Seminar & Executive Board Meeting of the East Asian Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (EASTICA) was held in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia from July 17 to 20, which attracted approximately 80 attendees from 8 countries/territories.
The Executive Board (EB) meeting of July 17, chaired by President Song of the National Archives of Korea, was joined by the Chinese Archives Society, a Category B member of EASTICA for the first time in its history. This was based on an agreement at the previous meeting in Tokyo last year. At the Tokyo meeting, EB, whose membership had been limited to Category A members since its establishment, agreed upon several changes to its own structure: that is, one more seat exclusively for the Category B members would be added to EB from 2012; and a Category B representative would be nominated in turn in alphabetical order among member countries/territories, starting from China, for a term of not more than two years. In Ulaanbaatar, EB further decided to add another seat for the Category B members. As a result, two Category B representatives are to sit EB meetings constantly from 2013.
Additionally, the 11th General Conference of EASTICA and Seminar was approved to be held in Chengdu, Sichuan in Southwest China in the period between late August and early September of 2013.
The EASTICA Seminar was then held on July 18 and 19 under the theme of “Archives Administration - ICA Standards.” Revisiting appraisal, selection and catalog description as the most fundamental business for archivists, the Seminar was designed to discuss relevant archival standards developed by ICA.
First, country/territory reports concerning actual practices of appraisal, selection and catalog description were presented. National Archives of Japan (NAJ) reported about appraisal and selection after the enforcement of the Public Records and Archives Management Act; catalog description of digital archives of NAJ and the Japan Center for Asian Historical Records; and impact of the Great East Japan Earthquake on selection criteria. >>Japan's country report [PDF]
For the Seminar, two lecturers were invited from the Netherlands. Dr. Peter Horsman of the University of Amsterdam expounded ICA catalog description standards with a focus on ISAD(G), and Mr. Hans Waalwijk of the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences covered the definition and method of appraisal and selection, relationship between the two ideas, and so on. Questions and answers were exchanged actively, which showed attendees' deep concern to the issue.
The professional program was concluded by a visit to the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts, the Bogd Khaan Palace Museum and the construction site of a new building of the National Central Archive of Mongolia, which is planned to open to public in September 2014.
Further details of the 2012 EASTICA Seminar & Executive Board Meeting will be reported in No. 48 of our journal “Archives” to be published in November 2012.
Executive Board meeting
Country Report session: NAJ’s Mr. Osawa reporting archival standards and their practices in Japan
From the floor of the Session
New building of the National Central Archive of Mongolia under construction