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ICHIM 2004

http://www.ichim.org/UK/01.html

ICHIM 04, the eighth International Cultural Heritage Informatics Meeting
will take place in Germany from August 30 to Sept. 3, 2004, at the “Haus
der Kulturen der Welt”, Berlin. It will be focusing on digitization of
cultural heritage and on the emergence of new digital art and culture forms.

Curators, computer scientists, administrators, publishers and media
producers, educators, IT professionals, scholars, entrepreneurs,
libraries and museums professionals, artists and others invested in the
intersection of technology and culture will come from around the world to
share their experiences, learn new methods and forge new partnerships.

Digitization projects and Open Access

Yesterday I was present on the little Cologne workshop on digitization projects made by German libraries. I gave a talk on the results of such efforts. You can read my very critical paper in German here. At the end of my text I emphasized the importance of open access for heritage collections. Mr. Schoepflin (Library of the Max Planck Institut for the History of Science Berlin) presenting the project ARCHIMEDES (with some nice technical features) also did so.

Murray Collection at Edinburgh

A Literary Treasure Trove for Scotland

A unique multi-million pound treasure trove of writings from some of the greatest world figures of the past two hundred years could be on its way to the National Library of Scotland.

This outstanding archive containing private letters, manuscripts and other correspondence from Jane Austen, Lord Byron, Sir Walter Scott, Benjamin Disraeli, Herman Melville, Charles Darwin, David Livingstone, Thomas Carlyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Edith Wharton, to name a few, is being offered to the National Library at a reduced price in order that the collection is kept in Britain.

The Murray publishing family, which is based in London, owns the archive but the current head of the family, John Murray VII, wants the collection to be placed in the National Library of Scotland because of the strong Scottish content and the fact that John Murray I was born in Edinburgh.

The collection would be sold to the National Library of Scotland for just over £33m. Experts believe the true market value of the archive to be in the region of at least £45m.

As a result of the sale John Murray will establish a family charitable trust, one of whose purposes will be to support access to, and preservation, of the archive. This will include a gift of £3m to the National Library to cover the running costs of the archive.

The archive is a who’s who collection of British authors and is thought to contain many undiscovered literary and historical treasures along with political, scientific, engineering, travel and exploration material which would provide a rich source of information on British life and society over three centuries.

Today the Scottish Executive is granting £6.5m towards the purchase. An application for £22m has been made to the National Lottery fund. The National Library is also announcing an appeal to raise the remaining £6.5m so that this unique archive can belong to the nation.

[…]

Martyn Wade, the National Librarian, said, ‘The archive has a distinctly Scottish flavour and it would be as though the collection were coming home. It’s wonderful that the Scottish Executive has set the fund-raising ball rolling. This is a unique treasure trove of invaluable artefacts and having them in the National Library of Scotland would be an immense achievement.’

The National Library of Scotland houses more than eight million printed items and has manuscript and rare book collections of international importance. This collection would add to its standing as one of the world’s great libraries.

John Murray said, ‘I am offering the Murray Archive to the National Library of Scotland as my ancestor, the first John Murray, who founded the publishing house in 1768, came from Edinburgh. It therefore seems appropriate that the archive should return home. Also, so many Murray authors, such as Walter Scott, David Livingstone and Isabella Bird, were Scots, and throughout our history we have had close links with Scottish publishers and booksellers.

‘We are asking £33m for the John Murray Archive which has been valued at a minimum of £45m.

‘£3m will be handed over immediately to the National Library of Scotland to endow the archive. The aim is that the Library should not have to call on any of its normal funds for administering the archive.

‘The balance will go into the John R Murray Charitable Trust and a key purpose of this Trust will be to support the Archive whenever the need occurs such as for future conservation or the purchase of items that relate to the Collection. It will also endow 50 Albemarle Street to secure its future as one of the UK’s key historic buildings.

‘No member of the Murray family will gain personally from the sale.’

[…]
Notes to Editors on the John Murray Collection

* John Murray Publishing was established in 1768. The founder, the first John Murray, was born in Edinburgh in 1737. Seven generations of Murrays have run the business. It is now owned by Hodder Headline publishers.
* John Murray is the seventh generation Murray to run the business. The firm of John Murray was one of the greatest and perhaps the most influential of all British publishing houses, with an unrivalled list of authors.
* The archive includes the personal and business papers and correspondence of the Murray publishing family and includes literature, exploration, politics, scientific and engineering discovery.
* The letters journals and manuscripts date from 1768 through to 1920. In total there are more than 150,000 items.
* Authors include, Lord Byron, David Livingstone , Charles Darwin, Jane Austen, Thomas Carlyle, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Sir Walter Scott, John Galt, James Hogg, Sir John Kirk, and Herman Melville to name a few. JMW Turner and David Roberts provided illustrations for Murray books.
* The National Library of Scotland is one of the leading research libraries in Europe. It houses eight million printed items and has been a Legal Deposit library since 1710. Every week it collects more than four and a half thousand new items.
* In order to raise the purchase price of £33m the National Library of Scotland has applied to the Heritage Lottery fund for £22m and must also raise £6.5m itself to match the the Scottish Executive £6.5m.

2 March 2004

National Library of Scotland

http://www.nls.uk/news/press/murray0304.html

Ancient Archives

Title: Archives and Archival Traditions : Concepts of Record-keeping in the Ancient World
Series: Oxford Studies in Ancient Documents
Author: Brosius, Maria
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Year: 2003
Description: Our oldest archival records originate from the Near East. Systems of archival record-keeping developed over several millennia in Mesopotamia before spreading to Egypt, the Mycenean world, and the Persian empire, and continuing through the Hellenistic and Seleucid periods. Yet we know little about the way archival practices were established, transmitted, modified, and adapted by other civilizations. This interdisciplinary volume offers a systematic approach to archival documents and to the societies which created them, addressing questions of formal aspects of creating, writing, and storing ancient documents, and showing how archival systems were copied and adapted across a wide geographical area and an extensive period of time.

This book is intended for ancient historians, assyriologists, and schoalrs interested in the tradition of archival practices
Contents: Maria Brosius, Ancient Archives and Concepts of Record Keeping – An Introduction
Alfonso Archi, Archival Record-keeping at Ebla 2400-2350 BC
Piotr Steinkeller, Archival Practices in Third-millennium Babylonia
Karel van Lerberghe, Private and Public, The Ur-Utu Archive at Sippar-Amnanum (Tell Ed-Der);
Klaas R. Veenhof, Archives of Old Assyrian Traders
Nicholas Postgate, Documents in Government Under the Middle Assyrian Kingdom
Alexander Uchitel, Local Differences in Arrangements of Ration Lists on Minoan Crete
Thomas Palaima, “Archives” and “Scribes” and Information Hierarchy in Mycenean Greek Linear B Records
Frederico Mario Fales, Reflections on Neo-Assyrian Archives
Alan Millard, Aramaic Documents of the Assyrian and Achaemenid Periods
Heather Baker: Record-keeping Practices as Revealed by teh neo-Babylonian Private Archival Documents
Maria Brosius, Reconstructing an Archive –
Account and Journal Texts from Persepolis
Joachim Oelsner, Cuneiform Archives in Hellenistic Babylonia – Aspects of Contents and Form
Antonio Invernizzi, They Did Not Write on Clay – Non-Cuneiform Documents and Archives in Seleucid Mesopotamia
John K. Davies, Greek Archives – From Record to Monument
Willy Clarysse, Tomoi Synkollesimoi.
ISBN: 0199252459

Found at
http://contents.lib.u-tokyo.ac.jp/contents/index.html

FAQ: OCR for handwritten documents

http://www.rlg.org/preserv/diginews/diginews8-1.html#faq

Conclusion:

There is as yet no commercial or open source software for automatic transcription of, or the creation of searchable indexes from, handwritten historical documents. However, it is an active area of research and progress is being made. Continued advancement depends on the availability of funding. Librarians, archivists, and scholars may be able to push the agenda more effectively by partnering with computer scientists who share an interest in solving this challenging problem and improving access to significant historical archives.

Embedding Transcripts in Handwritten Pages

What are the benefits of embedded transcripts vs. external transcripts?
There are three:

1. You can put the cursor over a word you have trouble reading, and the transcript of that word will appear in a tooltip. You can also display the entire line of text for better contextual understanding.

2. You can copy and paste selected text from handwritten pages to another computer document, such as a Word file, as part of your research and knowledge discovery activities.

3. You can perform search and retrieval operations on handwritten pages, allowing handwritten pages to be integrated with printed pages in one archive.

http://www.planetdjvu.com/embedding_transcripts_in_handwritten_pages.htm

E-Diss: Brazil Archival Science

http://www.teses.usp.br/teses/disponiveis/8/8138/tde-25042003-181526/publico/tesaAnaCelia.pdf
(700 + pages)
Título Original Tipologia documental como parâmetro para gestão de documentos de arquivo: um manual para o município de Campo Belo (MG).
Autor Rodrigues, Ana Celia
E-mail anyrodrigues@yahoo.com.br
Unidade Faculdade de Filosofia, Letras e Ciências Humanas
Área de Concentração História Social

Data da Defesa 03/02/2003

Título em Inglês Documentary tipology as parameter for management of archive documents: a manual for the Campo Belo (MG).
Palavras-chave em Inglês archival science
archives organization
local public archives
records administration
types of documents

Resumo em Inglês
A study about the possibilities of the application of the contemporary diplomatics principles for the elaboration of a records administration instrument- a manual of documental types – using the Campo Belo’s public archive as laboratory and discussing the evolution and organization of local government in Brazil, and presenting how the contemporary diplomatics’s methods and theories can be used for the construction of those instruments. A presentation of a manual of documental types belonging to Campo Belo’s public archive that contains: general schedule of Prefeitura Municipal, the list of documental types, equivalence schedule and the analysis of each documental type of every local government agency.

Hirtle articles

I highly recommend the following paper!

Title: Unpublished Materials, New Technologies, and Copyright: Facilitating Scholarly Use
Authors: Hirtle, Peter B.
Keywords: manuscripts copyright archives
Issue Date: 2001
Publisher: Copyright Society of the USA
Citation: Journal of the Copyright Society of the USA 49:1 (Fall, 2001)
Abstract: The paper is divided into three parts. The first part explores why, at least with regard to the use of unpublished materials, current interpretations of copyright law have become an impediment to creative endeavors rather than an encouragement to them. Two factors are at work. The first factor is that copyright law imposes on unpublished materials a set of rules and viewpoints meant to govern published material. The second factor that has made the use of unpublished material more problematic is the rise of the Internet and the ease with which people can uncover potential infringing acts. Technology has not changed the law, but it has affected how people interpret the law ? with potentially disastrous results as far as unpublished material is concerned. The second part of the paper considers one possible solution advanced by the Copyright Office to address the problem of what they call ?orphan works? ? works whose copyright owner cannot be located. The last part of the paper considers…
Description: Presented at the Interdisciplinary Conference On The Impact Of Technological Change On The Creation, Dissemination, And Protections Of Intellectual Property, The Ohio State University College of Law, Columbus, OH. March 8-10, 2001.

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1813/58

Title: Archives or Assets?
Authors: Hirtle, Peter B.
Issue Date: 24-Nov-2003
Abstract: This paper discusses the nature of ownership of archival holdings, with special emphasis placed on issues of intellectual property, and the implications such ownership may have on the exploitation of those works. In order to respect the public?s interest in archival materials, licensing schemes must be skillfully crafted. If archives are careful not to compromise their own fundamental values when seeking to generate revenue, and if they respect the public?s interest in public domain material, they will be able to avoid much of the criticism that many museums have received over their jealous attempts to monopolize and control their collections.
Description: Hirtle presented an abbreviated version of this address as his presidential address at the opening plenary session of the 67th annual meeting of the Society of American Archivists in Los Angeles on Aug. 21, 2003.

URI: http://hdl.handle.net/1813/52

Digital Preservation

ABCNews has an interesting piece:

http://abcnews.go.com/sections/scitech/DailyNews/preservation010709a.html

Will Digital Era mean End of History?

Excerpt:
“We’ve got laws and policies working against our cultural heritage,” says Kahle, the Internet archivist. “In this world where the copyright term lasts more than 100 years, which is far longer than the durability of electronic media — floppies, disk drives — how do libraries perform their traditional roles of preservation and access?”

In the past, Kahle and others argue, far-flung libraries could save copies of published material for posterity, and give the historical record a better chance of living into the future. But now, they say, publishers sometimes assert their copyrights, licensing access to their collections online but forbidding local storage of electronic matter. Some say that leaves the publisher, and nobody else, responsible for saving the historical record of their publications.

Russian State Historical Archives

Date: Mon, 2 Feb 2004 11:44:13 -0500
Reply-To: Maarja Krusten <KrustenM@GAO.GOV>
Sender: Archives & Archivists <ARCHIVES@LISTSERV.MUOHIO.EDU>
From: Maarja Krusten <KrustenM@GAO.GOV>
Subject: Followup info: Closing of the Russian State Historical Archives

Hello, all. I did not receive a reply from my friend who is active in international archives matters. However, I have obtained some fragmentary info on the closing of the Russian State Historical Archives, which may shed some light on some of the issues covered by Dr. Graf’s original posting. Apparently the questions are two-fold: (1) closing of the Russian archives in its present location and (2) future access to materials in the Russian archives. The first issue relates to real estate values in the neighborhood in St. Petersburg where the Russian archives is located now. Apparently it is a good neighborhood with good real estate values and properties are coveted are by developers. Some parties of interest believe that the building now housing the archives is better suited for a hotel or some other money making venture. Some observers wonder whether a campaign centered on hanging on to that particular building for the archives has much chance of succeeding. Some European archivists have pointed out on their e-mail Lists that in some countries where buildings have been sold to private developers, decisions on future use have centered solely on cost issues. In some European countries, these factors have led to closing of museums and cultural institutions. It is unclear whether the committee for Russian archives and the directors of the state archives have exhausted all avenues for acquiring a suitable building to relocate the archives. Whether this all will lead to dismantling of the archives, or decreased access to its holdings, I do not know. I lack information on that aspect of the question. Anyway, that’s all I know! Maarja Krusten

See also:
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=11574

President Vladimir Putin’s administration has confirmed that it will move the offices of government agencies into four historic buildings in central St Petersburg this year in defiance of a ruling by Russia’s Supreme Arbitration Court. The current tenants will be evicted.

At the end of 2002 Prime Minister Mikhail Kasyanov signed a decree handing over the administration of four historic buildings in and near St Isaac’s Square to the Presidential Property Department (PPD) so that it could relocate federal agencies from Moscow, “and provide effective State control over the use of unique historical monuments in St Petersburg.”

The tenants that are being moved out include the Vavilov Institute of Plant Industry, home to the world’s oldest and second-largest plant gene bank and the Russian State Historical Archives, located in a huge 19th-century building on the English Embankment that was once the headquarters of the Holy Synod of the Russian Orthodox Church.

The government’s plan has been met with strong protest from employees, city politicians, and human-rights activists who took their case to the Supreme Arbitration Court. In October, the court ruled in favour of the Vavilov Institute but President Putin has dismissed this decision. The irony is that the government intends to move the Supreme Arbitration Court itself from Moscow into the building now housing the Vavilov Institute.

Another case filed by local historians who use the State archives and say their rights have been violated, is expected to be heard by the Supreme Arbitration Court this year according to Alexei Kovalyev a City Communist politician leading the fight.

Even if the court were to rule in favour of the historians, the decision would be unlikely to sway the increasingly autocratic Putin who is expected to forge ahead with the plan regardless.

“The building now holding the archives will be a centre for local offices of federal agencies,” said Viktor Khrekov, press officer for the PPD.

The government says that current tenants will be given accommodation elsewhere and, according to Mr Khrekov, construction is beginning on a new building for the State archives.

Cracow University Archives

Jagiellonian University archives
Web Address (URL): http://www.archiwum.uj.edu.pl/english/index.html
Alternative Title : Archiwum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Description : The Web Site “Jagiellonian University archives (Archiwum Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego)” is in both Polish and English. The university (founded in 1364) has a tremendous collection of manuscripts, printed sources, first editions and rare books. Since Cracow was Poland’s capital until 1596, there is also a rich collection of parliamentary and court records. The site provides information about the accessibility and locations of the collections. Along with a basic introduction to the archives, there is a good outline history and description of the holdings. A useful bibliography lists the archive’s publications, and an exhibition section has video clips of treasures of the collections. This is one of the foremost archival collections in Poland, and is of interest to those working on Polish history or Polish Studies.

From HUMBUL

The “Exhibition” is a collection of 10 video clips (very large avi-files, 26-145 MB).

Canadian Legislation

Canadian Theses 1998-2002 has been made online by the NLC e.g. the following:

Nicholls, Jacqueline M., 1965-. Guide vs. gatekeeper [microform] : information rights legislation and the provincial archives of Manitoba. — Ottawa : National Library of Canada = Bibliothèque nationale du Canada, [2002]

“The thesis examines some of the issues
arising out of Canadian access and privacy
legislation which have particular implications for
archival institutions and concludes with
suggestions for changes which address the question
of the role of a public archives in relation to
information rights legislation.”

PDF:
http://www.nlc-bnc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk3/ftp04/MQ57565.pdf

OECD: Declaration on Access to Research Data from Public Funding

Adopted by the OECD on 30 January 2004 in Paris

The governments (1) of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Luxembourg, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, the Russian Federation, the Slovak Republic, the Republic of South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom, and the United States

Recognising that an optimum international exchange of data, information and knowledge contributes decisively to the advancement of scientific research and innovation;

Recognising that open access to, and unrestricted use of, data promotes scientific progress and facilitates the training of researchers;

Recognising that open access will maximise the value derived from public investments in data collection efforts;

Recognising that the substantial increase in computing capacity enables vast quantities of digital research data from public funding to be put to use for multiple research purposes by many research institutes of the global science system, thereby substantially increasing the scope and scale of research;

Recognising the substantial benefits that science, the economy and society at large could gain from the opportunities that expanded use of digital data resources have to offer, and recognising the risk that undue restrictions on access to and use of research data from public funding could diminish the quality and efficiency of scientific research and innovation;

Recognising that optimum availability of research data from public funding for developing countries will enhance their participation in the global science system, thereby contributing to their social and economic development;

Recognising that the disclosure of research data from public funding may be constrained by domestic law on national security, the protection of privacy of citizens and the protection of intellectual property rights and trade secrets that may require additional safeguards;

Recognising that on some of the aspects of the accessibility of research data from public funding, additional measures have been taken or will be introduced in OECD countries and that disparities in national regulations could hamper the optimum use of publicly funded data on the national and international scales;

Considering the beneficial impact of the establishment of OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data (1980, 1985 and 1998) and the OECD Guidelines for the Security of Information Systems and Networks (1992, 1997 and 2002) on international policies for access to digital data;

DECLARE THEIR COMMITMENT TO:

Work towards the establishment of access regimes for digital research data from public funding in accordance with the following objectives and principles:

Openness: balancing the interests of open access to data to increase the quality and efficiency of research and innovation with the need for restriction of access in some instances to protect social, scientific and economic interests.

Transparency: making information on data-producing organisations, documentation on the data they produce and specifications of conditions attached to the use of these data, available and accessible internationally.

Legal conformity: paying due attention, in the design of access regimes for digital research data, to national legal requirements concerning national security, privacy and trade secrets.

Formal responsibility: promoting explicit, formal institutional rules on the responsibilities of the various parties involved in data-related activities pertaining to authorship, producer credits, ownership, usage restrictions, financial arrangements, ethical rules, licensing terms, and liability.

Professionalism: building institutional rules for the management of digital research data based on the relevant professional standards and values embodied in the codes of conduct of the scientific communities involved.

Protection of intellectual property: describing ways to obtain open access under the different legal regimes of copyright or other intellectual property law applicable to databases as well as trade secrets.

Interoperability: paying due attention to the relevant international standard requirements for use in multiple ways, in co-operation with other international organisations.

Quality and security: describing good practices for methods, techniques and instruments employed in the collection, dissemination and accessible archiving of data to enable quality control by peer review and other means of safeguarding authenticity, originality, integrity, security and establishing liability.

Efficiency: promoting further cost effectiveness within the global science system by describing good practices in data management and specialised support services.

Accountability: evaluating the performance of data access regimes to maximise the support for open access among the scientific community and society at large.

Seek transparency in regulations and policies related to information, computer and communications services affecting international flows of data for research, and reducing unnecessary barriers to the international exchange of these data;

Take the necessary steps to strengthen existing instruments and – where appropriate – create within the framework of international and national law, new mechanisms and practices supporting international collaboration in access to digital research data;

Support OECD initiatives to promote the development and harmonisation of approaches by governments adhering to this Declaration aimed at maximising the accessibility of digital research data;

Consider the possible implications for other countries, including developing countries and economies in transition, when dealing with issues of access to digital research data.

INVITE THE OECD:

To develop a set of OECD guidelines based on commonly agreed principles to facilitate optimal cost-effective access to digital research data from public funding, to be endorsed by the OECD Council at a later stage.

___________
(1) Including the European Community

http://www.oecd.org/document/0,2340,en_2649_34487_25998799_1_1_1_1,00.html

Via Open Access News

ECHO Project

The best starting point for discussing the question of OPEN ACCESS to Heritage Collections is ECHO

http://echo.mpiwg-berlin.mpg.de/ECHO/home

Motivation
The ECHO initiative has been motivated by the observation that, at present, information relevant to cultural heritage still plays only a marginal role in the Internet: the number one medium for current and future scientific work, communication and general archiving.
Basic idea
The basic idea of the ECHO-initiative therefore is to establish an open-source culture of the public and scholarly exploitation of cultural heritage on the Internet. This idea comprises the promotion of content-driven technology in information management.
Aim
The aim is to create an Agora, a community of producers and users of culturally relevant information, who are willing to freely exchange this in order to build a joint portal and a common infrastructure.

Several digitized collections are online on the mentioned website!

Stop the closing of the Russian State Historical Archives!

THE LARGEST HISTORICAL ARCHIVES
IN RUSSIA AND EUROPE
IS UNDER THE THREAT OF DESTRUCTION
ACCORDING TO THE DECISION OF THE OFFICIALS!

The Russian State Historical Archives in St.Petersburg is under threat of closing, eviction and destruction due to the decision of the officials, planning to use all its buildings for accommodation of the offices and a hotel complex.

On December 17th, 2002 the Chairman of the Government of Russia Mikhail Kasianov signed a bylaw according to which all the buildings occupied by the Russian State Historical Archive were confiscated and were consigned to the Administration of the President of Russia Vladimir Putin.

The administration of the Archives was proposed to close the archives and to release the buildings. Before the new building will be constructed the collections were proposed to warehouse somewhere. This means that the Archives will be closed in summer 2003 for 15-30 years!

There were several articles in Russian papers, magazines, TV interviews against closing the Archives. But till now there is no document stopping this awfull governmental decision.

WE ASK FOR HELP OF THE EUROPEAN AND WORLD COMMUNITY,
UNESCO, THE SCIENTISTS AND POLITICIANS
TO AFFECT THE RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES AND INDUCE THEM
TO ABANDON THE ATTEMPT OF CONFISCATION OF THE BUILDINGS
OF THE ARCHIVES AND CLOSING IT!

http://rgia.narod.ru/maineng.htm

Read a little more in German here

Short information on the archives in English:
http://feefhs.org/blitz/blitzfa.html
http://rgia.narod.ru/archiveng.htm (with pictures)

Stolen documents in Milan’s State Archives

While preparing an exhibition last summer, museums in New York and Amsterdam contacted Milan’s State Archives to request the loan of an architectural drawing of the Teatro alla Scala. This was no ordinary blueprint: the plan, about one meter square
and with some areas highlighted in red and yellow, is an autograph by Giuseppe Piermarini, the house’s original architect, who may have traced it between 1776 and 1778.

When the document was discovered missing in August, a special task force of Italy’s
carabinieri (military police) called the Nucleo tutela patrimonio culturale launched an
operation code-named “Teatro alla Scala.” A small flood of collectibles had recently
been appearing on Milan’s antiquarian market, and the goal was to find the source of
the treasures and to trace from there the whereabouts of the Piermarini drawing.

The results of the investigation, announced earlier this month, were startling.
Thousands of pieces were found to have disappeared: parchments from the 11th
century; papal bulls; official decrees bearing the signatures of Emperor Charles V,
Empress Maria Theresa and Napoleon; autograph manuscripts by such Italian literary
giants as Alessandro Manzoni and Gabriele D’Annunzio — a substantial slice of eight
centuries of European history, as seen through documents from one of the continent’s
wealthiest metropolitan centers from the Middle Ages onward. Some 3,000 items from
the State Archives and smaller depositories have been recovered, while 1,000 more
are still reported missing, probably smuggled into private collections in Italy or abroad.
(The plan of La Scala was discovered in a private home.)

Since the investigation and gathering of evidence are ongoing, public prosecutor Maria
Letizia Mannella is withholding the names of the three main suspects, who are
described as a professore (a civil servant employed by the provincial government of
Milan in the field of cultural heritage and an esteemed scholar), the principal of a
technical high school at San Donato Milanese (a neighboring township) and an
antiquarian running a shop in downtown Milan. The trio have been charged not with
actual theft, but rather with receiving stolen goods, which may hint at the involvement
of a larger criminal organization.

From andante.com

Read more in Italian (December 2003):
http://www2.unicatt.it/unicatt/seed/mag_gestion_cattnews.vedi_notizia?id_cattnewsT=2634

Lithuanian Parchments

A UNESCO grant has enabled the Lithuanian Academy of Sciences to digitize about 10% of its collection of 1,400 parchments and provide open access to the digital images. The 121 parchments in the project include royal privileges, papal bulls, international agreements, genealogical data, and related historical information from 1187 to 1500.

Via http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/fosblog.html

Some documents are in German, some in Latin.

The Iraqi Jewish Archive Preservation Report

|“Rare, historic and modern books, documents and parchment scrolls pertaining to the Iraqi Jewish community were found in the flooded basement of the Iraqi Intelligence (Mukhabahrat) headquarters in Baghdad in early May 2003. Upon removal from the basement, the wet materials (known as the Iraqi Jewish Archive) were packed into sacks and transported to a nearby location where they were partially dried. Dr. Harold Rhode, expert in Middle Eastern and Islamic Affairs, Department of Net Assessment, Office of the Secretary of Defense, provided a general review and initial sorting of the contents during the retrieval process, after which the materials were placed in 27 metal trunks. The Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) arranged for the materials to be frozen, which served to stabilize the condition and eliminate further mold growth.

At the request of the Coalition Provisional Authority, conservators from the US National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) traveled to Baghdad June 20-23 to assess the condition of the materials and develop recommendations for their preservation. The following report outlines the preservation action plan and funding requirements for preserving this important collection…”

The full illustrated report is at:
http://www-oi.uchicago.edu/OI/IRAQ/mela/IraqiJewishArchiveReport.htm

This document is published on the website of the Middle East Librarians Association Committee on Iraqi Libraries with the kind permission of the authors and The National Archives & Records Administration.

A news report on these documents also appeared in The Art Newspaper, Monday 12 January 2004
http://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/article.asp?idart=11494

Please feel free to re-post this announcement wherever there may be interest.

Chuck Jones
IraqCrisis Moderator
https://listhost.uchicago.edu/mailman/listinfo/iraqcrisis
cejo@midway.uchicago.edu

Long-term Archiving

Harry Goldstein, The Infinite Archive, IEEE Spectrum Online, January 1, 2004. A short piece highlighting “key projects” in the long-term preservation of digital content, including DSpace, the Library of Congress’s National Digital Information Infrastructure and Preservation Program (NDIIPP), and the Internet Archive.

From Open Access News
http://www.earlham.edu/~peters/fos/fosblog.html

Mormon church’ Proxy Baptism

Belleville News Democrat 12/11/03
Religion Today
MARK THIESSEN
Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY – The Mormon practice of posthumously
baptizing non-Mormons, which has angered Jews and others in
the past, is now creating tensions with another religion –
the Russian Orthodox Church.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is funding
the preservation
– at 10 cents a sheet – of thousands of names of dead
Russian Orthodox
Church members.
The church flatly rejects allegations that it is buying the
names of dead
souls, and insists the effort in Russia is aimed only at
providing an archive
of genealogical data for the public good. However, critics
contend the
church is using the names for its oft-criticized ritual
called proxy baptism, a
practice they say is rife with ethical and moral
problems.

Read more:
http://www.belleville.com/mld/newsdemocrat/7468326.htm

Links:
Mormon church: http://www.lds.org
Mormon church’ genealogy site: http://www.familysearch.org

Via RAIN via ARCHIVES Listserv