APACA

An Australian information exchange group, recently set up to avoid
duplication of effort and to facilitate the coordination of effective
Australian conservation and preservation assistance in the Southeast
Asian and Pacific region, has been titled APACA--Australian Preservation
and Conservation Abroad. The group has been meeting every two months
since its establishment in July last year.  Items of interest from the
last meeting include:

*   A meeting sponsored by Cornell University and the Netherlands
    Government was held in Chiang Mai, Thailand, 15-17 December 1993 to
    discuss the library and archives preservation needs of Southeast
    Asia. The meeting was attended by representatives from Laos,
    Myanmar, Vietnam and Thailand.  Cornell University provided key
    specialist speakers. At the conclusion of the meeting it was agreed
    that the idea of establishing a central preservation training
    facility in Chiang Mai was worth pursuing.

*   The National Gallery of Australia has been conducting a series of
    conservation workshops at the National Museum of Cambodia in Phnom
    Penh.

*   Mark Nizette from the National Film and Sound Archive of Australia
    will also visit Phnom Penh in March 1994 to conduct photographic
    conservation workshops. On his way home he will also visit the
    National Archives of Singapore to advise on the deterioration of
    their film collection.

*   A seminar to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the National Library
    of Cambodia is to be held in December 1994.

*   In April 1994 Colin Pearson from the University of Canberra will
    undertake a survey of museums in Vietnam to determine their
    conservation needs. A series of projects will be identified for
    implementation over the next five years.

*   The Friends of Vietnam Organisation in Australia is attempting to
    provide a mobile conservation laboratory in Hanoi.

*   For further information please contact Jan Lyall, Director of the
    National Preservation Office at the National Library of Australia

Jan Lyall
National Preservation Office
National Library of Australia
6-16-262-1571
Fax: 6-16-257-1703

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 7:62
                Distributed: Thursday, February 24, 1994
                        Message Id: cdl-7-62-002
                                  ***