The 90 years old FID. Round-table conference on the past, present and future of the International Federation for Documentation

Abstract

The participants of the conference were as follows: Lajos Jánszky, president of the Hungarian National Committee for FID, former vice-president of FID, Péter Lázár, former vice-president of FID, member of the FID Programme Planning Committee, Tamás Földi, FID Councillor and president of FID/SD. The main ideas of the conference were summarized on behalf of the journal by Péter Hegedűs, secretary of FID/SD. As it is well-known, Hungarian participation in the work of FID has great traditions and is living and internationaliy acknowledged at present, as well. The participants of the conference treated the most intriguing challenges facing the Federation at length touching upon those problems which might endanger the successful realization of FID's objectives. The underestimation of the most recent results of informatics and that of the process through which information gradually turns into economic good had an unfavourable impact on the Federation. FID's prospects on the other hand are fine and well-founded not only because of its activities relating to the development of UDC, but through other perspectives as well such as aiding the developing countries in the establishement of their information infrastructures or professional user education. The Hungarian participation implies direct political and professional benefits with indirect ones as well. Despite the economic stringencies the conversing partners deemed the continuation of the Hungarian participation indispensable to which the redefmition and rearrangement of the Hungarian documentation profession may provide favourable conditions.