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IFLA Core Activity on Preservation and Conservation (PAC)

Established in 1984

Announcements

Historical background

IFLA Core Activity on Preservation and Conservation (PAC) was officially created during the IFLA annual conference in Nairobi in 1984 to focus efforts on issues of preservation and initiate worldwide cooperation for the preservation of library materials. The PAC programme was effectively launched in Vienna during the 1986 Conference on the Preservation of Library Materials co-organized by the Conference of the Directors of National Libraries, IFLA and UNESCO.

Network

Contrary to other IFLA Core Activities, PAC has been originally conceived in a decentralised way: a Focal Point implements the global strategy and Regional Centres manage activities in their specific regions.

The Focal Point (International Centre) has been hosted by the Bibliothèque nationale de France in Paris since 1992 and there are Regional Centres respectively located in Washington (Library of Congress), Caracas (Biblioteca Nacional de Venezuela), Rio de Janeiro (Fundaçao Biblioteca Nacional de Brasil), Santiago (Biblioteca Nacional de Chile), Port of Spain (National Library and Information System Authority of Trinidad and Tobago), Porto-Novo (National Library of Benin), Cape Town (UCT Libraries, South Africa), Tokyo (National Diet Library), Canberra (National Library of Australia), and Moscow (Library for Foreign Literature). The International Centre in Paris (Bibliothèque nationale de France) acts as the Regional Centre for Western Europe, Middle East and Africa. In the future, new sites may be chosen by PAC to act as new Regional Centers.

The International Centre and the Regional Centres are part of a network, whose main working rules are defined in an "agreement" signed annually between IFLA and each centre. Each centre is independent and acts according to the priorities identified in its geographical area. It must comply with the objectives of PAC Core Activity and maintain cooperation with other centres through various activities (publications, seminars, conferences, etc.).

The directors meet regularly for working sessions (Washington 1991; Tokyo 1992; Nairobi 1993; Budapest 1995; Beijing 1996; Copenhagen 1997; Amsterdam 1998; Bangkok 1999; Jerusalem 2000; Boston MA 2001; Glasgow 2002; Berlin 2003; Buenos Aires 2004; Oslo 2005; Seoul 2006.) to define the orientations of the Core Activity.

In March 2006, Marie-Thérèse Varlamoff retired and Christiane Baryla was appointed as the new PAC Director.

Advisory Board

An Advisory Board has been set up in March 2002 whose role is as follows: "the Advisory Board would, as its name suggests, act in an advisory capacity to determine priorities and would act as an advocate to solicit financial and other support as necessary. It is envisaged that the business of the Advisory Board would largely take place by email rather than in face-to-face meetings."

Chair: Réjean Savard (Canada)

Members:
Ms Susan M. Allen (United States), Ms María Isabel Cabral da Franca (Brazil), Ms Jan Fullerton (Australia), Ms Deanna Marcum (United States), Ms Danielle Mincio (Switzerland), Ms Ellen Ndeshi Namhila (Namibia) and Lucien Scotti (France)

Staff expert: Ms Christiane Baryla

The Advisory Board first met in Glasgow during the IFLA Conference (August 2002).

Strategic Plan

2006-2007 | 2004-2005

Publications

Newsletter

International Preservation News (IPN)

International Preservation Issues (IPI)

CD-ROMs

  • Safeguarding our Documentary Heritage / Conservation préventive du patrimoine documentaire / Salvaguardando nuestro patrimonio documental (CD-ROM; Bi-lingual: English/French/Spanish)
    An IFLA/UNESCO/Ministère de la culture project that available is available from: Flore Izart, PAC International Focal Point
  • La Fotografia en America Latina y el Caribe en el Siglo XIX y Comienzos del XX:
    The PAC regional centre in Latin America has issued a CD-ROM on the safeguard of photographic collections within the framework of the UNESCO's Memory of the World programme.
    The CD was produced by the University of Colima in Mexico and is available from:Flore Izart, PAC International Focal Point
  • Other Bibliographic references

Annual Report

2007 | 2006 | 2005 | 2004 | 2003 | 2002 | 2001 | 2000

Conferences

Cooperation

Mailing lists:

The Preservation and Conservation core activity of IFLA is a network of twelve centres all over the world with a focal point based at the National Library of France in Paris. PAC has one major goal: to ensure that library and archive materials in all formats will be preserved in accessible form for as long as possible. The IFLA-PAC mailing list will contribute to raise awareness among library professionals of the urgent need to preserve our endangered documentary heritage, by providing large-scale news and information on preservation.

Submissions: pac-list@infoserv.inist.fr
Web interface:
http://infoserv.inist.fr/wwsympa.fcgi/info/pac-list
Administrators: Christiane Baryla & Flore Izart

NOTE: PAC-LIST is a closed list (restricted to subscribers).

Useful Addresses

PAC International Focal Point
Bibliothèque nationale de France
Quai François Mauriac
75706 Paris cedex 13
France
Fax +33-(0)1-53-79-59-80

Christiane Baryla Programme Director:
Ms Christiane Baryla
Tel. +33-(0)1-53-79-59-70
E-mail: christiane.baryla@bnf.fr

Flore-Izart Programme Officer:
Ms Flore Izart
Tel. +33-(0)1-53-79-59-71
E-mail: flore.izart@bnf.fr