The UIC Documentation Group, composed of representatives from railway documentation centres, libraries and archive centres, met in Brussels on 10 – 11 June 2010. Twelve member companies attended the meeting.

This year the Documentation Group Information Session aimed to produce an up-to-date overview of UIC member companies’ documentation centres, archives and libraries in order to take account of the changes that have occurred in recent years (restructuring, significant staff turnover, new strategic priorities, etc.)

The seminar and ensuing review of members’ experience gave the group an overview of company policies in terms of the way they manage their archives and documentation, how documentation units are organised and the challenges they currently face.

Mr Léo Carlier, Head of SNCB-Holding’s documentation centre, presented the organisation and tasks of the documentation centre, which was established in 1936. He thus highlighted the services colleagues could access via the company’s intranet and the projects in progress using the latest information distribution techniques such as RSS feeds and Wiki.

A technical visit to Belgium’s Permanent Representation to the European Commission was organised on 10 June. Mr Daniel Jacques (European Commission – DG Move) explained to participants the modus operandi and role of the Directorate-General for Mobility and Transport (DG MOVE) in the implementation of European transport policy. He placed particular emphasis on the development of the legal framework for rail transport in the European Union and on interoperability issues.

The proceedings of this two-day meeting will be published during the fourth quarter of 2010.