The Role of Documentation and Documenting During Emergency Situations in the Context of Protection of Cultural Heritage

Abstract

Creation and preservation of active and passive documentation are important activities embedded in the daily workflow of libraries, archives and museums (ALM). Also, documentation and documenting are integral parts of crisis management in the same context and important aspect of preventive conservation. The paper presents results of literary warrant analysis of relevant intrasectoral guidelines created by the following international organizations: International Council on Archives (ICA), International Council on Museums (ICOM), International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) and International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property (ICCROM). Since Croatian ALM institutions operate within a legislative framework in which various regulations determine and prescribe professional actions this aspect was considered as well. The goal of the analysis was to detect types of documentation, models of documentation, the role and purpose of documentation in the context of preparation and response to an emergency. Furthermore, the objective was to analyse and critically reflect on the issue of documentation in crisis and emergency conceptualized in guidelines of abovementioned international organizations and prescribed by Croatian legislative regulations. For the purposes of the paper the pre- and post- crisis documentation was divided a) according to the creation period (i.e. documentation created before crisis, during/immediately after crisis and after crisis in recovery period) and b) according to the type and business function (i.e. professional and administrative-technical documentation). Common trait to all international guidelines was the importance of planning documenting activities within the general plan for preparation on crisis situations as well as the emphasis on the need for standardized, accurate, reliable, available and reusable documentation. Since analysed guidelines from ICA, ICOM and ICA originate from similar time periods they reflect similar worldview and compared with more recent ICCROM recommendation lack in details. Lack of documentation (both pre- and post- crisis) is a widely accepted risk factor. Croatian legislation system, beside early ratification of the Hague protocols (which was enhanced by the damages on cultural heritage during Homeland War in 1990s) recognize importance of accurate and detailed inventories and lists of protected cultural goods, but at the same time lack in recognizing the importance of documenting the crisis as recommended in international guidelines. General lack of recognition is noticed in the area of documenting the digital cultural heritage in crisis, or even the issue of cybersecurity connected with digital cultural heritage as such. Finally, this study detects possible further areas of research which might include among others: use of archival historical data in analysis of past and model of simulation of future crisis, case analysis of documentation management during crisis, studies of institutional implementation of guidelines and recommendations, testing new technologies as support in documentation efforts and analysis of legal and business consequences in cases when documentation was not accurate, reliable or available during the crisis preparation and response.