[With apologies for cross-posting]

The Fifth Conference on Scientific Archives will take place on
September 26-30, 2011, in Fundação Casa de Rui Barbosa, Rio de Janeiro,
Brazil. The main theme is:

Acquisition and preservation policies for collections in universities
and research institutions

and paper proposals for the event are invited.
 
Within the following themes we seek individual or panel (not more than
three presenters/authors per panel) proposals, the aim being to
encourage discussion and debate throughout each session. Proposals
should be analytical and relate to one of themes of the event, and
should reference a project or a case study either in development or
recently concluded.

The following equipment will be available to presenters: a computer
with internet access, a multimedia projector and a microphone. There
will be simultaneous translation into English or Portuguese.

The synopsis should be between 200-300 words, not counting the title
and keywords. The synopsis should be produced in English, Times New
Roman, 12, normal, justified, with spacing of 1.5.

Please submit the synopsis to [log in to unmask] by
Thursday, 30 June and include a brief CV of the author(s), maximum 150
words, and a basic bibliography.
	
The results will be available on the website on the 2nd August.

The authors will have to send the final version of the paper by the
28th August.

Theme 1. The creation of scientific collections: acquisition as a
strategy of production and preservation of scientific memory. 

The acquisition policies adopted by scientific institutions are defined
as the set of principles that guide the programs, projects and
procedures pertinent to the processes of collections growth. This
picture involves the discussion about the scope of collections,
management policies, forms of acquisition (transfer, donation, or
purchase), guidelines for selecting donated material, regulatory
instruments, and other aspects. However these institutional policies
cannot be disconnected from societal demands concerning the construction
of the scientific memory of their own society. This process of
recognition on the part of society and the custodial institutions of
scientific collections enables the legitimacy and institutionalization
of that which is identified as the scientific heritage and, importantly,
that which ought to be preserved.

Theme 2. The policies of acquisition and of preservation: the
institutional challenge of knowing by whom, how and why what must be
acquired and preserved is defined. 

The understanding of the essential role that the custodial
institutional acquisition policies play in the safekeeping of the
scientific collections indicates the increasingly urgent need of
connection with the institutional preservation policies. This connection
is possible when we break with the classical preservationist approach.
The institutional preservation policies are understood as the set of
principles, choices and actions that have as their objective - through
institutional planning and the management of human, technological and
specific financial resources - the provision of durability, permanence
and access to the collections continuously and in the long term. Under a
strategic and planning perspective the decisions that establish what
will constitute the scientific collections of the institutions and what
are the priorities, guidelines and actions that underlie this
constitution and respective preservation, stop being understood as being
tied to one administration and start to be seen to be tied to the
institution itself by accountability and specific scientific and
technical knowledge.

Theme 3. Researchers, archivists and conservators: the dialogue in
search of policies and directives and the preservation of the scientific
heritage.

The preservation of documents produced in the research processes in
universities and research institutions represents a challeng
e for
researchers, archivists and conservators. The dialogue between these
professionals should be encouraged so that there is a mutual
understanding of the modus operandi of each one, seeking a broad study
on the preservation of archives derived from scientific research.
Understanding the importance and meaning of document production for the
creators' institutions, their own scientific research and the history of
science, is essential for the creation of a viable and efficient
preservation program for the collections.

Theme 4. Users of the scientific records: the role of custodial
institutions in mediating between the right of access and information
restrictions. 

The main objective of initiatives to ensure the acquisition and
preservation of scientific collections is to ensure access to the
heritage that is produced in the private or public sphere. This
heritage, resulting from scientific activities, once, institutionalized,
can unfold dialectically conflicts about the access issue. Often the
collections still retain characteristics that would restrict access and
fit regular custodial institutions about the question. The institutional
regulation should consider the legal issues that surround the
interactions with users and at the same time should recognize the right
of the user's research. The discussion gains greater momentum when the
scientific collections are found in the custody of public institutions,
or when the collections are produced in the public arena.

The Conference website is now available at:
http://www.aab.org.br/v_encontro_2011/ 




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