Identity area
Reference code
Title
Date(s)
- 1950- (Creation)
Level of description
Series
Extent and medium
Context area
Repository
Archival history
From 1950 until 1968 conferences, meetings, speeches of the Director General and other important persons were recorded by the Bureau of Public Information. In 1968 the Sound Archives were founded and took over the responsibility for the recording.
Thus, sound records before 1968 are mostly kept by the Audiovisual Section of the Bureau of Public Information, meanwhile the recordings or the General Conference and the Executive Board are preserved by the Sound Archives.
Recordings of minor conferences are done on command but are given to the organizers of the meeting and should be kept by them.
Since 2005 all recordings are digital and stored on a server.
Immediate source of acquisition or transfer
Content and structure area
Scope and content
These sound records contain mostly floor recordings of conferences and other events, speeches of the Director General and other important persons and systematic recordings of all meetings of the General Conference and the Executive Board.
Appraisal, destruction and scheduling
Accruals
Continuous accruals
System of arrangement
Chronologically for Executive Board and General Conference
By subject and speaker for older conferences
Conditions of access and use area
Conditions governing access
The sound material is not easily accessible for outside researchers. Records kept by the Bureau of Public Information can be accessed with the assistance and authorization of the Audio Section.
The recordings of the General Conference and Executive Board meetings are - as a general rule - accessible only to member states respectively member of the Executive Board and the Secretariat. Authorizations for external researchers might be gained by the Chief Archivist in particular cases.
A growing number of sound records of particular interest will be made available on the UNESCO Archives Multimedia website.
Conditions governing reproduction
Reproduction upon request within the access restrictions mentioned above.
Language of material
Script of material
Language and script notes
Physical characteristics and technical requirements
Sound records on tapes, partly digitized.
Recent recordings are entirely digital.
Finding aids
For General Conference and Executive Board, lists of speakers on tape recordings are available for all sessions since 1968.
For events, conferences and meetings before that date, interviews and recordings of the programme sectors a card index is available in the Audiovisual Section of the Bureau of Public Information.
Allied materials area
Existence and location of originals
Existence and location of copies
Security copies of recordings for certain sessions of the General Conference and Executive Board are preserved in the UNESCO Archives.
Related units of description
Notes area
Alternative identifier(s)
Access points
Subject access points
Place access points
Name access points
- UNESCO. Executive Board (Subject)
- UNESCO. General Conference (Subject)