Below is Terry Cook’s appeal to the Canadian Archivists List for advocacy of the UNESCO Resolution on Digital Heritage Preservation. It is published here with the kind permission of the author. RB

 

 

 

Subj:

UNESCO Resolution on Digital Heritage Preservation - ACA needs YOUR lobbying letter

Date:

9/14/01 5:54:20 PM Eastern Daylight Time

From:    tcook3957@home.com (Terry Cook)
Sender:    owner-arcan-l@majordomo.srv.ualberta.ca
To:    arcan-l@majordomo.srv.ualberta.ca




Dear ACA Colleagues:

UNESCO at its October meeting will discuss an important draft resolution on the preservation of digital heritage in archives and libraries.  It will urge national governments, organizations, and corporations to give greater attention and resources to what it perceives as a critical situation concerning the long-term preservation of digital media.  Archivists obviously have a big stake in having both attention and resources focused in the area of electronic records.

The Association of Canadian Archivists has already sent a letter, signed by President Bryan Corbett, to the Secretary General of the Canadian Commission for UNESCO, with appropriate copies to other senior officials and ministers.  If archivists express support for this draft UNESCO resolution in sufficient numbers, the Canadian Commission will urge Canada to support the resolution.  Please, therefore, send your support -- these may be short e-mail messages or elaborate letters -- to David Walden, who is the Secretary General (and is a former National Archives' archivist) and will welcome such supporting messages.  He may be reached at:

  David.Walden@unesco.ca

or at his address in the letter below.   Your messages should be sent within the next week.   For your information, the important parts of the draft resolution are reproduced in President Corbett's letter below, as well as the ACA's arguments.  Please take ten minutes and make a difference.  Thanks.    Terry

12 September 2001

David A. Walden Secretary General

Canadian Commission for UNESCO

350 Albert Street

Box 1047

Ottawa, ON KlP 5V8

[David.Walden@unesco.ca]