TRANSFER OF KNOWLEDGE
Human resource development
he
transfer of knowledge is an essential part of the TANAP
programme. The participants of the university research programme
return to their country after receiving their degree and contribute
to the further distribution and development of knowledge and
skills that they have learnt during the TANAP
programme.
An excellent example of knowledge
transfer is training in the skills required to read early
Dutch. It is important not only to researchers but also to
archivists that they have a knowledge of early Dutch writing,
so that they can classify and describe the archives and assist
researchers. In Jakarta about a dozen staff members attend
a course in Dutch in conjunction with the Erasmus Language
Centre. But none of the staff at the Tamil Nadu Archives in
Chennai speaks Dutch. And in Colombo only the current director
can read the Dutch documents. In Cape Town reading Dutch is
no problem.
To ensure the availability
of the voc
archives in the future, it is necessary that the participating
archival institutions develop sufficient expertise in managing
the material and making it accessible. This knowledge development
can consist of training conservators and archivists and of
exchanging information during workshops. This will result
in an enduring knowledge infrastructure that is also useful
for the management of other (non-voc
) archive material.
Human resource development
is an essential element of almost every project. The transfer
of knowledge and skills is synchronous to the implementation
of the component projects. The activities aimed at knowledge
transfer are harmonized with the activities of the other clusters.
An example of building up knowledge with regard to archives
is the application of ISAD(G),
the General International Standard for Archival Description
developed by the International Council on Archives (ICA)
under the auspices of UNESCO.
Experience in ISAD(G) and
Encoded Archival Description (EAD)
will be gained by compiling digital inventories of all voc
archives.
Another example of new knowledge
that will be transferred and internationally tested is provided
by the system for making an inventory of damage. The Dutch
State Archives Service (Rijksarchiefdienst, RAD)
designed a digital atlas of damage (which will soon be introduced
to UNESCO) and - in cooperation
with TNO - a sample survey
analysis (UPAA, Universal
Procedure for Archive Assessment) and a business economic
model (BEM).
Besides techniques for active
restoration, it is also important that knowledge be transferred
regarding passive preservation. Passive preservation, ensuring
optimum storage conditions, is the only affordable solution
to save large quantities of archives over the longer term.
Climate control in stackrooms is expensive, however, and usually
unaffordable in non-Western countries. It is a challenge to
develop techniques that are feasible for partner countries.
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