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The Pathway to the Recommendation Concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage Including in Digital Form

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The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme

Part of the book series: Heritage Studies ((HEST))

Abstract

This chapter goes behind the scenes to discuss the evolution of the UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage including in Digital Form and to highlight some of the major issues discussed over the preceding 3 years as to the best way to lift the visibility of the Memory of the World Programme (MoW) and to enable it to reach its full potential. Major points debated included:

  • Would the objectives of MoW be best advanced by either remaining as a Programme or by being more formally constituted through one of United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO)‘s normative instruments? If the latter, should it be a Recommendation or a Convention?

  • To what extent should the preservation of digital documents be highlighted?

  • Should any normative instrument focus on the MoW Programme or should it have a wider perspective on the roles and obligations of a range of bodies including UNESCO as a whole as well as NGOs, memory institutions, and indeed the governments of UNESCO’s 195 Member States?

This chapter reviews the debates around these questions, eventually resolved in the final text of the Recommendation, adopted by the General Conference of UNESCO in 2015.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    As indicated in the Opening Remarks given by the Deputy Minister for Culture and Heritage, Ms. Malgorzata Omilanowska and the Secretary-General of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO, Mr. Sławomir Ratajski.

  2. 2.

    Established pursuant to Item 12.4 in the minutes of the IAC meeting on May 2011, the Working Group consisted of Jan Bos, Lyndel Prott, Richard Engelhardt, Vitor Manoel Marques da Fonseca, Christine Merkel, Władysław Stepniak, Joie Springer (observer), and Ray Edmondson (convenor) (Edmondson 2012).

  3. 3.

    UNESCO carries out activities in five programme sectors: Education, Natural Sciences, Human and Social Sciences, Culture, and Communication and Information.

  4. 4.

    The study, carried out by Alissandra Cummins, included four Conventions, three Recommendations, and two Declarations. For a later and more complete listing, see the Appendix to 38C/Resolution 55 (UNESCO 2015b).

  5. 5.

    The conference was organized by the UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, Knowledge Societies Division, and The University of British Columbia in collaboration with the University of Toronto, UNESCO/UBC 2012.

  6. 6.

    The discussion paper was submitted to the MoW Secretariat in January 2013 and it remains unpublished.

  7. 7.

    Ms. Malgorzata Omilanowska, who had recently promoted to be Minister for Culture and Heritage, and Mr. Sławomir Ratajski, the Secretary-General of the Polish National Commission for UNESCO.

  8. 8.

    Following comments received, a revised draft was circulated on 3 April 2015 and an Intergovernmental Meeting (category II) of technical and legal experts in the related field was held at UNESCO Headquarters on 1 and 2 July 2015 to finalize the text.

  9. 9.

    38 C /Resolution 55. However, it is noted that, up until at least June 2018, the relevant page of UNESCO’s website had not reflected this change, and the document was still referred to by the earlier draft title, “Safeguarding the Memory of the World – UNESCO Recommendation concerning the Preservation of, Access to, Documentary Heritage in the Digital Era”. https://en.unesco.org/programme/mow/recommendation-documentary-heritage. Accessed 27 June 2018.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific Register Sub-Committee, Phnom Penh, Cambodia

    Helen Jarvis

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  1. Helen Jarvis
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Correspondence to Helen Jarvis .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Audiovisual Archiving Consultant Former Chair and Current Special Advisor, MOWCAP (Memory of the World Committee for Asia and the Pacific), Canberra, Australia

    Ray Edmondson PhD

  2. Professor of Modern German Literature and Comparative Literature, UNESCO Memory of the World Programme, Chair Sub-Committee on Education and Research, Paris, France

    Lothar Jordan

  3. Scientific Associate and Lecturer Chair Intercultural Studies, Brandenburg Technical University Cottbus-Senftenberg, Cottbus, Germany

    Anca Claudia Prodan PhD

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Jarvis, H. (2020). The Pathway to the Recommendation Concerning the Preservation of, and Access to, Documentary Heritage Including in Digital Form. In: Edmondson, R., Jordan, L., Prodan, A.C. (eds) The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme. Heritage Studies. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18441-4_5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-18441-4_5

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  • Online ISBN: 978-3-030-18441-4

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