Joan Boadas receives the "Nobel for archival science"

Joan Boadas i Raset, the head of the Document Management Service, Archives and Publications of Girona City Council, has received the highest distinction in world archival science and the prize of the International Council for his more than thirty years of career in the office Boadas collected the two recognitions as part of the International Conference of the International Council of Archives (CIA/ICA), which was held in the Italian capital last September. The first award to be presented to him will be the Fellow of the ICA, which is the highest honor that the International Council on Archives can bestow on an individual for his contribution to the ICA. In this way, the archivist from Girona will join the select group of 20 people who have received this award around the world. On September 23, he collected this year's Emmett Leahy Award, known as the "Nobel of archival science". Since 1967, the Award Committee has recognized the spirit of innovation, dedication and excellence in document and information management. The nomination of the Emmett Leahy is made by the Committee of the Award, made up of the previous winners of this, and makes its decisions independently, without being formally dependent on any organization or professional association.

Any living person who has made a significant impact in the field of records and information management is eligible to be nominated. The candidate does not need to have specific professional credentials or be a member of a professional organization. Past winners include educators, archivists, records managers, scientists and consultants. Nominees can come from any nation in the world. Among the most recent winners, for example, are people from India, Hong Kong, the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and Italy. The award is named after Emmett “Ed” Leahy, an American archivist and one of the pioneers in records management, who developed the method for document life cycle management and created, among others, the National Records Council in 1948, a non-profit organization to promote records management.

Boadas, born in Riudellots de la Selva in 1957, has been Girona's municipal archivist since February 1990. However, his link with this world goes back further, as he had also worked in this task in Caldes de Malavella and Salt. Apart from that, he was head of the Culture and Education Area of the Girona City Council between 1992 and 1997 and, currently, he is head of the Document Management Service, Archives and Publications (SGDAP), director of the Research and Dissemination Center of the Image (CRDI) and manager of the Cinema Museum Foundation.

Outside the Girona regions, between 2001 and 2005 he was president of the Association of Catalan Archivists (AAC). He has also been part of different associations in the sector at the international level. In addition, he has published various books and articles on archival and history and directed, and still directs, different publishing collections.

"In Girona we have a first-class municipal archive, internationally recognized and which brings immense value to the city for the preservation of our history, and also for the desire to project itself to the whole world", declared Marta Madrenas. In fact, the mayoress of Girona also affirmed that "behind the operation of public services are the public servants, and the management of Joan Boadas has been key to achieving these levels of quality".