Social Science Research Council

Based upon the success of a number of small-scale preservation projects funded through its regular grant competition, the Working Group decided in early 2001 to explore the possibility of a focused initiative on topics related to libraries and archives. Toward this end, an exploratory meeting was convened in June 2001, at which approximately forty leading Cuban, European, Latin American, and North American specialists considered future priorities for preservation and access in Cuban libraries and archives. The meeting was held in Havana, and addressed various concerns, including the digitization of records and the construction and maintenance of OPACs in both libraries and archives. Discussion also addressed the microfilming and digitization of books, serials and manuscripts; training of personnel; and the equipment and physical plant improvements necessary to achieve the goals of world-class access and preservation.

Convinced by that meeting of the viability and desirability of an internationally-based effort in the area, the Working Group founded in the fall of 2001 an Initiative on Cuban Libraries and Archives and appointed a Standing Committee to oversee the work. This committee, which includes specialists from Mexico, Venezuela, and France, as well as Cuba and the United States, met for the first time in January 2002, at which point it decided to focus its energies and funds over the next year on four projects based at the José Martí National Library, the National Archives of Cuba, and the Institute of Literature and Linguistics. Each project included a particular focus on training and on inter-institutional cooperation, toward the goal of making a long-term impact on the overall library and archives systems.

The projects were: Cataloguing and Conservation of 19th-century Cuban Press; Preservation of the Sociedad Económica de Amigos del País Collection; Workshop on Conservation of Maps and Blueprints; National Workshop on Archival Standards.

The Standing Committee met again in February 2003 to evaluate progress made on the projects approved during 2002 and to select additional projects to support. In this second year, the Initiative was also broadened to include additional Cuban preservation institutions, including the Institute of History of Cuba and the General Directorate of Archives. The projects approved in 2003 included: Advanced Workshop on Conservation of Maps and Blueprints; National Workshop on Archival Appraisal; Conservation of the Institute of History's Photograph Collection; Conservation of the Institute of History's Cartographic Collection; Conservation of the Fernando Ortiz Photograph Collection; Workshop on Preventive Conservation; Workshop on Digital Preservation.

In February 2004, the Standing Committee funded five projects focusing on training activities and travel to international conferences. These included the following: a Course on Records Management (General Directorate of Archives); a Workshop on the Conservation and Restoration of Documents in Non-Standard Format (General Directorate of Archives); a Microfilm Workshop (National Archive); a National Workshop on Document Classification (National Archive); and a Digitalization Workshop (National Library). Following the meeting, the committee approved a grant for partial support of a Workshop on Disaster Preparedness held at the Biblioteca Nacional José Martí in February 2005, and co-organized by Marie-Therese Varlamoff. And finally, they provided a travel grant for Walter Newman and Guadalupe Carrión to serve as keynote speakers in the Institute of Literature and Linguistics' BiblioArchi conference in February 2005.

In March 2005, the Committee met once again and funded a number of projects, including a Course on University Archives Systems (General Directorate of Archives); a Workshop on Archive Quality Management (National Archive); a Workshop on Valuable Books (Institute of Literature and Linguistics); a Collective Catalogue of Musical Holdings (National Library); and a Restoration Workshop for Prints (Office of the City Historian). In addition, they awarded travel funds to the General Directorate of Archives for the study of document management systems in public administration and business entities in Latin America and participation in Round Table on Archives 2005, and to the National Library to attend a meeting of the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions.

Most recently, members of the Standing Committee, representatives from Cuban institutions and library specialists from Cornell University, Florida International University and the National Library of Spain met in Havana to reflect on past activities and discuss the future of the initiative. Two days of site visits, question and answer sessions, presentations, and group conversations allowed the participants to communicate successes, identify shortcomings, prioritize goals and strategize a plan to take the initiative into the next two years.

Given the increasing number of hurricanes in the region each year and the devastating effects these storms have had on the island, it was agreed that the next phase of the initiative should center on disaster response and preparedness. Following practices and methods developed by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and the International Council on Archives (ICA), emphasis will be on training local staff and implementing low-cost measures, with the aim of establishing disaster response plans at each library and archive. A Standing Committee meeting will be held in Havana in March or April 2006 to decide how best to employ this next phase of the initiative.