Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1961 - 1988 (Creation)
Level of description
Fonds
Extent and medium
432 boxes
Context area
Name of creator
Administrative history
The Intergovernmental Bureau of Informatics was created, with the name International Computation Center, under the auspices of the United Nations and UNESCO by an international Convention signed on December 6, 1951 in Paris. The Resolutions concerning the establishment of this body were taken by the United Nations and UNESCO in 1946, 1948, 1950 and 1951. The International Computation Center was transformed in three stages (1969-70: reorganization; 1971-72: consolidation; and, from 1978: expansion) into the IBI in order to react to the technological evolution in the field.
The IBI had 38 member states which were members either of the United Nations, or of UNESCO, or of one of the other Specialized Agencies of the United Nations.
At its sixth extraordinary session, held in Rome on 28 and 29 November 1988, the General Assembly, by resolution R.6E/09 decided that IBI would cease to exist as from 30 November. Dissolution had been made inevitable due to a series of difficulties encountered by IBI with regard to both its programme activities and its own organizational management and administration. These difficulties led to the successive withdrawal of several Member States from 1985 onwards, in particular the three main contributors (France, Spain and Italy) which deprived IBI of all its funding. Lacking resources, and in the throes of an unprecedented administrative crisis, with a temporary Board of Management acting as a Directorate, IBI was dissolved after 26 years spent in promoting co-operation in informatics.
Repository
Archival history
The archives of the IBI were offered to UNESCO in 1988 after the dissolution of the organisation. The Director-General of UNESCO accepted the offer and the archivist inspected the records in Rome in 1988. The records were transferred to Paris in 1989, followed by the documents of the Liquidation Committee in 1991.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
The fonds contains records of the Intergovernmental Bureau of Informatics and its Liquidation Committee.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
No further accruals
System of arrangement
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
Without restrictions
Conditions governing reproduction
Language of material
- English
- Spanish
- French
- Italian
Script of material
Language and script notes
Les documents du fonds, de manière générale, mèlent des documents en langue anglaise, espagnole et anglais dans des proportions égales. Un dossier peut ainsi comporter des documents relatifs à un seul sujet, mais fragmenté en plusieurs langues.
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Finding aids
Inventories made prior to archival processing in 2011 can be consulted.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
Genre access points
Description control area
Description identifier
Institution identifier
Rules and/or conventions used
Status
Final