Nolda Romer-Kenepa opened the meeting. She expressed her satisfaction with CITRA 2009. She said in particular that the new format of parallel and plenary sessions had worked very well. She said that she realized that this had required much organization and preparation but that the output had been tremendous. She would therefore like to continue with this format for next year’s CITRA in Oslo. Furthermore she said that she would like CITRA to be more open to allow others- for example young professionals- to participate in the conference. Nolda also said that she was happy with the conclusions presented at the closing session yesterday afternoon of the CITRA professional programme. She expressed her hope that the follow up on the conclusions and recommendations will be practical and solutions driven.

In 2011 the CITRA will be hosted by Spain, and will take place in Toledo.

PCOM and CITRA members discussed the professional program for 2010. The theme of the next CITRA will explore digital records, access and trust.

Lew Bellardo and Nolda Romer-Kenepa felt that the involvement of the young professionals in CITRA 2009 had been a success and expressed the need to involve young professionals in Oslo.

Did CITRA 2009 meet your expectations?

Yes! My expectations have been met in many different areas. I have been very impressed with the level of quality of the plenary and parallel sessions. I got a lot of positive feedback on the content of the professional program. The sessions were full and even the good weather did not keep the participants from attending the sessions. I am also very pleased with the discussions and interactions after the sessions and during the break.

The organization went very smoothly and I am very grateful for all the hard work that everyone involved in the preparation has put into making CITRA 2009 a success!

We had hoped for 200 participants and we were a bit worried about the target because of the financial difficulties that some organizations face which might prevent them from traveling to conferences. I am therefore very pleased that we had 250 participants.

The presence of so many archival professionals in Malta gives a positive impulse to the archival profession in Malta. It is an investment in the archival profession in Malta! It has changed the perception that politicians have on the profession.

And last but not least the CITRA will give Malta worldwide publicity.

All in all it was a very positive and rewarding experience on all levels: logistical, academic and social.

What do you expect from CITRA 2009?

It is a very exciting opportunity to get a much broader voice of education and training issues. Usually education is just a stream within a bigger conference, now we actually have about 50 sessions dedicated to education and training. It gives us a chance to share diverse issues; learn about the different approaches; and addressing the issues cross boundaries.

What are your hopes for the future with regard to archival education?

I hope that the archival education continues to be relevant, adaptive and inclusive. Also that archival education continuously steps outside accepted conventions.

How do you see the role of SAE addressing the challenges of future archival education?

The SAE can identify approaches on how to address the challenges of archival education. Also through the SAE projects, i.e., research databases, on-line directory of archival schools, translation of “train the trainer” resources and the digital recordkeeping curriculum resources. It is very important for SAE to partner with SPA in these education and training endeavors. Also SAE needs to collaborate with other archival education networks and professional associations such as IFLA and records management associations.

Marian will be presenting a paper on mentoring on Thursday. It will be an exciting session whereby four presenters will look at mentoring from different perspectives and how it can be integrated into archival education.

The project started in 2009 and will be completed in 2012. Its objective is to provide access to born-digital and digitized archival documents, finding aids, and information about the archival institutions.

Wim van Dongen hopes to increase awareness about the project during CITRA and looks forward to engaging in discussions with conference participants about the portal. The portal was developed based on international archival standards, such as the ISAD(G)/EAD, EAC, EAG and METS.

It is an ambitious project with a short timeframe, and given the enthusiasm and hardwork of all participants, this project will be an important contribution to on-line access and preservation of European cultural heritage.

For more information, see the website: www.apenet.eu