The UNESCO Memory of the World Programme recognizes the IMO Legacy Collection
The IMO Legacy Collection is inscribed in the UNESCO Memory of the World Register
On its 75th Anniversary, WMO is honoured to announce the inscription of its IMO Legacy Collection on the UNESCO Memory of the World Register. A project commenced in the mid-1990s, the Memory of the World Register does for international documentary heritage what UNESCO World Heritage Sites do for the planet’s cultural and natural landmarks – that is, it celebrates beauty, diversity and provenance, while ensuring protection and preservation. The nomination of the IMO Legacy Collection is a prestigious recognition that commemorates the joint history of IMO and WMO.
In 1873, a small group of scientists sought to quell a pressing issue: how to effectively share weather-related data across countries and long distances. Today, this may seem a moot problem, but in the mid-nineteenth century mass communications were reliant on the electric telegraph and morse code system. These technological marvels for the time proved inadequate for the rapidly growing needs of a burgeoning international weather community. As a result, the first International Meteorological Congress, which had gathered the small group of scientists in Vienna, laid the foundation of the International Meteorological Organization (IMO), the predecessor of WMO.
WMO inherited the IMO mandate and became the steward of its legacy when it was launched in 1950. It continued many IMO projects and programmes and also acquired decades worth of data and research, much of which was issued to the public via the IMO Publication series. Today, these publications are some of the oldest materials in the WMO archives. They comprise the IMO Legacy Collection.
The IMO Legacy Collection includes books, pamphlets, maps and graphs covering a breadth of subjects, from atmospheric science and maritime meteorology to climatology, magnetism, heliophysics and weather reporting. The collection includes seminal volumes, such as a first edition of the International Cloud Atlas, published in 1896, which was certainly one of the most innovative texts in the history of cloud studies.
The IMO Legacy Collection is an invaluable research resource for anyone interested in the annals of weather-related science or the formative years of international organizations. It is currently being digitized and made freely accessible to the public via the WMO e-Library.