I doubt we have as much to worry about as the Haitians do, but the loss
of records is not just the "isn't it a shame that so many pretty and
interesting things were destroyed?" aspect.
The loss of information will have a huge impact on the ability of the
country to resume routine business activities and carry on any normal
record-keeping practices such as the registration of births, marriages
and deaths. Presumably all kinds of information relating to individuals
and communities such as health records, court records, case files,
school admissions, minutes and photographs will have all gone. The
deaths of so many will mean that people cannot even ask relatives about
their own histories. The impact on individuals and communities will be
enormous - adoptees are often distraught when records about themselves
cannot be located, and this will have happened on a mass scale in Haiti.
All this is before you get to the actual archival records which may have
been lost.
The effects will be felt for many generations and the full impact will
be a gradual process with the possibility that the actual losses will
never be known. I agree with Gillian - that we are needed to help with
reconstruction of information and professional help and advice in the
long term.
Jenny
Jenny Moran
Record Office for Leicestershire, Leicester and Rutland
2010/1/22 Alexander St. Charles <[log in to unmask]>:
I'm sorry as anyone else to hear about what happened in Haiti but do we
not have enough to worry about with archives in this country?
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