International Institute for Archival Science (IIAS)
Background
The idea of establishing a general institution dealing with current issues of archival science was formed at archival meetings in Radenci, which were organised by Regional Archives of Maribor under leadership of Peter Pavel Klasinc. The meetings in Radenci were at that time related to the former Republic of Yugoslavia archives but also involved co-operation with an increasing number of archivists coming from foreign countries such as Austria, Hungary and Italy, focusing on the Balkan-Danube area.
International Archival Day
Institute’s main activity is organisation of the International Archival Day that is expanded with the International Fair since 2009, where equipment for archives and libraries of different tendering firm is on display. The International Archival Day, organised since 1991 first in Radenci in Slovenia and since 2005 in Trieste in Italy, brings together archival experts to discuss one or two major topics. Slovenian, Italian and English are the official languages. Some past topics are: Archives in the 20th Century (2009); Evaluation of Archival Records & Archival Safety (2008); Electronic Records & Private Archives (2007).
Autumn Archival School
The Autumn Archival School, organised since 2007 at the International Centre for Theoretical Physics, offers a post graduate course in Trieste. The lectures discuss topics concerning archival science, the digital documentation and management of archives, archival ethics, and the European and international ad hoc legislation.
Publications
The Glossary of Regional Historical Terminology, edited in 1995 in German, Italian and Slovene is institute’s main publication and is upgraded yearly at the Autumn Archival School. It standardised language of the technical-scientific language regarding archival science.
Atlanti is institute’s official annual serial publication, published since 1991. Publication Archives – Modern Archives was published annually from 1979 to 2003.
Membership
IIAS now comprises 20 member countries: Austria, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Canada, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Germany, Great Britain, Hungary, Israel, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Slovak Republic, Russia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain and Ukraine. IIAS is a member of International Council on Archives (ICA).