This year’s Archives and Records Association conference theme
‘Challenges, obligations or imperatives? The moral and legal role of
the record keeper today’ was chosen to allow records managers,
archivists and conservators to contribute in equal number. There is
plenty for the Records Manager to consider in Dublin this August, with
two strands to build your own programme from: ‘Archives and Records’
and ‘Digital Preservation’. The latest conference programme and
booking details are available at
http://www.archives.org.uk/ara-in-action/the-ara-conference.html
Here are some highlights for records managers-
You may have already seen the announcement about this year’s keynote
speaker, James King (University of Pittsburgh, USA), on Wednesday 26th
August with his address about the Boston College tapes looking at the
tensions that come in to play when record keeping, politics and
international relations mix. Leah Benson (The National Gallery of
Ireland) will follow James King’s keynote on the topic of Irish
privacy legislation and the impact that data protection legislation
can have upon potential future sources of research about individuals.
Wednesday afternoon will see the introduction of the ‘Digital
Preservation’ stream for the first time which will explore issues that
are applicable to archivists and records managers alike. Professor
Sherry Li Xie (Renmin University of China) and Rebecca Grant (Digital
Repository of Ireland) will be exploring their approaches to managing
digital records in their national and regulatory environments. Over in
the ‘Archives and Records’ stream, there will be an examination of
medical records within Irish legislative frameworks.
Thursday’s ‘Archives and Records’ stream will examine the record
keeper’s role in legislation and accountability through papers from
Kim Eberhard (Charles Sturt University and Franciscan Friars,
Australia and New Zealand), Bruno Longmore (National Records of
Scotland) and Morag Fyfe (Independent Police Complaints Commission’s
Hillsborough Archives). For Thursday afternoon, there is a choice to
be made between attending a Preservica session on integrating digital
preservation content and records management systems (Microsoft
SharePoint is the proprietary software hinted in their title) or
considering practical reflections upon managing records within an
information governance framework by Dr Julie Brooks (University
College Dublin and Dermot Moore) and of the evolution archives and
records management in our current legal and technological contexts by
Zoe Smyth (Northern Ireland Civil Service).
On Friday a particular session of note would be Dr Mike Anson’s (Bank
of England) paper on corporate archives and the issues of morality and
James Elder raises an important question of why record keepers don’t
appear in public debates and media which if we did, could probably
help to raise the profiles of our profession within the public
conscious.
A recce of conference wouldn’t be complete without mention of the
Thursday Information Marketplace and the post lunch panels and
workshops. Of particular note for records managers are the Preservica
sessions held at 2pm (which is repeated at 3pm) but we hope you’d want
to attend the Section for Records Management and Information
Governance’s flagship ‘Don’t Risk It!’ advocacy campaign session, led
by the enthusiastic section Chair David Jenkins.
The venue has easy links from Dublin airport, it’s a great city and
the conference facilities are fantastic. For what you get when
compared to other conference prices, this year’s conference truly is
“a bargain” We hope to see you there!
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