Who we are - The Caribbean Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives

Organisation

CARBICA is a part of a bigger network, the International Council on Archives (ICA) which works closely with UNESCO. ICA has more than 1700 members in over 180 countries, which makes it truly international.

The Caribbean Branch of the ICA (Carbica) has 4 categories of memberships:

National archives: 20 members;
Institutions responsible for country’s archives: 7 members;
Other institutions and organizations: 3 members;
Individuals: 4 members.

Purposes

Carbica’s constitution states its purposes as follows:

The association exists:

To establish, maintain and strengthen relations between institutions and individuals concerned with the custody, organization and administration of archives in the Caribbean area;
To foster co-operation between all institutions, professional bodies and persons who are concerned with the custody, the administration, the organization or the use of archives;
To promote all measures for the preservation of all material of documentary value and, to this end,
To make practical recommendations to the authorities of Caribbean countries;
To study problems concerned with the preservation of archives in tropical countries; to encourage the description of archival material and to facilitate the exchange of information relating to archives and to act in ways which make material in Caribbean archives more widely known;
To encourage in all countries in the Caribbean the establishment of archives and to promote the professional training of archivists in the Caribbean region;
To promote the more frequent use of archives and to encourage greater ease of access to archival material;
To hold periodically a Caribbean Archives Conference;
To contribute to a better mutual understanding among the peoples of the Caribbean;
To develop or recommend professional and institutional standards to improve the quality and consistency of Caribbean archives;
To promote the implementation of records management programs in whatever media in the various Caribbean countries.

Goals and priorities

Carbica’s goals and priorities for 2010-2014 are:

Strengthen the professional competence of members and give a consistent level, especially vis-à-vis contemporary issues in the following areas: archival preservation from natural hazards, archives and information technology (digitization, electronic records).
Create a truly professional solidarity between institutions and individual members of CARBICA through shared communication tools (website, newsletter), exchanges of experience and expertise, sharing of certain means or procedures particularly in the field of access and of disaster-preparedness.
Contribute significantly to the promotion of archives and consideration by policy makers of the role of archival institutions and their needs.

Executive Committee

Avril BELFON

President

Trinidad & Tobago

Max Scriwanek

Vice President

The Netherlands

Stanley Griffin

Secretary

Jamaica

Rita TJIEN-FOOH

Immediate past President

Suriname

Vernanda Raymond

EC executive floor Member

Domenica

Kevin Montero

EC executive floor Member

Belize

Halcyon Wiltshire

EC executive floor Member

Barbados

Code of Ethics of ICA

Adopted by the General Assembly in its XIIIrd session in Beijing (China) on 6 September 1996.

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Constitution of CARBICA

The Association is established as the Caribbean Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives (in abbreviation CARBICA) in accordance with the relevant article of the ICA constitution.

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