Head of the National Library and Archives Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran stressed that the current regulations practiced in Iran regarding digital technologies fail to go with world trends.

IBNA: In his remarks made on the World Day of Audio-Visual Heritage, head of the National Library and Archives Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran asserted that guarding audio and video heritage is crucial as a substantial part of the identity of any given nation, and underlined the incompatibility of Iranian practices of law with world trends regarding digital technologies.

A ceremony was held on Wednesday, October 26, 2011, in the presence of Eshagh Salahi, the head of the National Library and Archives Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Ali Akbar Ashari, former head of the organization, Farhad Etemadi head of the Communications Administration of the National UNESCO Commission, Hujatoleslam Ramezan Mousavi Moghadam, vice president of the IRIB, and a number of ambassadors and activists in cultural matters at the locality of the National Library.

In his remarks, Salahi stated that the developments in the 20th and 21st centuries impel us (cultural officials) to seriously consider the conditions regarding audio and video fields. "Since the last 100 years, many paradigms have changed profoundly. Such changes spring discrepancies in the way we treat them and respond to them. On the one hand, we have the analogue systems and, on the other, we witness the rapid growth of digital technologies which are difficult to manage. On the whole we are faced with two main concerns: the change of paradigms and technologies and the rapid growth of the digital technologies."

He asserted that the audio-visual technologies in the 21st century are a double-edged sward which can be useful and harmful at the same time. "The sward is pretty strong but unmanageable."

When managing the future, he added, we must be cognizant of three futures: the imposed future, the possible future and the desired future for us. The worst kind of future is the imposed one on us and the best one is the one which we design, program and plan, he further added.

Elsewhere in his remarks, Salahi highlighted the history of the Memory of the World and added that audio and video heritage was formed as a Memory of the World topic in 1992.

As he said, the National Library and Archives Organization of the Islamic Republic of Iran is honored to be closely in contact with the UNESCO and have registered five of its works in its Memory of the World program.


Prior to Salahi's speech, Farhad Etemadi read a message from UNESCO's general manager to the audience on the world day of Audio-Visual Heritage.

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