The turning point in 1985. The history of appraisal and disposal of records in Iceland

The article sets off with a brief summary of the history of appraisal and disposal of records as processed at the National Archives of Iceland (NAI) since its establishment in 1882 to present times. Rules on appraisal and disposal of records introduced in 1900, 1911, and 1916 were ignored and all records were kept. Status quo remained until 1985 when a new National Archives Act was passed. The appraisal and disposal process adopted then is described and explained. It included the publication of instructions on records management as well as forms relating to records management. The influence of acts of law on the appraisal and disposal process is explained. Finally the experience with the arrangement of organised appraisal in Iceland is described.     

Chaos theory, informational needs, and natural disasters

This study applies chaos theory to a system-wide analysis of crisis communication in a natural disaster. Specifically, we analyze crisis communication during the 1997 Red River Valley flood in Minnesota and North Dakota. This flood, among the worst in modern American history, consumed entire metropolitan areas, displacing thousands of people. The conditions and decisions leading to the disaster, and the subsequent reactions are retraced. Communication related to river crest predictions (fractals), the shock at the magnitude of the crisis (cosmology episode), novel forms of reorganizing (self-organization), and agencies that aided in establishing a renewed order (strange attractors) are evaluated. Ultimately, we argue that preexisting sensemaking structures favoring rationalized, traditional views of a complex system led officials to make inappropriately unequivocal predictions and ultimately diminished the effectiveness of the region's crisis communication and planning.     

Sträuli Arslan,Leseknick — Lesekick. Leseförderung in vielsprachigen Schulen

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