« Pergamum »
The « Pergamum » commission put in an intense amount of work from 19 to 31 March to perfect the third version of Archivum, the management system for the archives and documents of the Institute of the Marist Brothers. The work was divided into two different stages: the first, in Rome, centred on the conception of the computer system, and the second, at Alcalá de Henares, Madrid, for the initial formation of the archivists and cataloguers who are already using the preceding version of Archivum.
The « Pergamum » commission is entirely composed of persons attached to the Marist institution, the computer team of the « Pontíficia Universidade Católica do Paraná » , Brasil, and by the archivists of the different Marist Provinces of Europe. The team is directed by Br Josep Maria Soteras, Councillor General, and co-ordinated by Br Pedro Sánchez de León, Secretary General.
The « Pergamum » project is pioneering in many aspects, as much within the Marist Institute as in the field of Archives, since for the first time a management system of documents for the archives (Archivum, v. 3) has been created based on a computer programme conceived originally for the management of libraries (Pergamum).
Finally, the most important step in this new stage of Archivum consists in the management of the documents being able to be done at the level of the whole Institute, which will make the work of the institution and in network between the different Provinces and the General Government much easier. Resources will be improved and time saved, all while guaranteeing access to our documents and their conservation.
The « Pergamum » Commission is continuing its work calendar with the aim of launching Archivum 3 before the end of this year.
I conclude by stating that the implantation phase of the new database system for the Institute has been completed at Alcalá de Henares. We are already in the production stage, that is to say, the progressive utilization and successive improvements which mark the normal evolution of the facility in question. It has been given the name of « Kronos ».
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Br Pedro Sánchez de León
Secrrtary General