one US army officer. As these secret files and records were highly sensitive for political reasons and extremely important historically speaking, I approached the officer, asking him why these secret files and records were kept untidily in the garage? He replied that they would be used by the future Iraqi Court when Saddam and his henchmen would be put on trial. Then I asked him if I could read some of them? He refused in a polite manner, explaining that his duty was to look after these secret files and records until the Iraqi government decide their future. After I ended my conversation with the US army officer, my friend and I began to put the Monarchical and Presidential Collections inside the truck. It took us one hour. As the truck was not able to carry more books, I put what remained of the books in my friend's car. It took us another 50 minutes to arrive to the INLA (Iraq National Library and Archives). We were very exhausting physically. Thick dust covered our clothe, faces, hairs and hands. My friend and I enjoyed a lot our little adventure, and were very glad that we saved important collections from looting.
I am keeping all the Monarchical and Presidential Collections in my office for security reason. My office is guarded day and night. I hope that one day, when peace and security prevail, I will be able to display these collections in public.
For a few months, we have been facing a big problem concerning the publication of our books, such as the national bibliography. Last year, it took the Directorate of Cultural Affairs (CA), which is a part of the Ministry of Culture, 7 to 8 months to publish just two of our books; and we found out that the books were poor technically speaking. The paper and the ink were of substandard quality. The costs of the two books were too high. Moreover, we wasted a lot of time and efforts unnecessarily. According to State's regulations, we cannot print our books and journals in private companies, unless state-owned companies confirm formally that they cannot do the job for some reason. Therefore, I asked the Minister for his permission to allow the INLA to print its books through private companies. He refused, asking me to fine the CA according the terms of the written agreement between the two parties. I informed the Minister that I had already done that. At the same time, I asserted that imposing fines would not solve our publication problem, and asked the Minister to consider his decision. In the last meeting of the Ministerial Council, the Minister wanted the two Directorates (the INLA & the CA) to reach a compromise that would be satisfactory for both sides. I reluctantly accepted the Minister's initiative, but I did not hide my resentment, emphasizing that any new agreement would not work, as the CA would not adhere to it. The time proved that I was right. The INLA has been trying in vain to reach agreement with the CA, since the last meeting of Ministerial Council. Therefore, I decided to send another letter to the Minister on Monday, asking his permission to allow the INLA print its books by private companies. It would cost much less and the quality would be much better. Everybody at the ministry of culture knows that the CA is the most corrupt, inefficient and disorganized directorate. I told the minister about what I thought of the CA and its staff.
In the evening, a Spanish journalist from El Pais newspaper contacted me. She interviewed me by phone. The interview was short, focused on the INLA.
Friday, 2 March
I spent the day writing. I miss my old time when I had an adequate amount of time to do some historical researches. I am planning to complete a 20-page research on the Kurdish Community in Baghdad by the end of this month.
Saturday, 3 March
I spent the day writing my little research. I spent some of my time thinking about the historical documents, microfilms and photos, which returned to us last week. I quickly reached a conclusion that the first cleric, who claimed to have saved our collections from looting in April 2003, did not give us back a portion of our collections, which moved to a Mosque in al-Sadr City. I also think that the second cleric, whom I met last week, knew about what the first cleric did, and decided to return the remaining documents, microfilms and photos to us. I do believe that the second cleric is an honest person, unlike the first one, whom I did not trust from the very beginning. I even told some of my American friends not to believe the claims of the first cleric about his heroic role in saving our collections from looting following the destruction of the INLA.
Sunday, 4 March
The road traffic was unbelievably heavy. It took me 55 minutes to arrive to the INLA. The checkpoints are being increased daily. The soldiers and the police officers search cars and passengers alike. Many of these checkpoints are placed in wrong locations. Sometimes, one car will be stopped and searched by several checkpoints in the same road! At present, ordinary people do not complain. But, I am pretty sure that they will express their resentment, as their movements are being increasingly restricted day by day. Our national guards and police officers must reconsider the distributions of their checkpoints by analyzing the roads map of Baghdad. People are wasting valuable times in the heavy traffic. It is very difficult for a lot of civil servants, university student and teachers to go to their work. The disruption of our daily life is the main aim of the terrorists and the armed gangs, who wage their campaign of terror to destroy all types of normality of the people. Unfortunately, the rash actions of the national guards and the police, which cause daily chaos and confusion, play into the hands of the outlaws.
As soon as I entered my office, I went directly to the internet to see if was repaired. I was surprised to find the internet was working. It was the first time in which the repair of the internet system took just four days. Usually, it takes three to five weeks. The reason for the delays are corruption. Corruption is widespread phenomenon in all the government departments and institutions, including our ministry. None of the three successive ministers of culture tried seriously to remove the corrupt elements or to put an end to all types of corrupt practices. Corruption is the main threat to our society and people; it is far more dangerous than terrorism. Widespread corruption has been hindering my efforts to modernize the INLA, since my appointment in December 2003. I have been forced to put my ideas into action behind the back of those who are above me. Without resorting to unconventional methods and tactics, it would have been impossible for to reconstruct the INLA. No minister or any influential person encouraged or assisted me to breathe life into the INLA. I was lucky to have very good friends in many countries, including, Italy, Czeck Republic, Britain, America, Holland. These friends worked very hard to help me reopen all the departments of the Library and the Archive. Publications, restoration and micrographic laboratories, computers, printers, internet system, furniture and many things were sent from abroad. My staff and I will never ever forget those people who stood by us. It is very sad to the Iraqis to see that all the countries, especially the Arab ones, which we did help in past, did not even contact us. The destruction of the INLA is lesson for us, although it is a very harsh one.
At 9.10, I met the head of the Department of Accountancy. To solve the issue of the transport, he proposed to replace the existing cars with bigger ones. This would help us reduce considerably the cost of the transport service. I thought it was a good idea. So I asked him to contact the contractors immediately, and to inform me about the outcomes as soon as he could.
At 10.00, I met Miss Th., who works as the head of IT and Library at the School of Administration. The School is just 500 meter away from our building. Miss Th., who came to my office without a prior notice, asked if we would take part in her School's book fair, which will be held on 22 March. I said yes, and asked her if her library received any of our publications. She said no. She was surprised to learn that we managed to publish all the issues of the National Bibliography, as there was a huge gap between the years 1997 and 2003. I asked some librarians from the department of Exchange and Acquisition to join the meeting. At the end of the meeting, we agreed to send copies of all our publications and some of our surplus books and journals to the School. We agreed also to take part in the book-fair, where we will display some of our rare books, which we recovered after the looting of April 2003.
I received Mr. F, who took his family to a neighboring country in November 2006, after he received a death threat. His house was looted and confiscated by one of the Militias. His family stayed behind, and he returned alone. I was extremely glad to see him, he is an asset in my office. Saddam executed his father in the late 1960s. We talked for several minutes about the changes that took place in his absence. I proposed that he should head the department of public relations, which needed someone to bring life in it. He agreed in principle. We decided to meet again tomorrow concerning the redefining of the activities and tasks of the department of public relations.
Our young workers began to move all the extra copies of our collections from the book stacks to the basement of the building where they would be kept until we distribute them among academic and local libraries in Baghdad and in the rest of the country. Following my appointment, I noticed that the INLA had several copies of the same book. Sometime, we had ten copies of the same book! I proposed that we should keep only three copies of each book (the finest copies of course), and remove the remaining copies from the library stacks. To do so, I needed the approval of the former minister of culture. The new minister ordered the formation of a committee whose task would be the distribution of the extra copies. I was not happy with what the minister proposed, as I knew that the extra copies would be giving to the wrong people. So, I shelved the idea of distributing the extra copies, and I am waiting for the right time to implement my idea.
A Journalist from Washington Post contacted me to see if I would be available to meet him tomorrow. I said to him that he could come around 9.00-9.30.
Before leaving my office, I read an article on the INLA published in the Guardian on 28 February. The writer was generous in praising our efforts to keep the INLA open for our readers.
I received an important email from our the representative of the Library of Congress. I was asked to sign a Memorandum of Understanding that will establish the principles on which the LC and the INLA can cooperate. The INLA will benefit from the LC's World Digital Library. The LC's officials, whom I met last year, kindly agreed to provide us with the necessary equipment and to train some of our staff. I highly value this project, as a numbered countries from the Third World have been able to enter the world of digital library.
In the evening, I read the national newspapers. In the second page of al-Mutamar newspaper, I came across a little statement I made a few days ago, in which I demanded the government to separate the INLA from the Ministry of Culture and to link it directly to either the Council of Ministers or the Presidency. I also demanded that the INLA's director had to be granted extensive financial and administrative responsibilities so that he or she could carry out a series of fundamental changes in the fields of organization, legislations and personnel. I know my little statement will make some people unhappy. It is my dream to make the INLA independent of the ministry of culture. Our subjection to that ministry is the main reason why we cannot go forward as fast as I like. I cannot appoint any librarian or archivist without first getting the approval of the minister, and this proved difficult to obtain on many occasions. For instance, In November last year, I sent a letter to the Minister asking his approval of the appointment of 9 young graduates, whom I needed to fill certain gaps in some departments, such as the administration, computer and cataloging. The Minister refused to give his approval. I sent another letter to him two weeks ago, emphasizing that my institution needs new blood in order to make real progress; but he refuses to answer it. This is just one of many problems I face. The Prime Minster told the media that he will replace a number of his ministers. I have no choice but to wait and see.
Monday, 5 March
(This day will be always remembered, as the day when books were assassinated by the forces of darkness, hatred and fanaticism.)
The traffic was predictably very heavy. My car was searched at a checkpoint. The police offers were polite.
Miss. M. came to my office to say good byes. She has already moved to Basra, after the murder of her brother. I asked her not to be sad, as I was certain she would come back to us some time in the future.
At 9.00 someone from the Washington Post office rang me, informing me that the reporter would be a bit late. Therefore, I decided to meet the staff of the English Collections, as I planned earlier. The English Collection section is in the last floor, which much more damaged than other floors. The smoke caused by the fires of mid-April 2003, dust, high temperature, the breakdown of the ventilation system and most importantly the shortage of electricity supplies took their toil on the library collections. We have around 66,300 English books in various subjects. The oldest book goes back to 1845. Twelve librarians work in the English collection section, and all of them speak English. The inventorying work has started in September 2005 when three librarians undertook to make new cataloguing cards replace the missing ones during the mid-April fires in 2003. They had also to classify, catalogue, correct past mistakes and clean hundreds of other books. It has been a very difficult task, as the books storage area had no air conditioning system several months. The old conditioning system had been removed during the Saddam Rule for unknown reasons! The frequent power cuts, especially in the summer, make it very difficult to work inside the books storage area. However, my staff went on doing their task, even when the temperature rose to 48 centigrade. During the meeting, they complained about the power cuts, temperature and the dust. They asked me to provide them with good gloves, pens and white inks. Towards the end of the meeting, the head of the security of the building informed me that two people (one foreigner and one Iraqi) were waiting for me. I told him to take both men immediately to my office, and that I would meet them in 5 minutes.
I introduced myself to the Washington Post reporter and his Iraqi colleague, before the interview. I was asked various questions about culture in general and INLA in particular. We talked frankly about the security situation and impact on the INLA and its staff, etc.
As we were talking, a huge explosion shook the INLA's building around 11.35. We, the three of us, ran to the nearest window, and we saw a big and thick grey smoke rising from the direction of al-Mutanabi Street, which is less than 500 meter away from the INLA. I learnt later that the explosion was a result of a car bomb attack. Tens of thousands of papers were flying high, as if the sky was raining books, tears and blood. The view was surreal. Some of the papers were burning in the sky. Many burning pieces of papers fell on the INLA's building. Al-Mutanabi Street is named after one of the greatest Arab poets, who lived in Iraq in the middle ages. The Street is one of well-known areas of Baghdad and where many publishing houses, printing companies and bookstores have their main offices and storages. Its old cafes are the most favorite place for the impoverished intellectuals, who get their inspirations and ideas form this very old quarter of Baghdad. The Street is also famous for its Friday's book market, where secondhand, new and rear books are sold and purchased. The INLA purchases about 95% of new publications from al-Mutanabi Street. I also buy my own books from the same street. It was extremely sad to learn that a number of the publishers and book sellers, whom we knew very well, were among the dead, including Mr. Adnan, who was supposed to deliver a consignment of new publications to the INLA. According to an early estimation, more than 30 people were killed and 100 more injured. Four brothers were killed in their office.
Immediately after the explosion, I ordered the guards to prevent all my staff from leaving the building, as there was a possibility of another bomb attack. My staff and I were watching the movement of a number civilian and military ambulances, carrying killed and injured people. It was a heartbreaking view.
Almost ten minutes after the explosion, the Washington Post's reporter and his Iraqi colleague left the building. Their destination was unsurprisingly al-Mutanabi Street, the site of the massacre. Before the end of the meeting, we agreed to meet again next morning to continue the interview. After I arrived to my home, my wife told me that a big bomb blast shook our house at 11.30 and that dust and smoke covered our neighborhood. Fortunately, no one was hurt.
At 18.10, I was the guest of a Spanish radio that broadcasts to Spain and Latin American. I answered by phone series of questions about the INLA, its staff and the security challenges. The interview lasted 15 minutes.
Almost one hour later, the Reuters reporter in Baghdad rang me, asking me some question about the al-Mutanabi Street's car bomb attack, its history and cultural importance.
I watched the night news bulletin. The car bomb attack against Al-Mutanabia shocked all Iraqis regardless of their religious and ethnic background. The President, the Prime Minster and some other high-rank officials condemned the attack. Our political leaders are the best when it comes to the 'extremely difficult' task of issuing condemnation statements, while the annihilation of our culture and intellectual class goes on before their very eyes everyday.
At 20.25, my brother rang from London, asking me if everybody was fine. I reassured him that we all were fine. Then, as usual, we talked about politics, our friends and families.
Tuesday, 6 March
It was one of bloodiest days, as hundreds of civilians were either killed or injured by a series of car bomb and suicide attacks.
The war between the Minister of Culture and his Deputy became public, when the latter published an article in the main national newspaper, al-Sabah, viciously attacking the Minister, accusing him of being a terrorist, a killer and a sectarian! It has been for some time that Ministry of Culture was literally divided into two groups: the first group is Sunni dominated, led by the Minister, and based in the new building in the al-Haifa Street, and the second group is Shi'i dominated, led The Deputy Minister of Culture, and based in the former building in al-Zaiyonah district). This Cultural Sectarian War has completely paralyzed the Ministry of Culture. It has affected me too, even though I have stayed away from this sectarian nonsense from the very beginning, focusing on doing my tasks. I hope that the Prime Minister will intervene decisively in the matter before it is too late by removing all those people who have been involved in this sectarian cultural war.
At 10.00 I had a meeting with the staff of the Restoration Laboratory. Ten people work at the Laboratory, two men and eight young women. The Czech government provided us with all the necessary equipment and trainings, which enabled us to set up a modern restoration laboratory for the first time in the INLA's history. So far, six people (4 women and 2 men) have been trained in Czech Republic, Italy and Iraq. I hope that the INLA's restorers will enter an advanced training course this year. One of our original plans was that our trained staff would train other people from different cultural and educational institutions.
I began the meeting by explaining my plans to develop the Lab., such as providing its staff with more training and tools. My friend Rene Teijgeler, who served as a cultural adviser to Ministry of Culture during the CPA's period, informed me that the Dutch Blue Shield was willing to fund a project to purchase some tools and other necessary items for the INLA's Restoration Lab. I prepared a list before sending it to Rene. The head of the Lab, who is a practiced archivist, asked me to increase the number of his assistants, as there were many restoration works to be done. Last year, he held several training courses for our young archivists and for the archivists of the Ministry of Interior. He and his deputy, Miss. Na, always busy doing some experiments to find new solution for problems they face during their restoration works. They are the most creative people among the INLA's staff. They teach their Iraqi colleagues what they learnt from foreign experts. It was great news to hear all the staff enjoyed their daily works at the Lab. At the end of the meeting, I suggested that we should make a documentary film of the process of restoring some of our damaged documents and records, so that it can be used in future training programmes. I also suggested that the Lab's staff should write down the number, the type, the extent of damages of each item they would restore and how much time it would take them to do the job. My personal assistant wrote down the main points of the meeting.
The Washington Post reporter and his Iraqi colleague came to the meeting, 15 minutes before it ended. After the meeting, I introduced both of them to the head of the Lab, who answered some of their questions. The Washington Post reporter wanted to take some direct notes on the INLA's daily works. The reporter, his Iraqi companion, my personal assistant and I went to the Computer Department, where I would have another meeting with its staff.
Last year, 25 people worked in the Computer Department. Now, only 16 people work in the Department. Three women are on maternity leave, one went abroad and three left the INLA for security reasons. So far, the Department lost two of its young staff. Both men were married and had BA in computer science. Apart from two people all the staff of the Department are young. The head of Department, Miss Am, is a library graduate. She is loved and respected by her staff. She treats her colleagues kindly, as if they are member of her own family.
The INLA lost its four old computers during the Mid-April 2003 fires and lootings. There was no computer department in the INLA, when I was appointed. Just three weeks after my appointment, I purchased four computers behind the back of the Minister of Culture. He was given a promise by some country that his ministry would provide with hundreds of computers. But he did not a single computer even after a year and a half. I did not want to wait to setup the computer department, which I viewed as essential step for the process of modernizing the INLA. At present, the INLA has more than 130 computers, including some laptops. All the departments use computers in doing their tasks.
I began the meeting by asking series of questions about their works. I was told that the Arabic collections can be searched on the internet. For our on-line-catalogue we have been using Winisis System, which we upgraded from an old system, named cdisis. We have been using the same system for our English collections. Using modern systems are extremely expensive and require computers with special specifications.
The Computers and the Catalog Departments issue jointly a monthly publication, called Rawafid Thaqafiyah. It reviews all the publications and thesis that the INLA get hold of. We send this publication free of charge to all universities throughout Iraq and to other important cultural and educational institutions.
The staff of the Computer Department is busy with typing three volumes of the Baghdad Memory Project. I asked Miss Na to improve the INLA's website. I know that I am asking too much of her, as she the only web-designer we have, following the tragic death of the other web-designer, Ali, late last years. I asked Miss Na to train four of her colleagues, so that they can share the burden of running the web-site with her. I also asked the head of the department to renew her efforts to train those librarians and archivists who do not know how to use a computer. Last year, more than 7 computer training courses were held in the Department of Computers. The security situation and power cuts prevented the Department from its plan to train 30 people from different departments.
Halfway through the meeting, the power was cut. The meeting ended at 12.35. Thirty minutes later, the reporter and his colleague left the building, after we said our good byes.
Wednesday, 7 March
There was no heavy traffic. I arrived to my office around 8.00. The fighting between the National Guards and a group of armed men in al-Haifa Street began at 6.00 and lasted until 8.15. I heard sporadic exchanges of fire for a few minutes. National guards arrested 36 armed men, after searching the area house by house. The National Guards was also able to defuse a detonated car in Bab Al-mudham near the INLA.
Our technicians began to repair a number of windows, which had been broken as a result of Monday's car attacks against al-Mutanabi Street. At last, I was able to sign an important Memorandum between the Library of Congress and the INLA. The memorandum establishes the principle of cooperation between the two institutions on the World Digital Library project. The memorandum will be supplemented by a technical agreement that decides what equipment and training will be needed to implement the project. I am pinning my hopes on this project to scan a huge portion of our collections of invaluable historical newspapers and journals, before we lose them forever. The colour of the papers changed into dark yellow and became extremely fragile. In other words, these collections are on the brink of total destruction. This state of affair is result of several factors, notably neglect of the former directors, the inexperience of the staff, the negative effects of the mid-April Fires, and the power cuts that have prevented us from providing the right temperature and humidity in the storage areas.
Before leaving my office, three members of the INLA's Woman Society " al-Ferdos" invited me to their party, which they decided to hold on Thursday to celebrate Woman Day. Celebrating Woman Day every year has become part of the INLA's traditions, since my appointment in 2003.Al-Ferdos Society was founded two years ago by a group of female librarians and archivists to defend their rights and to have a strong voice in the administration of the INLA. It is a new experiment, which has helped to raise the confidence and morale of my female staff in a country where male values are totally dominating all aspects of life.
At 15.00, I took my wife and son to my in-laws. She wanted to spend some days with her parents. I stayed from 40 minutes and then left to see my friends. The day before, my wife prepared several meals for me, and told me what to eat on what day!
After the night news bulletin, the Deputy Minister appeared in a cultural programme, in which he renewed his attack on the Minister of Culture.
Thursday, 8 March
The traffic was light today. The reason is that the government have restricted movements of private cars, i.e. one day for cars that have odd numbers and one day for cars that have double numbers.
As I expected, I received a call from the Minister's secretary concerning my press statement, in which I called the government to separate the INLA from the Ministry of Culture. I told the Secretary that I would tell the Minister what I said exactly to the media, when came back from his foreign visit. I believe the Minister and office are making an unreasonable connection between the statement I made and the article written by Deputy Minister in which he attacked the Minister.
At 10.00, Al-Ferdos society's members gathered in one the main rooms to celebrate the Woman Day. The spokesperson of the Society read out the programme of the party, and then invited me to make a short speech, a thing that I always hate to do. In my speech, I pointed out that "we should all be proud of the fact that the INLA is the only government institution in Iraq, where its female staff were able to form their own society", and "we must not forget our five colleagues who died recently". At the end of my short speech, I undertook to support the Society's efforts financially and morally by donating some money to the Society and by sending an official appreciation letter to all of its members in recognition of their crucial role in the resurrection of the INLA. Cakes, chocolates and Pepsi-cola were distributed in a very friendly and happy atmosphere.
At 11.00, I left the INLA. My destination was al-Mutanabi, the scene of the last carnage, where Iraq intellectuals decided to get together in honor of all those who died in the car bomb attack. There were eleven people from the INLA in my company. We took with us two cameras to document this unprecedented event. Amidst the ruins and destruction caused by the car bomb attack a group of very angry and sad Iraqi intellectuals stood. There were TV cameras, reporters and journalists. The spokesman of the Iraqi Writers Union, and a number of poets, novelists and writers either made short speeches or recited some sad but powerful pomes. It was very heartbreaking occasion. I was glad that I was not the Minister of Culture! Everybody was angry about the ineffectiveness and carelessness of the Ministry of Culture. The intellectuals became furious when unexpectedly the Director of the Cultural Affairs made a speech on behalf of the Minister of Culture. He was unwelcome and uninvited guest. The audience interrupted his speech more than once. No one was willing to pay attention. Unlike my fellow director, I was well received by the intellectuals, as I was known for my blunt criticism of negative cultural policies adopted by successive federal governments and shortsightedness of the political class. Two of my companions filmed the destroyed area, while I took some photos. It is undoubtedly imperative to document this event for its historical values. It is the day, when both people and their books were massacred concurrently.
Immediately after the end of the gathering, some workers found the body of an old man under the wreckage of a destroyed bookstore.
At 18.25, my wife rang me from her parents' house. She told me off for going to al-Mutanabi, as she considered it to be a very dangerous place. It did not take me long to discover how much my wife was suffering from an illness called double standard, as she did not hesitate herself to go for shopping in al-Shurjah (the main commercial district), which is not too far from al-Mutanabi. The former is widely considered the most dangerous place in the country. It has been the terrorists' most favorite target, even in comparison with the Green Zone, which is the seat of government, parliament and the most important embassies.
Friday, 9 March
I spent the day alone in my home, writing and reading.
The National Guards defused two bomb cars in al-Shurjah area. My wife's parents live in a very old area called Suq al-Ghazil, which 200 meters away from al-Shurjah. In the afternoon, I went to see one of my close friends. We discussed the crisis inside the Ministry of Culture. It has been virtually divided into parts, Sunni and Shi'i, while the head of government has turned a blind eye on the crisis. My friend prepared a draft for a new legislation for the Ministry of Culture. It was a good one, and asked me if I could read it and make some suggestions. The old-fashioned elements, who are mostly ex-Ba'athists, did not like the draft. I advised my friend to postpone the submission of the draft, and wait for the right time, i.e. reshuffling of the Cabinet.
Saturday, 10 March
Three bombs exploded in my neighborhood. Two bombs went off at 7.30. They violently shook my flat, as I was watching some TV programme. At 13.20, another bomb exploded in my neighborhood. It shook my flat. I spent the whole day writing and reading in my room.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
Oostenrijkse archiefstukken op eBay
Op GESCHIEDENIS.NL van de VPRO is vandaag onderstaand bericht gepubliceerd:
Zoals in bovenstaand artikel staat aangegeven is op Het Archiefforum al eerder aandacht geweest voor de kwestie rondom het te koop aanbieden van archiefdocumenten via eBay."Via internet worden Oostenrijkse archiefstukken te koop aangeboden voor een bodemprijs. Dat schrijft Eric Hennekam op het Archievenforum. Het gaat om vijf documenten van 1784 tot en met 1838. Volgens Hennekam is het volstrekt onduidelijk wat de herkomst is van deze stukken. Een jaar geleden riep hij al op tot een onderzoek naar de beveiliging van Nederlandse archiefstukken. Het Nationaal Archief heeft inmiddels strengere regels in de studiezaal om diefstal te voorkomen.
Misschien hangt aan de Oostenrijkse documenten geen luchtje, maar Hennekam heeft toch twijfel. ‘In Duitsland en Oostenrijk zijn al eerder via eBay archiefdocumenten aangeboden, waarvan bijna 100% vaststond dat ze vroeger waren ontvreemd. Daarbij was in één geval de handelaar zeer ter goeder trouw.’
Het Gemeentearchief Amsterdam was enkele jaren geleden slachtoffer van een merkwaardige diefstal. Ergens tussen 1987 en 1994 verdween het oudste VOC-aandeel (uit 1606) uit dit archief, wat in eerste instantie niet werd opgemerkt. In 1999 meldde zich een Duitse veilinghouder, bij wie dit aandeel ter verhandeling werd aangeboden. Daarop werd een onderzoek gestart. Een van de conclusies hierna was dat de beveiliging stevig werd verbeterd.
Nogmaals: of de Oostenrijkse documenten eveneens via illegale weg op eBay zijn gekomen, is onbekend. Het maakt alleen opnieuw duidelijk dat er ook in geschiedenis geld is te verdienen. Op genoemde documenten na overigens, want het duurste stuk staat voor slechts 3,50 euro te koop."
"Business as usual" zullen een aantal van u wellicht denken. Waar is tegenwoordig geen geld aan te verdienen of erger nog "waar wordt tegenwoordig al geen geld aan verdiend".
Uiteraard zijn grotere uitwassen hiervan op te noemen. Natuurlijk, het kan altijd erger. Maar het zijn juist deze - alledaagse en voor iedereen bereikbare - voorbeelden die aangeven dat het begrip "handelaar in oud papier" niet simultaan mag staan voor de al dan niet illegale verkoop van archiefdocumenten.
Saturday, March 10, 2007
STEVE: review (from an archival point of view)
Abstract (waarbij musea archieven zijn geworden 
)
[Archives] want audiences to engage with their collections and ideas, but recognize that traditional methods of unidirectional on-line and in-[archive] communications have limited access and dialog. Supporting social tagging of [archival] collections, and providing access based on the resulting folksonomy, opens [archival] collections to new interpretations that reflect visitors’ perspectives rather than institutional ones. This co-operation between [archives] and visitors bridges the gap between the professional language of the [archivist] and the popular language of the [archive] visitor, and helps individuals see their personal meanings and perspectives in public collections.
Voorbeeld
Om aan te geven wat het verschil is tussen 'professional language' en 'popular language' onderstaand een voorbeeld afkomstig uit de publicatie 'Investigating social tagging and folksonomy in art museums with steve.museum'. Het gaat concreet om een beschrijving van het kunstwerk The Octopus uit 1912 van de Brits-Amerikaanse kunstenaar Alvin Langdon Coburn (website MMA - Metropolitan Museum of Art).
De website van het MMA Web geeft de volgende beschrijving:
Deze beschrijving wijkt sterk af van de termen (tags) die wij (bezoekers) hieraan zouden toekennen. Door een groep van vrijwilligers zijn- in een pre-test van Steve - de volgende tags aan deze afbeelding meegegeven, die allemaal op unieke wijze deze afbeelding en daarmee - deels - het kunstwerk beschrijven:
Het gaat hierbij in eerste instantie niet zozeer over het makkelijker of laagdrempeliger toegankelijk maken van informatie (en in geval van archieven vooral ook van documenten) - alhoewel dit uiteraard een logisch gevolg hiervan is - nee, belangrijker is de brug die geslagen wordt tussen 'the professional language of the [archivist] and the popular language of the [archive] visitor, and [to help] individuals see their personal meanings and perspectives in public collections'.
Deze laatste quote zou waarachtig zomaar een nieuw motto kunnen gaan vormen--: ingekort past het prima op de kaft van het een of ander beleids-, kader- of ander 'huppel'-plan. Dit betekent alleen nog meer 'professional language over professional language'.
Nee, beter kunnen we gewoon beginnen. Laat een aantal archiefbezoekers gedurende enige tijd archiefdocumenten die zij ter inzage opvragen 'taggen'. Low profile, low cost en het geeft op korte termijn in zoverre resultaat, dat je kunt toetsen of bovenstaand voorbeeld bij het MMA ook binnen archieven geldigheid bezit.
Nog beter is het om vooraf het artikel 'Investigating social tagging and folksonomy in art museums with steve.museum' te lezen. Toch bezig(?): neem deze dan ook even mee.
)[Archives] want audiences to engage with their collections and ideas, but recognize that traditional methods of unidirectional on-line and in-[archive] communications have limited access and dialog. Supporting social tagging of [archival] collections, and providing access based on the resulting folksonomy, opens [archival] collections to new interpretations that reflect visitors’ perspectives rather than institutional ones. This co-operation between [archives] and visitors bridges the gap between the professional language of the [archivist] and the popular language of the [archive] visitor, and helps individuals see their personal meanings and perspectives in public collections.
Voorbeeld
Om aan te geven wat het verschil is tussen 'professional language' en 'popular language' onderstaand een voorbeeld afkomstig uit de publicatie 'Investigating social tagging and folksonomy in art museums with steve.museum'. Het gaat concreet om een beschrijving van het kunstwerk The Octopus uit 1912 van de Brits-Amerikaanse kunstenaar Alvin Langdon Coburn (website MMA - Metropolitan Museum of Art).
De website van het MMA Web geeft de volgende beschrijving:
Alvin Langdon Coburn
(British, born America, 1882–1966)
The Octopus, 1912
Platinum print; 41.8 x 31.8 cm (16 7/16 x 12 1/2 in.)
Ford Motor Company Collection, Gift of Ford Motor
Company and John C. Waddell, 1987 (1987.1100.13)
The art historian describes it physically and stylistically:
Couched in the soft velvety nap of the platinum
paper, composed in the languid lines of Art
Nouveau, and softly focused, this photograph of
New York's Madison Square employs many
elements of Pictorialism at its best. However, the
dizzying effect of Coburn's aerial view and his
fascination with the skyscraper are distinctly and
precociously modern. The blend of Pictorialist
technique and fresh vision was characteristic of
the transitional moment when Alfred Stieglitz,
Coburn, Karl Struss, and Paul Strand began to
celebrate contemporary urban experience.
Deze beschrijving wijkt sterk af van de termen (tags) die wij (bezoekers) hieraan zouden toekennen. Door een groep van vrijwilligers zijn- in een pre-test van Steve - de volgende tags aan deze afbeelding meegegeven, die allemaal op unieke wijze deze afbeelding en daarmee - deels - het kunstwerk beschrijven:
1. 20th centuryHet bovenstaande geeft (deels) aan waarom social tagging - ook in archieven - een belangrijke functie moet krijgen.
2. abstract
3. abstraction
4. aerial
5. aerial topography
6. areal perspective
7. black and white
8. black and white contrast
9. cities
10. city
11. cityscape
12. cityscape in winter
13. Coldness
14. contrasts
15. empty park
16. Flat Iron Building
17. geography as art
18. geography in art
19. landscapes
20. Late 19th/early 20th century
21. Madison Square
22. Madison Square (New York)
23. New York
24. New York City
25. New York City in winter
26. New York City winter
27. New Yorkers
28. NY
29. octopus
30. outdoors
31. park
32. park in winter
33. park-goers
34. parks
35. paths
36. pedestrians
37. photography (b/w)
38. public spaces
39. roads
40. shadow
41. shadow (tower)
42. shadows
43. sledders
44. Sledding
45. sleighs
46. snow
47. snowscape
48. street scene
49. street scenes
50. tower (shadow)
51. trees
52. urban
53. urban landscapes
54. view from a window
55. walking
56. Winter
57. winter
Het gaat hierbij in eerste instantie niet zozeer over het makkelijker of laagdrempeliger toegankelijk maken van informatie (en in geval van archieven vooral ook van documenten) - alhoewel dit uiteraard een logisch gevolg hiervan is - nee, belangrijker is de brug die geslagen wordt tussen 'the professional language of the [archivist] and the popular language of the [archive] visitor, and [to help] individuals see their personal meanings and perspectives in public collections'.
Deze laatste quote zou waarachtig zomaar een nieuw motto kunnen gaan vormen--: ingekort past het prima op de kaft van het een of ander beleids-, kader- of ander 'huppel'-plan. Dit betekent alleen nog meer 'professional language over professional language'.
Nee, beter kunnen we gewoon beginnen. Laat een aantal archiefbezoekers gedurende enige tijd archiefdocumenten die zij ter inzage opvragen 'taggen'. Low profile, low cost en het geeft op korte termijn in zoverre resultaat, dat je kunt toetsen of bovenstaand voorbeeld bij het MMA ook binnen archieven geldigheid bezit.
Nog beter is het om vooraf het artikel 'Investigating social tagging and folksonomy in art museums with steve.museum' te lezen. Toch bezig(?): neem deze dan ook even mee.
Friday, March 9, 2007
Social tagging in archives
Ik heb vandaag op Het Archiefforum onderstaand bericht geplaatst:
Hoewel geen 'kenner' ben ik mijzelf gaan orienteren op deze website. Eerste indruk: geweldig experiment met hele goede mogelijkheden voor de museumsector en - in het achterhoofd - wellicht ook voor archieven.
Wat doe je in zo'n geval: juist zoeken naar mogelijkheden voor social tagging in archives. En wat blijkt, een collega op The lone arrangers is eveneens (en al wat langer) zoekende en vraagt of '(...) anyone know if social tagging is currently being tested in archives?'.
Op de website van The Community Engine is over dit onderwerp (folk taxonomy) een leuk artikel gepubliceerd. Hoewel dit voornamelijk ingaat op het archiveren van 'corporate information' biedt het toch een kijkje in het wel en wee van het gebruik van 'tags' om informatie (vanuit archiefstandpunt) te ontsluiten.
Kenmerkend hierbij is dat het begrip 'folk' - bij de sceptici ten aanzien van het gebruik van social tagging - gelijk staat aan 'chaos'. Misschien moet daarom het begrip folk wat meer gaan kantelen in de richting van social (soconomy).
Hoe dan ook kan ik mij geheel en al aansluiten bij de vraag van Jordan op The lone arrangers namelijk: does anyone know.......... Overigens zal nog worden teruggekomen op 'the art museum social tagging project'.
Peter van Garderen heeft tijdens de conferentie "Managing Information Assets in the Public Sector" (gehouden op 12-13 oktober 2006 Edmonton, Alberta) een overzicht gegeven van de stand van zaken rondom "Digital Preservation". Hiervan is een duidelijke webcast gemaakt. Deze biedt de mogelijkheid voor een ieder om dit aandachtsgebied naar de huidige maatstaven weer eens goed in kaart te brengen: wat speelt er allemaal en welke spelers doen er allemaal mee. Daarnaast zijn van deze presentatie de citaten en verwijzingen afzonderlijk samengebracht. Al met al nuttige informatie om eens lekker 'bij achterover te gaan leunen".
En wanneer je dan toch aan het "leunen" bent is de webcast met betrekking tot "Web 2.0 and Archives Access Systems" eveneens aan te bevelen. Naast goede informatie wordt hierin een aantal interessante websites naar voren gebracht. En dan doel ik m.n. op The Polar Bear Expedition Digital Collections, The Diary of Samual Pepys en Steve (the art museum social tagging project). Kortom veel luisterplezier.
Zijn er 'kenners' die Steve van een toelichting willen voorzien? Graag even mailen naar redactie@archiefforum.org. Dan krijg je hiervoor alle ruimte op Het Archiefforum | co-blog.
Hoewel geen 'kenner' ben ik mijzelf gaan orienteren op deze website. Eerste indruk: geweldig experiment met hele goede mogelijkheden voor de museumsector en - in het achterhoofd - wellicht ook voor archieven.
Wat doe je in zo'n geval: juist zoeken naar mogelijkheden voor social tagging in archives. En wat blijkt, een collega op The lone arrangers is eveneens (en al wat langer) zoekende en vraagt of '(...) anyone know if social tagging is currently being tested in archives?'.
Op de website van The Community Engine is over dit onderwerp (folk taxonomy) een leuk artikel gepubliceerd. Hoewel dit voornamelijk ingaat op het archiveren van 'corporate information' biedt het toch een kijkje in het wel en wee van het gebruik van 'tags' om informatie (vanuit archiefstandpunt) te ontsluiten.
Kenmerkend hierbij is dat het begrip 'folk' - bij de sceptici ten aanzien van het gebruik van social tagging - gelijk staat aan 'chaos'. Misschien moet daarom het begrip folk wat meer gaan kantelen in de richting van social (soconomy).
Hoe dan ook kan ik mij geheel en al aansluiten bij de vraag van Jordan op The lone arrangers namelijk: does anyone know.......... Overigens zal nog worden teruggekomen op 'the art museum social tagging project'.
Wednesday, March 7, 2007
Formation of SL archivists group
Christi Janus 
started an archivist group in Second Life. Contact him to join the group.
Look at page 15 of the The Metaverse Messenger
started an archivist group in Second Life. Contact him to join the group.Look at page 15 of the The Metaverse Messenger
"The Other Version"
Gudmund Valderhaug heeft op zijn weblog Depotdrengen onlangs een posting geplaatst met als titel "The Other Version". Deze posting is een vervolg op een eerder bericht (The unbearable Truth) waar wordt ingegaan op de wijze waarop de Noorse Labour Party in de periode na WOII zijn politieke macht gebruikte om op een breed terrein het (geheime) politieke toezicht op een grote groep Noorse burgers te vergroten.
In "The Other Version" gaat Valderhaug in op een bericht wat 6 maart jl. in de Noorse krant Klassekampen is gepubliceerd waarin staat dat betrokkenen die toegang hebben tot hun geheime opsporingsdossiers, zoals die worden bewaard in de archieven van de Noorse geheime dienst, wordt gevraagd om "aanvullende informatie" welke hierop van toepassing is toe te sturen aan dit archief, waarna de informatie zal worden toegevoegd aan de betrokken dossiers. Personen die gebruik willen maken van deze mogelijkheid hebben hiervoor twee maanden de tijd.
Kjell Horn van de Organisasjonen mot politisk overvåking (Organisation Against Political Surveillance) geeft aan dat betrokkenen zeker gebuik moeten gaan maken van deze mogelijkheid om zodoende hun eigen versie van datgene wat in het opsporingsdossier staat vermeld hierbij op te nemen. Horn geeft aan dat “The most important thing is to comment on records that obviously are wrong,”. Horn bekritiseert de autoriteiten die hiervoor slechts een termijn van twee maanden beschikbaar hebben gesteld.
De Noorse historicus Lars Borgersrud is initiatiefnemer van het project "The Other Version" wat zich ten doel stelt om documentatie te verzamelen over de wijze waarop mensen het politieke toezicht door de geheime dienst in Noorwegen hebben beleefd in de periode direct na de Tweede Wereldoorlog en de jaren die daarop volgden. Borgersrud benadrukt tegenover Klassekampen dat wanneer betrokkenen niet hun eigen versie van het verhaal willen afstaan, de versie zoals die in het opsporingsdossier staat vermeld zal worden aangehouden. Wat inhoudt dat “Then the police’s story will decide if a restaurant visit was just that or a meeting with a KGB agent (...)”.
De uitnodiging aan individuele betrokkenen om datgene wat in de diverse opsporingsdossiers staat vermeld in het juiste perspectief te plaatsen en te rectificeren, is het resultaat van een langslepend debat in het Noorse parlement. Telkens wanneer personen inzage kregen in hun eigen opsporingsdossiers ontstond een golf van kritiek op de onvolledige en onjuiste (bedriegelijke) informatie zoals die daarin is opgenomen.
Hierop volgde een discussie of onjuiste informatie in de dossiers zou moeten worden verwijderd danwel aangevuld met de gegevens van de betrokkenen zelf. De Storting (Noorse parlement) heeft hiervoor een wet aangenomen die betrokkenen toestaat - voor zover zij toegang hebben tot hun eigen opsporingsdossiers - hierin aanvullende informatie op te (laten) nemen.
Al met al een uniek verschijnsel dat personen van wie een dossier is opgenomen in een overheidsarchief toestemming krijgen om hierin rectificaties aan te brengen.
Aan het eind van zijn posting geeft Valderhaug aan "But this is not sufficient. (...), real justice will not win through until the people who have been subject to political surveillance get access to all the documents in their files and the full story of this injustice has been disclosed."
In "The Other Version" gaat Valderhaug in op een bericht wat 6 maart jl. in de Noorse krant Klassekampen is gepubliceerd waarin staat dat betrokkenen die toegang hebben tot hun geheime opsporingsdossiers, zoals die worden bewaard in de archieven van de Noorse geheime dienst, wordt gevraagd om "aanvullende informatie" welke hierop van toepassing is toe te sturen aan dit archief, waarna de informatie zal worden toegevoegd aan de betrokken dossiers. Personen die gebruik willen maken van deze mogelijkheid hebben hiervoor twee maanden de tijd.
Kjell Horn van de Organisasjonen mot politisk overvåking (Organisation Against Political Surveillance) geeft aan dat betrokkenen zeker gebuik moeten gaan maken van deze mogelijkheid om zodoende hun eigen versie van datgene wat in het opsporingsdossier staat vermeld hierbij op te nemen. Horn geeft aan dat “The most important thing is to comment on records that obviously are wrong,”. Horn bekritiseert de autoriteiten die hiervoor slechts een termijn van twee maanden beschikbaar hebben gesteld.
De Noorse historicus Lars Borgersrud is initiatiefnemer van het project "The Other Version" wat zich ten doel stelt om documentatie te verzamelen over de wijze waarop mensen het politieke toezicht door de geheime dienst in Noorwegen hebben beleefd in de periode direct na de Tweede Wereldoorlog en de jaren die daarop volgden. Borgersrud benadrukt tegenover Klassekampen dat wanneer betrokkenen niet hun eigen versie van het verhaal willen afstaan, de versie zoals die in het opsporingsdossier staat vermeld zal worden aangehouden. Wat inhoudt dat “Then the police’s story will decide if a restaurant visit was just that or a meeting with a KGB agent (...)”.
De uitnodiging aan individuele betrokkenen om datgene wat in de diverse opsporingsdossiers staat vermeld in het juiste perspectief te plaatsen en te rectificeren, is het resultaat van een langslepend debat in het Noorse parlement. Telkens wanneer personen inzage kregen in hun eigen opsporingsdossiers ontstond een golf van kritiek op de onvolledige en onjuiste (bedriegelijke) informatie zoals die daarin is opgenomen.
Hierop volgde een discussie of onjuiste informatie in de dossiers zou moeten worden verwijderd danwel aangevuld met de gegevens van de betrokkenen zelf. De Storting (Noorse parlement) heeft hiervoor een wet aangenomen die betrokkenen toestaat - voor zover zij toegang hebben tot hun eigen opsporingsdossiers - hierin aanvullende informatie op te (laten) nemen.
Al met al een uniek verschijnsel dat personen van wie een dossier is opgenomen in een overheidsarchief toestemming krijgen om hierin rectificaties aan te brengen.
Aan het eind van zijn posting geeft Valderhaug aan "But this is not sufficient. (...), real justice will not win through until the people who have been subject to political surveillance get access to all the documents in their files and the full story of this injustice has been disclosed."
Monday, March 5, 2007
Diary of Saad Eskander (3)
Diary for the Period 15-28 February 2007
Thursday 15 Feb., my driver and my guard were not able to pick me up in the morning, as most of the roads and bridges were either jammed or closed by the National Guards. My driver and the guard both live in al-Jihad district, which is near the Baghdad International Airport. It takes them 40 to 50 minutes everyday to pick me up from my home.
I had to go to my office by a taxi, although I knew it was not wise to do so. I also knew that the driver, and the guard and my wife would not be happy to see me going to work by a taxi. Everybody here is afraid of kidnapping. I am certain that tens of people have been kidnapped daily since early 2006.
I got into a taxi, after five minutes waiting. I saw many checkpoints in my neighbourhood, a view that makes many people very happy in Baghdad. The taxi driver began to talk, expressing his deep resentment of the checkpoints, claiming that they badly affected people's life. He claimed that he was a former army officer, and that he his comrades killed hundreds of US soldiers in the western desert, where he was serving at the beginning of the Coalition Forces' invasion of Iraq. I was sure that not a single US soldier was killed in that part of Iraq, and that the US Army lost less than 40 soldiers during the invasion. He also claimed that the Americans injured him in his hip. At one checkpoint, the National Guards ordered us both to get out of the car. We were body searched. The car was searched too. The National Guards were uncharacteristically very polite. I got to the NLA after five minutes, as the driver used a dangerous shortcut (i.e. Bab al-Mudham Road, in which the ends of three dangerous streets meet: Sheikh Omer, al-Kifah and al-Jamhoriyah.)
I soon noticed that a US fighter was flying low above our building. I took one picture of the fighter, as it was manoeuvring in the sky. I stayed in my office until 12.00. I read all the e-mail and finished all my paperwork. Before leaving the NLA, I asked the rest of the staff to go home, before the National Guards close the remaining roads and bridges.
I was invited to attend a concert that will be held in al-Rashid Hotel (within the Green Zone) on Saturday afternoon.
Friday 16 Feb., Since 2005, the government has banned the movement of all civilian vehicles between 11.00 and 15.00. It is precautionary measure designed to protect Shi'i prayers. Today, the most dangerous city in the whole world seems very peaceful. The National Guards began to break into some houses, arresting suspected people and confiscating their cars.
I received unconfirmed information concerning the murder of our librarian. From one source, I leant that the librarian was married to a Sunni woman, and that he converted from Shi'ism to Sunnism soon after the wedding. He even adopted the surname of his wife, i.e. al-Dlami, which a Sunni region and a large tribal confederation. He was born in 1959, and had four children.
Now the Sunni tribe of the librarian's widow demand considerable financial compensations from the killers or they will take law into their own hand (i.e. killing the killers). The tribal chiefs have recognized the persons who killed the librarian. The compensation will be paid hopefully to the widow and her children.
Saturday,17 Feb., National Guards and the Special Units of the Ministry of Interior could be seen everywhere. It was a wonderful day, because I could not hear a bomb explosion for the first time since mid-2006. The statistics of the Ministry of Interior showed that the level of terrorist attacks and communal violence went down sharply by 80%.
But I was worried about my two weapons, a pistol and a Kalashnikov. The Commander of a Battalion, which has stationed in our area since last Tuesday, advised me no to carry weapons, if they are not authorised by the Ministries of Interior and Defence. The National Guards and the Police would confiscate my weapons even if they are authorised by the Ministry of Defence. For us, directors, it is vital to carry some weapon for self-defence purposes. So far, two of the Ministry of Culture's director generals were murdered. Several attempts were made on the lives of other directors general and deputy ministers of culture. In early 2005, my car was ambushed in the infamous Haifa Street. We, my guards and I, were very fortunate not to be killed. We went to the Street in search of one of our drivers, who had been kidnapped along with his car by an armed group. He was released later, after they beat him up and looted his belongings. My close friends and colleagues told me off for being too reckless.
In the evening, I told my driver and guard to bring their guns with them so that we could place them in my office along with my own guns.
Sunday, 18 Feb., the morning time was quiet; no explosion nor exchange of fire. The road traffic was heavy. It took us three minutes to go the INLA. The check-points we passed through increased. Unfortunately, in the afternoon, a market and a checkpoint were attacked by three car bombs. As a result, one police officer and many children and women lost their lives. Despite this sad incident, people were still optimistic. Most members of the INLA's staff are happy to see the National Guards, the Special Units of the Police and the US Army on the street.
In my way to home, a National Guard stopped our car, asking if we carried arms with us. We said no. He affirmed that, if you had had arms, he would have confiscated them immediately, even if we had an official authorisation from the Ministry of Culture. I said that I was one step ahead of him, as I put all the guns in my office. He laughed and waved good by.
I learnt that day that the National Guards broke into al-Fadhel area, looking for and arresting suspected people. Some shops reopened in the area. The Bab l-Mudham round-about looked busier than before.
19 Monday Feb., the road traffic was getting worse, as the National Guards and Police Special Units increased the number of check-points. US armed vehicles were moving in the opposite direction. US army setups temporary checkpoints, whereas Iraqi army builds permanent checkpoints.
I had meeting in the Ministry of Culture. I asked another DG to pick me up in his way to the Ministry. We tried to reach the Ministry via al-Shuhada Bridge. But the bridge was closed, like some other bridges. So, we were forced to use a long route. We needed to cross al-Sarafiya Bridge, and then pass trough al-Haiffa Street. As we drove, we noticed that four or five cars were in al-Haiffa Street. It seemed that most people were still afraid of being ambused by the armed men, even though the National Guards the Police Special Units have imposed their control on the Street completely. They setup several checkpoints, at which the drivers and their passengers were asked for their license and identity cards respectively, and sometime they would be ordered to get out in order to be body-searched.
We, my fellow director and I, were both members of some committee, set up by the Minster to redistribute the former employees of the Ministry of Information. The latter was dissolved by the Provisional Coalition Authority (CPA), as a part of its policy to dismantle the Old Iraqi State. We have a difficult task ahead of us, as we required studying the CV of 1400 people, before we could make a decision. We agreed that the best way was to ask each directorate to make a detailed list of its needs for new employees, so that we could send the right people to the right places (i.e. according to their qualifications and expertises). At the end of the meeting, we decided to meet again next week, if we the security situation permit.
Before going to work, I arranged to send my wife and son by my car to a special clinic in al-Karradah district, where my little son could be vaccinated. Around 9.30, one of our guards said that he heard that car bomb went off in al-Karradah. I was a bit worried, and so I quickly contacted my wife to see if she and my son were safe. She said that they were inside the clinic and that they were not aware of the car bomb attack. I learn from some TV the subtitles that a bomb which was planted in a public transport (a mini-bus) exploded in al-Karradah, killing and injuring 15 innocent people. From the TV news bulletin I learnt that two other bombs exploded in al-Za'faraniya district in Baghdad.
Some of the main newspapers and Hurrah TV subtitles made reference to my interview with one of the Reuters's reporters, in which I said that the most precious part of INLA's collections was looted by professional thieves. It is ironic that our national newspapers resort to foreign news agencies to make its readers aware of what happened to the INLA! An Iraqi Radio Reporter from al-Iraq al-Hur (Free Iraq), based in Prague and funded by the US government, contacted my office, hoping to interview me regarding my statement to the press.
Tuesday 20 Feb., it was a quiet day at the INLA. Some US helicopter flew over our building. The INAL’s accountants took all the necessary steps to ensure that the monthly salaries would be distributed on Wednesday. The Iraqi reporter again, and I informed him that I was ready to meet him. I was asked a series of question about the destruction of the INLA, and the extent of damage inflicted upon our library and archive collections. The Interview lasted just 5 minutes.
Many Shi'i families, who had been forced to leave their house, returned to al-Fadhel area. This was a good sign that the security situation was under the control of the National Guards.
A suicidal attack in our street (Shar'a Falastin or Palestine Street) caused the death and the injury of several innocent people. The Prime Minister visited the Street few hours before the attack.
Wednesday 21 Feb., the monthly salaries were distributed. There has been no rise in the salary this month too. The government promised last year that it would increase the salary of most of state employees, whose grades are between four and 10. The rise will be between 50% and 60%. Naturally, most of my staff, who are on low income, were truly disappointed. The prices of basic commodities and fuel are rising, while the salaries remained the same; and when the state rises the salaries, the merchants of the black market will increase immediately the prices of their commodities. There are no regulations whatosever to protect the consumer or the poor, as if we are in the early stages of capitalism, where the state has no role to play in the wellbeing of its citizens.
I met the younger brother of late Raad, Mr. N. We discussed many issues concerning Raad, e.g. his murder, family and pension. As requested by N, I wrote an official letter to the local police station, asking for copies of its murder investigation. The local police station is just around the corner. The head of the INLA's security unit and Mr. N took the letter to the police station.
Tuesday and Wednesday witnessed lapses in the security plan. There were more bomb attacks than the days before. These lapses were expected, giving the state of lawlessness that prevailed for many months.
It seems that the terrorist groups have changed some of their tactics, relying more and more on mortar shelling. For the first time, they have begun to use gas-bombs in their attacks against civilian targets. My staff, like rest of the population of Baghdad, have been increasingly alarmed by such sadistic attacks. So far, there have been two gas-bomb attacks in Baghdad and one just outside the Capital. The latter caused a mayhem; as more than 150 people were killed.
Thursday, 22 Feb., I met Mr. N in the morning. He told me that his brother, Raad, was doing two jobs to support his own family. He enquired if the INLA could financially help his brother's family. I said that we already donated some money for the family and that I was more than happy to employ his son to work in my office, if he agreed. Mr. N approved of idea, seeing it as practical, for it will at least guarantee a stable income for the family. I advised him to prepare all the necessary official papers, so that we could apply for a 'martyr grant', which is paid by the government to the family of the murdered person. This grant applys only to civil servants and armed forces. The 'martyr grant' varies from ministry to ministry. The employees of the Ministries of Defence and Interior get the highest 'martyr grant', compared with other civilian ministries. Some Ministries pay an additional grant, if one of their employees is murdered by terrorists. Unfortunately, our Ministry pays the lowest 'martyr grant'. Therefore, we, in the INLA, do our best to donate as much money as we can to support the family of the murdered employee.
Around 10.30. Miss MA, who lost her older brother few weeks ago, asked to see me in my office. She described the devastating psychological and financial impact of the death of her brother on her parents and on his own wife and children. Her brother was the main breadwinner, not only for his own family but also for his parents. Now, she has to provide for her parents and for her brother's family. She could not control her tears. I advised her to make her younger brother share the sudden heavy burden with her. Miss MA and the INLA's administrators were busy taking all the necessary procedures for her transfer from Baghdad to Basra in the south, where our Ministry has one Cultural House. She already moved her parents and her late brother's family of to the city of Basra.
Earlier, I met some of our technicians, asking them to speed up their renovation works, and to be prepared for the mid-April, when we will hold a photo exhibition in memory of the destruction of the INLA. I have been planning to invite some 'honest' politicians, 'real' intellectuals and 'committed' journalists for the opening of the exhibition, which will tell the story the fall and the rise of INLA.
Around 12.00, I held an emergency meeting with the INLA's special transport committee. The latter assesses offers from different contractors, and then submits its recommendations to me, before I make my final decision. Usually, I agree with the main recommendation of this committee and other committees. Every year in January, we put an advert in a national newspaper, inviting transport contractors to make their formal offers in sealed envelopes. The INLA's transport committee will subsequently assess all the submitted offers, before making its recommendations, especially on the one that will fulfil our conditions and meet our needs. This year in January, our advert failed to draw the attention of transport contractors, largely because of the deteriorating security situation. Therefore, we extended the old contract for just one month (i.e. February). In early February, we put a new advert in a national newspaper, hoping to attract more transport contractors. Unluckily, only three contractors made their formal offers. Three offers are the minimal number required by the law. We only know two of the contractors, the present one and the former one. We always prefer to work with the one we know, for obvious security reasons. The offers were all exceptionally high. The three contractors have doubled the sum, which we paid for the period Feb. 2006-Jan. 2007. The members of the committee and I are aware that the contractors were extremely greedy, trying to blackmail us, as we were running of time. The former contractor made a new offer; it was still 45% higher than last year. The offer was verbal. This means that I had to ask the staff to share partially the financial burden, i.e. to make up the difference. We consulted the INLA's staff, and they all agreed to pay a small amount of money. We thought that we at least succeeded in securing a deal with the former contractor. Unfortunately, the contractor changed his mind at the last minute, demanding more money. The members of transport committee and I agreed that we should not bow to the blackmail of the greedy contractors, and that we should wait until the end of March, in the hope that new offers will be made and that new contractors will compete with the current ones.
Friday, 23 Feb., I read usually some of my e-mails on Friday morning. I came across an e-mail sent by a British lady to BL concerning my diary. She said that she was happy (or more accurately surprised) to learn that the person who was fixing the INLA's internet system was a woman. I thought I should send her an e-mail on Sunday, in which I will explain that ‘the heads of the Acquisition, Bibliography, Library Cataloguing, Archival Categorization, Periodical, Documentary Library and the Personnel Departments are all women. In addition to that, the majority of the deputy-heads the library and archive departments are women. The person who manages the INLA's official web site is a woman. Sixty percent of the people, whom I sent abroad for training purposes, were women. Last but not least, the female staff of the INLA formed their own society in 2004, with the aim of defending their rights. The society has its own periodical, of which so far three issues were published. It was the idea of my staff to publish an annual bibliography for Iraqi women. Last year, we published one volume, and this year another volume will be published’.
Saturday, 24 Feb., a booby-trap went off in al-Jamhoriyah Street. Fortunately, the damages were very limited. The National Guards and Coalition Forces closed one-half of the al-Jamhoriya Street permanently, as precautionary measure to protect the shoppers and the traders of the al-Shurjah. Despite the continuation of the bomb attacks, people feel much safer than in the past, i.e. before the implementation of the New Security Plan. The reason is that the number of kidnapping and assassination incidents has gone down sharply. People of Baghdad (including the INLA's staff) are afraid of kidnapping and assassination attempts much more than car-bomb attacks.
Another reporter contacted me in the evening, asking for an interview. I agreed to meet him in my office on Sunday morning. The strangest thing I have noticed here in Baghdad is that local journalists change my answers, as they want and according to the political orientation of the newspaper or journal, they work for! I had some unpleasant experiences in this respect. Once, a local newspaper mentioned in one of its headlines that the Director General of the INLA accused the American Occupation Forces of the destruction of his library! I have learnt a good lesson and so I insist now on reading the draft of the interview, before being published.
At 18.50, I received a call from a friend, who is the spokesperson of the Iraqi Writers Union. He mentioned that he knew a Shi’i cleric who got hold of historical documents, photographs and microfiches, which were looted from the INLA and that he wanted to hand them over to me in person. I asked my friend why the cleric did not return the looted items earlier? He replied that the cleric did not trust anybody in past, and that he waited for the right time to hand them over. Naturally, I was extremely glad to see the return of some of our looted collections to us. My friend gave my phone number to the cleric, who called two minutes later. We talked for 5 minutes and agreed to meet up early next week. I did thank him in advance for his efforts to return our looted items.
Sunday, 25 Feb., it has been the worst day, since the beginning of the New Security Plan two weeks ago. A suicide attack against the Administration and Economic Faculty (University of al-Mustanseriyah) resulted in the killing and the injuring of more than 170 people. Most of the victims were young students. The suicide attacker was a woman!
In the morning, a big explosion shook our building. I was surprised to learn later that the explosion was caused by a detonated car in al-Karradah district, which is about 6 km away from the INLA!
I had a brief meeting with late Raad's son, Z. It was his first day working in my office. I asked my secretary to help him settle and explain to him the nature of his duties. Z seemed to be very sad and disorientated, as he lost his father unexpectedly just two weeks ago.
The Cleric rang me, and apologise for not being able to come to the INLA. I told him he would be welcomed in my office at anytime.
I held a meeting with the heads of all the departments. The meeting lasted one hour, during which we discussed several issues, including, of course, the security situation, transport, the budget, the appointments of new staff, the annual report of each department and the commemoration of the destruction of the INLA in Mid April 2003. All the attendants supported the idea of holding a photograph exhibition. At the end of the meeting, we decided to form a number of committees to do certain tasks, such as making all the necessary arrangements for the proposed exhibition.
The crew of al-Hurrah Iraq (a US Satellite TV channel) arrived to the INLA. The TV reporter interviewed me separately for 20 minutes. The TV crew then toured the departments, interviewing some of the staff and the readers.
In the evening, the al-Hurrah Iraq showed my interview, in which I criticised successive Iraq governments and the political class for ignoring acute cultural problems that the country has been facing since the collapse of the former dictatorial regime. I stated that the state-run cultural institutions were desperately in need of radical transformation.
Monday, 26 Feb., at 12.30, I met the Shi'i cleric, Said H. He used a police car to bring the documents, photos and microfilms. He was escorted by three police officers. I told him it was dangerous to use police cars, as they were an obvious target for the armed men. He said that he was forced to ask the police for their assistant, as he thought that our area was extremely dangerous, security speaking. In the course of our discussion, I was genially surprised by the young cleric's open-mindedness and liberal views. We talked freely about politics and culture. We both found out that we had similar views on many issues. He told me that he attended the last conference of the Iraqi Communist Party, as a guest and that he was proud of his communist friends. Then he asked his driver to bring all the documents, photos and microfiches so that he could hand them over to me. The documents, photos and microfiches were placed untidily in several bags and boxes. They covered the Monarchical Era (1921-1958). I thanked the young cleric for returning some of our missing collections. We exchanged phone numbers and promised to meet each other whenever we could. After the end of the meeting, which lasted one hour, I escorted the young cleric to the main gate.
At 19.53, al-Hurrah Iraq showed a 5-minute report on activities of the INLA. My staff and I talked about our efforts to modernise the INLA in the wake of its destruction in April 2003. I was happy about the positive impact that the report had on the viewers.
Tuesday, 27 Feb., at last, we received some good news; the Council of Presidency and the Parliament have both approved of the 2007 Budget. It means that the INLA will be using its annual budget in the coming month, as all the restrictions imposed by the Ministry of Finance will be lifted.
I learnt today that the Minister sent an official letter to the Council of Ministers, in which he asked the Prime Minister's approval of keeping me in my post as the director general of the INLA! Three months ago, the Prime Minister sent a special team secretly to the Ministry of Culture, with the aim of examining the validity of the appointment of several director generals. Oddly enough, the team questioned the way in which I and two of my colleagues were appointed in 2003, while the appointments of the remaining director generals, who took their post in 2005 and 2006, were considered as valid! The sending and the findings of the team were not accidental. Only the appointments of the secular and liberal oriented directors were considered as not fulfilling the criterion set by the Prime Minister: an official letter from the CPA (Coalition Provisional Authority), decree from the Governing Council, or a decision from the current prime minister or his predecessors. My official ministerial appointment was considered as unsatisfactory by the special team. Therefore, I had no choice but to ask two of the former Cultural Advisors of the CPA to testify in my favour, by sending an official letter to the Minister of Culture. The two advisors were flabbergasted by my request, as I worked with both of them in my capacity as the director general of the INLA. They immediately sent a letter to the Minister, confirming that the CPA had recognised my appointment as valid.
Wednesday, 28 Feb., there are strong rumours that the Prime Minister will replace 10 of his ministers, including the minister of culture. The frequent changes in the governments had very negative effects on our works. Every new minister seeks to make radical changes in the ministry, according to his political affiliation and religious loyalty.
The Impact of the Sectarian Violence on the INLA's Staff (January-February 2007)
| Number | Type of impact |
|---|---|
| 1 | Unlawful Death (assassinations) |
| 2 [3? ed] | Unlawful Death of Relatives (one Daughter and one Brother, one Brother-in-Law) |
| 2 | Kidnapping |
| 2 | Death Threat |
| 3 | Displacement |
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