Close association between research and documentation: Fourth ArchivoyMemoria Conference

There are certainly few forums in which a good interrelationship is established between social historians and researchers and archive and library professionals. Therefore, we should celebrate the consolidation of the ArchivoyMemoria Conference, which offers a fine example of the close association that can exist between the spheres of research and documentation. These gatherings are the result of the ongoing collaboration between the Archivo Histórico Ferroviario (Railway History Archive) and the Grupo de Investigación Antropológica sobre Patrimonio y Culturas Populares (Group for Anthropological Research on Heritage and Popular Cultures) (CSIC-Human and Social Sciences Centre), which in turn stemmed from the need to give an appropriate treatment to the tokens of grief and mourning which accumulated at RENFE railway stations following the Madrid train bombings on 11 March 2004.
The headquarters of the Fundación de los Ferrocarriles Españoles (Spanish Railway Foundation) provided the setting for the Fourth ArchivoyMemoria Conference, at which archivists, librarians, historians and anthropologists shared their interest in documental heritage, identifying sources of interest for defending collective memory against repression, and gathering alternative sources in danger of disappearing. The conference raised a great deal of interest, with more than 100 participants, 28 papers and 5 posters.
As Javier Moscoso (Coordinator of the CSIC’s Department of Human and Social Sciences) emphasised, the social construction of collective memory is not a reflex action, but instead a voluntary act, and among the social agents that make it possible, cooperation between documentation professionals and researchers is a necessity.
The opening speech, which focused on the subject of legislation for access to information in the United States, counted on the collaboration of the Spanish Society of Scientific Information and Documentation (SEDIC) and the US Embassy. Speaker Emilene Martínez Morales (representing the George Washington University-based NGO The National Security Archive), highlighted the evolution of the declassification of government documents under different US Presidents. Enforcement of the FOIA (Freedom of Information Act) and other laws governing access to information depends on the discretion of civil servants, who try to follow the instructions they receive. The rapid rise in declassifications that took place during the Clinton administration came to an abrupt end under the mandate of G.W. Bush. Experience has shown that “not knowing does not make us more secure”, which is why putting an end to this lack of transparency featured among the electoral promises of current President Barack Obama.