Programme and Presentation Abstracts
Rydges, Latimer Square Christchurch, New Zealand
Principal Sponsor Tuesday September 30: Special Interest Groups (SIGs) / AGMs / Loris Williams Lecture / Welcome Event
9 – 11am Registration Desk open at Rydges Hotel. Level 1 9am ASA University Archives SIG meeting
10am ARANZ Collecting ASA Government ASA School Archives Archives SIG meeting Archives SIG meeting SIG Meeting
Venue: Rydges Hotel Venue: Rydges Hotel Venue: University of Joint with the ASA Canterbury, Mataritki Collections of Faith 11am Contact: Contact: Building, Level 6. Traditions Meeting s.innes@auckland.ac.nz [email protected] Map: http://maps.canterbury.ac. nz/home/browse/1168?& Venue: St Margaret’s Tea and coffee provided z=17 College, Shrewsbury St, Tea and coffee http://bit.ly/1CvBXfr provided Contact: [email protected] Contact: Jenny Pearce .au; [email protected] [email protected]
Morning tea provided
12pm
12.30pm Registration Desk open at the Christchurch Transitional Cathedral 1.30pm Archives and Records Association of New Zealand Annual General Meeting
Venue: Christchurch Transitional Cathedral, a.k.a. ‘The Cardboard Cathedral’ 234 Hereford Street, Latimer Square http://cardboardcathedral.org.nz/
2.30pm Australian Society of Archivists Annual General Meeting
Venue: Christchurch Transitional Cathedral
3.30pm Free time and set up for the Lecture 4pm Australian Society of Archivists Loris Williams Lecture
The Development of a Ngāi Tahu Archival Framework to Protect, Enhance and Nurture Ngāi Tahu Culture Sir Tipene O’Regan The full abstract available here: http://www.archivists.org.au/learning-publications/2014- conference/loriswilliamslecture2014
Venue: Christchurch Transitional Cathedral 5pm Set up for evening events 5.30pm Conference Welcome Reception ASA and ARANZ Awards Ceremonies
Light food and beverages will be provided
Venue: Christchurch Transitional Cathedral
7.30pm Close
Wednesday October 1: Conference Sessions
8.45 - Welcome messages 9.10am Colin MacDonald. Chief Executive, Department of Internal Affairs & Government Chief Information Officer 9.10– Session 1: International Priorities for ICA 9.30 David Fricker, President Elect, International Council on Archives (ICA) 9.30- Session 2: The Value Proposition: Recordkeeping in government ICT strategies. 10.15 - John Roberts: The NZ ICT Strategy and Action Plan - Adrian Cunningham: Queensland ICT Strategy and Action Plan - Evelyn Wareham: NZ Data Futures Forum Chair: David Fricker 10.15-10.45: Morning Tea Savoy West Savoy 2 Savoy East 10.45 – Session 3: Personal Papers Session 4: Organisational Change Session 5: Specialist Collections 12.15 Te Honoka ki Hemi Kawana: Managing Archives in an EDRMS: The New Zealand Theatre Connecting to James Cowan Can it be done? Archive Ariana Tikao, Alexander Turnbull Adrian Humphris, Wellington City Rowena Cullen, NZ Theatre Library Archives Archive An Archivist in the Field Digital First: Transforming the Sugar, Science and Super Smiles: Katherine Pawley, University of National Archives Business Business archives Auckland Karen Horsfall, National Archives of Helen Hopper, Australian National Australia University A Simple Turn of the Page: The extraordinary family photo Legacy Digital and Outreach Re-connecting the Pacific Films albums of James Peters @ArchivesNZ Documentation Collection Jill Delaney, Library and Archives Mick Crouch & Ross Spencer, Mishelle Muagututi'a & Sarah Davy, Canada Archives NZ Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision Chair: Anna Blackman Chair: Trish O’Kane Chair: Lisa Austin 12.15 – 1.15 Lunch 1.15 – Session 6: The Great Remembering Session 7: Connections Session 8: Promoting the Archive 2.45 ANZAC Connections: Archival A First for Southland and the The Allure of Wine & Cheese: records to the Web Public Records Act Exhibiting the archive Theresa Cronk, Australian War Rebecca Smith, Invercargill City Shannon Wellington, Gillian Oliver Memorial Libraries and Archives & Shanann & Chern Li Liew, Victoria Carr, Archives NZ University of Wellington We Shall Remember Them, our World War One Chaplains ‘Ride a Better Bike’ – How Riding Digital Libraries and Marketing Ken Scadden and Elizabeth Past took us into the Future Dr Diane Velasquez, University of Charlton, Marist Archives Nick Gleghorn, National Archives of South Australia Australia & Amanda Sentance, State Across the Ditch: A search and A Programmatic Approach to Records South Australia data-sharing model Strengthening the Archive, Both Sara Farrell, National Archives of Recordkeeping Standards: Without and Within Australia Benchmarks or banners? Jim Gerencser, Dickinson College, Tony Moss, Archives NZ Pennsylvania USA Chair: Michael Piggott Chair: John Roberts Chair: Kylie Percival 2.45- 3.15: Afternoon Tea 3.15 – Session 9: Federated Online Access Session 10: Information Spaces Session 11: Pacific Archives 4.15 A Modest Proposal for The Geelong Library and From Microfilm to Megabytes Improving Access to Archives Heritage Centre Project Kylie Moloney, Pacific Manuscripts (and Other Records) Mark Beasley, Geelong Heritage Bureau Chris Hurley, Commonwealth Bank Centre The PARBICA Plan 2014- 2016 of Australia Talei Masters, Pacific Branch of ICA Richard Lehane, State Records The Data Imperative: Addressing
NSW the loss of New Zealand’s Facilitated discussion on NZ / Janine Delaney, NZ Micrographics publicly funded research data? Australian relationship with Pacific Shanann Carr, Archives NZ Penny Carnaby, Lincoln University Island archives and collections Chair: Cassie Findlay Chair: Jeff Field Chair: Evelyn Wareham A quick room change 4.30 – Session 12: Archives, Memory and Post Earthquake Christchurch 5.20 3 x brief presentations of post earthquake memory initiatives, with a short discussion Chair: Mark Crookston
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Thursday October 2: Conference Sessions
9 – 9.20 Plenary: An announcement from our Principal Sponsor: Ancestry.com
9.20 - Session 13: International Keynote: 10.30 What is the Archivist’s Role in the Evolving Archival Space? Kate Theimer, archivesnext.com
Keynote sponsorship provided by the School of Information Management, Victoria University of New Zealand. http://www.victoria.ac.nz/sim
Chair: Adelaide Parr 10.30 – 11.00: Morning Tea 11.00 Session 14: Digital Archive & Session 15: Recordkeeping and Session 16; Connecting Experiences - 12.30 Information Solutions the Canterbury Earthquakes “Hands-on, Minds-on” at the You’ve Got Mail: Collecting Environment Canterbury: Macmillan Brown Library and email at the Alexander Moving on after the shaking Archive Turnbull Library stops Denise Thompson, Dr Joanna Cobley & Caroline Syddall, Sean McMahon & Jessica Moran, Environment Canterbury (ECAN) University of Canterbury Alexander Turnbull Library Court Records after the Is There a Role for Crowd-Sourcing Connecting the Dots: The item Christchurch Earthquake and Gamification in Archives? model for the government Eamonn Bolger, Ministry of Zoe D’Arcy, National Archives of digital archive Justice Australia Talei Masters, Archives NZ CERA: The challenges of a Lessons Learned: An historian’s The Future of Information temporary government experience in the archive Management Metrics and department Michelle Novacco Business Performance Juliet Moore, Canterbury Anne Lyons, National Archives of Earthquake Recovery Authority Australia (CERA) Chair: Shannon Wellington Chair: Adrian Cunningham Chair: Kathryn Dan 12.30 – 13.45 Lunch 1.45 – Session 17: Connecting with Session 18: Community Session 19: Connected Collecting 3.15 Digital Collections Connections Digital Humanities, Talking About Small NZ Documenting Australian society: Universities, and Archives in Community Archives: Findings Lessons learned and where to Australasia so far next? Paul Millar, University of Sarah Welland, Open Polytechnic Canterbury A planning session facilitated by Sustainability of community- Sigrid McCausland & Kim Eberhard, From Evidence to Collective based information Charles Sturt University Memory: Connecting management practices communities Dr Pauline Joseph, Curtin Michael Jones, University of University Melbourne Connecting Donors and Trailblazer: Heritage, Archives: An International augmented reality and the Perspective curriculum Dr Aaron D. Purcell, University Dr Mark Brogan, Edith Cowan Libraries at Virginia Tech, USA University Chair: Joanna Newman Chair: Catherine Robinson 3 .15– 3.45: Afternoon Tea 3.45 – Session 20: Open Data, Archival Access and Public Access: What is the difference? 4.45 Panel discussion facilitated by Barbara Reed, Recordkeeping Roundtable
4.45 – Closing remarks 5.10pm Announcement of next conferences
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Session 1 and 2: The Value Proposition: Recordkeeping in Government ICT Strategies
Abstract: A value proposition is an articulation of why people and communities should use your services. A good value proposition should define what you do that is different to others, and for government agencies, what market gap is being addressed. Following on from the 2013 ASA conference, where the challenges of articulating the recordkeeping and value proposition emerged as a strong theme, these sessions address the challenges and strategies for inserting and asserting the recordkeeping value proposition into macro government and global strategies.
David Fricker, Director-General of the National Archives of Australia and President-Elect of the International Council on Archives
John Roberts, Director, Relationship Management, Government Chief Information Office, Department of Internal Affairs
Adrian Cunningham Director, Digital Archives & Government Recordkeeping, Queensland State Archives
Evelyn Wareham, Manager, Integrated Data and Research at Statistics New Zealand, and Member of the New Zealand Data Futures Forum
Session 3: Connecting with Personal Papers
Te Honoka ki Hēmi Kawana: Connecting to James Cowan Ariana Tikao, Alexander Turnbull Library
Abstract: This paper will focus on the arrangement and description of a large collection of James Cowan's working papers, and the subsequent curation of the exhibition Borderland: The world of James Cowan, and how these actions have led to relationship building with people and communities. This has involved a symposium focussing on the legacy of the writer James Cowan (1870-1943), as well as connecting with Cowan's own whānau (family) and other whānau who relate closely to the taonga held in his collections which are held at the Alexander Turnbull Library.
An Archivist in the Field Katherine Pawley, University of Auckland
Abstract: In 2012 Special Collections at the University of Auckland was approached by anthropologist Dr Judith Huntsman regarding her collection of personal papers pertaining to over 40 years of research on the ethnography and history of Tokelau. This paper explores how this collaboration enlightened the archivist, informed the process of arrangement and description, and has added to the research value of the collection
A Simple Turn of the Page: The extraordinary family photo albums of James Peters Jill Delaney, Library and Archives Canada
Abstract: In 1958, Mr. Frederic Hatheway Peters donated 9 cm. of career related textual records, 33 technical drawings, and two family photographic albums to the Public Archives of Canada. The rather dry description of the albums, “Operations of “A” Battery, Regiment of Canadian Artillery during the Northwest Rebellion actions at Fish Creek and Batoche, NWT, 1885-85” belies the extraordinary contents and composition of these personal albums, where a turn of a page changes everything.
Beyond the strong historical value of the individual photographs taken by Peters’ father Captain James Peters, during his military career in the 1880s, the albums present some 5 revealing and uneasy connections that lie at the heart of a foundational, still highly charged moment in Canadian history. This presentation will explore the uneasy connections not only between the photographs within the albums, but between the photographs and the history they present.
Session 4: Organisational Change
Managing Archives in an EDRMS; can it be done? Adrian Humphris, Wellington City Council Archives
Abstract: As part of Wellington City Council’s implementation of Opentext Content Server, management of the Councils’ archive collection, both paper and electronic, has been transferred to the new EDRMS platform. Managing archival collections in a document management system is not a common approach, and the migration has been an interesting and at times incredibly intellectual process
Digital First: Transforming the National Archives Business Karen Horsfall, National Archives of Australia
Abstract: This paper will review the issues, gaps, outcomes and learnings from the Solution Design stage of the project and consider the next steps in transforming the Archives business to digital.
Legacy Digital: Digital Continuity and Outreach @ArchivesNZ Ross Spencer and Mick Crouch, Archives New Zealand
Abstract: This paper discusses some of the physical and digital channels Archives NZ promotes that enables this cross-pollination of ideas to help ensure the longevity of the digital material entering our collections. We look at our use of blogging, Twitter, interest groups, discussion forums and the importance of simply being open and receptive to queries from organisations and individuals across and outside of government. We conclude by placing our efforts in the light of recent work by the team to support the extract and appraisal of legacy digital documents from otherwise obsolete carrier mediums for other government agencies.
Session 5: Specialist Collections
The New Zealand Theatre Archive Rowena Cullen, The New Zealand Theatre Archive Trust
Abstract: The New Zealand Theatre Archive (NZTA) was formed in 1997 to ensure the preservation of the records of past, present and future theatre in Aotearoa New Zealand. The overall aim is to provide a national focus, policy and support for libraries and museums, theatre companies and other institutions caring for NZ’s theatre heritage. In pursuit of this aim the NZTA has over the past 17 years created a database of theatre holdings in repositories, theatre organisations, and the personal collections of theatre practitioners; developed a brochure promoting its activities and advocating archival practice amongst cultural groups; commissioned a professionally authored manual, Caring for Your Theatre Archives available in print for nearly a decade we are about to republish as an e-book; and commissioned over 20 oral histories which have been added to the collections of the ATL.
The NZTA is now looking to build a new phase of activity, to better fulfil its national mission, and enhance support for libraries, museums and theatre organisations by working more closely with other groups engaged in the preservation of cultural archives. Organisations such as ARANZ are central to this mission, and the paper 6 presented at the conference will highlight some of the NZTA’s activities and successes in more detail, and outline a proposed partnership with a core of cultural archivists who might form a Cultural SIG within ARANZ/LIANZA.
Sugar, Science and Super Smiles: Business archives as a rich resource for connecting past ideas to the present and enabling development for the future Helen Hopper, Australian National University
Abstract: As an archive of Business and Labour, the Noel Butlin Archives provides a rich resource for a very wide user group from family historians, lawyers, academic researchers and students to businesses. This paper will take a case study of how a recently established business can connect business archives to their present purposes and future development. Noel Butlin Archives holds the records of the Colonial Sugar Refining Company, CSR, which for over a hundred years specialised in sugar production. In the 1960s, while food production was no longer as big a part of their business, the company were developing a product which could be added to food and re-mineralised teeth. Government support for this new product’s introduction into food products on the market was sought, but State Governments chose instead to support alternative schemes such as water fluoridation.
Despite over a decade of research and approvals for food safety standards, CSR abandoned it, in favour of their more lucrative areas of business in mining and building materials. Fast forward 40 years and a new business looking to develop this ‘wonder’ product, needed proof of food safety tests but could not find them. Facing potentially a further 2 or 3 years of trials and tests and several million dollars in the process a trip to the Noel Butlin Archives was a last hope that something of the research and results from the 1960s might have survived. This paper looks at how a needle in a haystack, actually turned out to be more a needle in a bale of hay, and that with the right questions and information, an old idea which had been laid to rest, has been given a new lease of life.
Re-connecting the Pacific Films Documentation Collection Mishelle Muagututi'a & Sarah Davy, Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision
Abstract: Pacific Films was New Zealand's most prolific and long-running independent production company. Run by eminent producer John O'Shea from a complex in Kilbirnie, Wellington from 1948 to 1992, it made a remarkable range of documentaries, newsreels and advertisements. Pacific also single-handedly kept NZ feature film production alive through the 50s and 60s, making Runaway (1952), Broken Barrier (1964) and Don't Let It Get You (1966). Long before the existence of local film schools, Pacific served as a training ground for a new generation of film-makers and technicians, including Gaylene Preston and Barry Barclay.
The legacy of Pacific Films is of critical significance to New Zealand's cinema history. Alongside it's voluminous film collection it includes 300 boxes of company records, which Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision (formerly the NZ Film Archive) is currently processing. At Pacific Films nearly every scrap of paper was kept, from a small handwritten note scribbled with drawings to the more formal company papers. These documents tell stories of the different personalities involved with Pacific Films, the progression of ideas, the day-to-day running of a business, personal lives, financial hardship, and unfinished projects in addition to the realisation of successful New Zealand productions. These boxes therefore contain a myriad of items, from documents, photographs and financial records to signage, costumes, diaries and maps.
Re-connecting the documentation to the films, this processing work is also connecting the collection to a new range of stakeholders. Mishelle Muagututi'a and Sarah Davy will discuss the insights, challenges, and connections generated by the Pacific Films documentation project.
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Session 6: The Great Remembering
ANZAC Connections: Archival Records to the web Theresa Cronk, Australian War Memorial
Abstract: ANZAC Connections is the Australian War Memorial’s major digitisation and web development project to mark the centenary of the First World War. Two major components of this project involve the delivery of new digitised content drawn from the Memorial’s collection of private letters and diaries and improved accessibility to existing digitised records already available on the website.
During 2011, and in some respects even earlier, the ANZAC Connections project started looking at ways of accommodating archival records in the Memorial’s museum collection database, Mimsy XG, with the combined intention of improving online display and access to digitised records. The resulting solution and model was so successful that it also became the solution for the entire digitised archival collection. In early 2013, the Memorial commenced the migration of over 2 million images of archival records and their associated database entries as well as 500 000 indexed names and information about service personnel. Completed during September 2013, this has since been followed by the release of 149 collections or 23 825 images specifically for the ANZAC Connections project.
This paper will discuss the challenges and solutions met by the Memorial for digitising, managing, preserving and providing public access to archival collections via a museum collection database. It will focus on accommodating archival records and associated images in the Memorial’s collection database and the resulting improvements to online display of these collections. Finally, attention will also be given to the development of descriptive standards for digitised archival collections and biographies of their creators.
We shall remember them, our World War One Chaplains Ken Scadden and Elizabeth Charlton, Marist Archives, New Zealand
Abstract: The Society of Mary contributed seven chaplains to the NZEF in World War One, as well as many others who provided pastoral care to the forces in New Zealand. Yet, to be able to honour their memory and tell their stories, we have not been able to this alone.
This paper will demonstrate the importance of connecting in order to acknowledge their contributions. We are not the sole source of material on our Chaplains; connecting with other repositories, religious and secular, has been required. Various forms of outreach will show how connections are being made with our community and with today’s youth.
The paper will weave visuals of collected materials with the more theoretical aspects of connecting.
Across the Ditch – a search and data-sharing model Sara Farrell, National Archives of Australia,
Abstract: In November 2013, Archives New Zealand and the National Archives of Australia announced a joint arrangement to make wartime records in their holdings available to the public via the website ‘Discovering Anzacs’. Both archives hold the digitised service dossiers of their country’s WWI servicemen and women, and both countries have a strong Anzac tradition. This ground-breaking international partnership aimed to allow the public to access to the full Anzac story for the centenary of WWI. Discovering Anzacs, which features a strong element of user-generated content to enrich both collection data and old-fashioned story-telling, was successfully launched in August 2014.
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This case study will explore some of the challenges and triumphs both archives faced in creating both the arrangement and the website. It will cover how we negotiated the realities of data-sharing, alongside some of the challenges of creating a data model that ultimately allows the public to seamlessly make the journey across the ditch to search both collections.
Session 7: Collaborating and Connecting
A first for Southland and the PRA Shanann Carr, Archives New Zealand Rebecca Smith, Invercargill City Libraries and Archives
Abstract: Listen to two sides of the same story as Shanann and Rebecca give their views on the journey to establishing the first approved repository under the Public Records Act 2005. Shanann will explain a brief history of the approved repository network and the role of the Archives Council, before talking about the ICLA approval and what it might mean for the future of public records in Southland. Rebecca will explain why ICLA sought approval, how the process was from her point of view, where she hopes this approval will lead ICLA, as well as benefits and drawbacks to the Southland Community.
‘Ride a Better Bike’ – How Riding Past took us into the Future Nick Cleghorn, National Archives of Australia Amanda Sentence, State Records of South Australia
Abstract: In January 2014 the National Archives of Australia (Adelaide Office) and State Records of South Australia collaborated on Riding Past, a street exhibition showcasing cycling related images from the collections of each organisation. Timed to coincide with the annual Tour Down Under held in Adelaide, the exhibition consisted of poster sized images pasted up at various CBD locations, supported by a dedicated Flickr set and social media campaign. Collaboration on this innovative exhibition was made possible in part by the colocation of the two organisations at the South Australian Archives Centre. Sharing office space and a Research Centre has brought staff from the organisations together, and the idea for the exhibition originated from a chat at the 2012 ICA Congress between four Archivists about a shared love of cycling.
The successes of the exhibition have been evidenced in many ways. It acted as a pilot for future partnerships and social media strategies, and was a unique way to engage audiences and draw new people in. Best of all it made the historic collections of each organisation relevant to and intertwined with a current high profile event. One of the most popular images from the exhibition came from the Centenary Mystery Bike Hike in 1936, and urged people to ‘ride a better bike’. The National Archives and State Records see this as a metaphor for their experience with Riding Past, having used the exhibition to test a departure from traditional modes of engagement and to take archival images from the repository to the streets.
Recordkeeping Standards: benchmarks or banners? Tony Moss, Archives New Zealand
Abstract: Archives New Zealand's recordkeeping standards may seem unlikely banners of professional identity, but the recent review of the four existing mandatory standards, which resulted in their consolidation into a single standard called the Records Management Standard for the New Zealand Public Sector, revealed that many public sector recordkeeping professionals have a more than instrumental relationship with those documents. For some, the intention to simplify, compress and streamline the standards seemed equivalent to stripping down the complex, rich and satisfying sense they had of their role and of themselves.
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This presentation will briefly explain the what, why and how of the project to review Archives New Zealand’s mandatory recordkeeping standards. It will then tease out some of the issues raised by the project relating to the professional identity of public sector recordkeeping professionals. It will focus particularly on the reaction to the consultation draft of the new combined standard, which was made available for comment between June and August last year.
The presentation will conclude with a discussion of how Archives New Zealand attempted to negotiate a more acceptable balance between the pragmatic intention to make the existing standards easier to use and understand, and the heritage of the recordkeeping profession as both represented in and partly constituted through those documents.
Session 8: Promoting the Archive
The Allure of Wine and Cheese: exhibiting the archive. Dr Shannon Wellington, Dr Gillian Oliver, Dr ChernLi Liew, Victoria University of Wellington
Abstract: Exhibition is a form of outreach and outreach is seen as an important component of community engagement for libraries and increasingly archives. Exhibitions can be resource intensive to operationalise, but they also add value through facilitating community/research engagement and can be tied directly to funding, accountability and institutional identity. A report titled “Exhibiting the Written Word” by Loxley et al. (2011) acknowledged the increasing popularity of exhibition by libraries and archives. This report also acknowledged the lack of research and guidelines specifically designed to assist in the planning and development of exhibitions by these institutions.
When libraries engage in outreach through exhibition, the nature of the material they deal with – the book, journal etc. are relatively discrete entities, they are self-contained information objects. The issue of exhibiting archives however is more complex. The characteristics of a record, or its ‘record-ness’ reside in the principles of provenance and original order. Does the elevation of a record, or even a series of records to an exhibitionary state endanger those foundation principles? Moreover, is the evidential nature of records selected for exhibition challenged through interpretation, or can this be mitigated through a continuum framework? Lastly, how do archives measure the value of their exhibition programming in the context of wider outreach initiatives?
Digital Libraries & Marketing Dr Diane L. Velasquez, University of South Australia Dr Jennifer Campbell-Meier, University of Alabama
Abstract: Digital libraries encompass institutional repositories, archives, and collections of various types. What each type of digital library has in common is that it needs to have visitors to make it viable. In our study we are interested in how the different types of digital libraries have used marketing in order to get their target audience involved in their collections.
Digital libraries and marketing have used various methods and techniques to encourage faculty and visitors to come to the web site and use the digital collections. According to Kennedy (2011) some of the types of techniques included internal and external email, online social networks, screen savers, usage statistics, web page alerts, bookmarks, banners, posts, calendars, brochures, giveaways, newsletter, direct mail, patron training, staff training, faculty/professionals as marketing tools, phone calls, surveys, and word of mouth. The previous list is by no means the entire list included in Kennedy’s article but
10 just an example of some of the techniques and methods by digital libraries. She goes on to make the point that there is no one particular method preferred by any type of digital library but they all try different things according to their theoretical bent (Kennedy, 2011). Kotler and Levy’s (1969) seminal work makes the point that in order for marketing to be effective it requires a customer orientation instead of product orientation still holds true.
The paper will discuss the results of a survey that will be sent to various international groups representing archivists and librarians and. The survey questions identify how and where the institutions are marketing as well as how much is being spent on marketing efforts.
A Programmatic Approach to Strengthening the Archive, Both Without and Within Jim Gerencser, Dickinson College, Pennsylvania USA
Abstract: Changes in faculty and curriculum in the late 20th century resulted in declining usage of archival resources by the Dickinson College community. Outreach and promotional efforts then shifted toward the use of online means to reach audiences well beyond the walls of the college. By making finding aids and digitized materials more visible, both on the institution’s own website and through third party services like Flickr, accessibility by external patrons was vastly improved and overall usage of existing collections increased. Building upon the successes achieved through these outreach efforts, a strategy was developed over the past two years to build further awareness of our resources and services and to increase our audience.
This presentation will discuss this new strategy, which involves leveraging existing strengths in physical holdings, financial resources, and local connections to build new collections. One effort focuses on building a virtual collection on the Carlisle Indian School, a local topic of great national interest, by collaborating with other institutions to bring together materials that are widely dispersed physically. Another effort involves a partnership with a local LGBT Center to serve as a repository for materials on the lesbian and gay community in our region. A third approach includes teaming with a national professional association, currently hosted at the college, to serve as a repository for documenting the study abroad movement in the United States. These three successful initiatives, primarily designed to draw external audiences, have now brought us full circle by having the effect of improving awareness and increasing usage by the Dickinson College community as well.
Session 9: Federated Online Access
A Modest Proposal for Improving Access to Archives and Other Records Chris Hurley, Commonwealth Bank of Austrlia Janine Delaney, NZ Micrographic Services Cassie Finlay, State Records NSW
Abstract: This session will first introduce issues outlined in a paper by Chris Hurley titled A Modest Proposal for Improving Access to Archives and Other Records, presented to a Recordkeeping Roundtable in Sydney in March 2014. Janine Delaney will provide a New Zealand perspective on these issues before a report on the Sydney Roundtable event by Cassie Finlay and Kate Cumming. The session concludes with a 10 minute Q&A for participants. Participants are encouraged to read A Modest Proposal… before attending the session. http://www.descriptionguy.com/images/WEBSITE/A-Modest- Proposal.pdf
Session 10: Information Spaces
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The Geelong Library and Heritage Centre Project Mark Beasley, Manager Geelong Heritage Centre
Abstract: The new $45.5M Geelong Library Heritage Centre (GLHC) is now in the early stages of construction. The nine storey stare of the art GLHC will bring together for the first time the separate operations of the Geelong Heritage Centre (GHC) and the Geelong City Library, replacing the two storey building that was home to the Library from 1959 and then Geelong Historical Records Centre (now GHC) from 1979.
GHC is the largest regional archive in Victoria, home to a diverse collection of both Public and Private Records providing a valuable access into the very beginnings of the Geelong region.
In 2007, the City of Greater Geelong Council and the Victorian State Government jointly funded and developed the Geelong Cultural Precinct Master Plan. The Geelong City Hall, Old Courthouse Building, Geelong Performing Arts Centre, Geelong Gallery, City Library, GHC and Johnstone Park are facilities sited in this Little Malop street location.
The presenter will share his experiences from the Cultural Precinct Master Plan to the GLHC Business Case, the roller coaster ride of securing funding from State and Federal Governments, the concept and detailed design stages of the now adopted dome shaped GLHC and how in the background this work became a driver to facilitate the integration of the GHC with Geelong Library. The new GLHC is seen as a key public facility in supporting the future growth in Geelong and a catalyst to enable its new and old population to connect with its past present and future.
The Data Imperative: Addressing the loss of New Zealand's publicly funded research data? Penny Carnaby, Lincoln University
Abstract: There are complex and urgent issues underpinning long term access to NZ's publicly funded research data.
Through a Lincoln Innovation Hub collaboration; Agresearch, Landcare Research, Plant and Food, Lincoln University and Dairy NZ are working with national agencies, to slow the pace of the unacceptable loss of NZ unique land based research data.
Session 11: Pacific Archives
From microfilm to megabytes: re-inventing the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau in a digital environment Kylie Moloney, Pacific Manuscripts Bureau
Abstract: The Pacific Manuscripts Bureau (PMB), has assisted with the long-term preservation and accessibility of the documentary heritage of the Pacific islands since 1968. The Bureau is a non-profit organisation sponsored by an international consortium of libraries specialising in Pacific research, based in the College of Asia and the Pacific at The Australian National University. The Bureau’s longevity is due to a high level of international cooperation of member libraries, a business model that delivered a high volume of high quality microfilms exclusively to member libraries, and commitment by dedicated staff. For the past 45 years, the Bureau has used microfilm as the preferred preservation medium to copy, preserve and distribute archives from the Pacific Islands to the Bureau’s member libraries.
In 2014 the Bureau moved from microfilm to digital format. This significant change has affected all areas of the Bureau’s operations; including the development of a new online
12 open-source database that can digitally deliver titles to PMB member libraries, developing digitisation policies and technical standards for digital preservation and delivery, acquiring and operating new digital equipment to copy archives in the Pacific Islands, developing new workflows and ways of operating, and the ongoing reinvention of the Bureau’s business model.
Despite limited funding and resources, the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau has been reinvented as an archive that now operates in a digital environment. The Executive Officer will share how the transition to digital took place and highlight how open and wide consultation based on mutual respect, reinforcing old and creating new personal and professional relationships, a lot of hard work and the ability to renegotiate, were fundamental to the reinvention of the Bureau. I will conclude by discussing the exciting new possibilities going digital opens up to PMB.
The PARBICA Plan 2014-2016 Talei Masters, Pacific Branch of ICA.
Abstract: A presentation on the business plan for PARBICA – The Pacific Branch of the International Council on Archives. This is you chance to get an overview of current archival priorities for Pacific Island countries, states and territories, and determine what role you can play in meeting the objective of PARBICA.
Followed by a facilitated discussion on NZ / Australian relationship with Pacific Island archives and collections.
Session 12: Archives, Memory and Post Earthquake Christchurch
3 brief presentations of post earthquake memory projects with a short discussion
Session 13: International Keynote
What is the Archivist’s Role in the Evolving Archival Space? Kate Theimer, archivesnext.com
Abstract: Today collections of historically valuable material are created, managed, and preserved by an increasingly diverse group of stakeholders, and there is even more interest in providing access to historical material online. What constitutes an archive or archives is often subject to broad interpretation, and people with many kinds of professional training—or indeed no training at all—are often part of an increasingly participatory vision of “the archives.” Archivists are—and should be—embracing this expansion of the archival space and becoming active members of these online and physical communities. However, this expansion brings with it questions about the role of the professional archivist and the archival tradition in these environments. At the same time, for many the impact of the economic downturn has triggered anxiety about the future of the profession. When almost anything can be called an “archives,” how should we as professionals think about what it means to be an archivist? How can we strike a balance between the competing needs to be inclusive and embrace this new environment while still advocating for the continued importance of our profession? What is our role in the new expanded archival community?
Session 14: Digital Archive and Information Solutions 13
YOU’VE GOT MAIL: Dealing with email at the Alexander Turnbull Library Sean McMahon, Jessica Moran, National Library of New Zealand
Abstract: “We’ve got mail and we intend to deposit it with your repository.” Since the advent of electronic mail in 1993, the growth of the use of email in computer networks and across the Internet has grown exponentially. Email poses a challenge to repositories who wish to capture, preserve, and provide access to email and other electronic communication in perpetuity. The last few years has seen a dramatic increase in the number of donors wishing to deposit their emails within email systems to the Alexander Turnbull Library. From Eudora to Gmail, from individual .eml files to entire .pst outlook mailboxes, we will explore some archival issues and challenges we’ve faced. We will review some of the different emails formats and collections we have worked with and explore issues that have arisen for us on the best way to appraise, ingest, preserve and make available email collections. Thinking about how to archive email collections is part of the larger question of how to handle born digital collections in general, do these collections force us to change our ways of thinking, or can the same principles be applied? A tipping point has been reached were all repositories have to deal with digital records in one form or another. As difficult as the challenges with born digital material may be, best we get onto it before all digital files go the way of Snapchat and self- destruct within five seconds.
Connecting the Dots: Implementing a new item model Talei Masters, Archives New Zealand
Abstract: As part of its Government Digital Archive Programme (GDAP), Archives New Zealand undertook a review of its descriptive item model. The model was aligned with international standards and peer reviewed. The key changes from the current model were an increased number of descriptive elements, the introduction of new record entities and the ability to create relationships between them. This key feature to relate items to each other was to ensure we could represent the complex nature of digital records.
The GDAP included a workstream of initial digital transfers, through which processes and tools would be developed and tested, providing archivists with real records on which to test the model. Archivists at Archives New Zealand were presented with a significant amount of both recordkeeping and process metadata, but the initial perception that most of the job of description had been completed by the creators was quickly dispelled; metadata was of varying quality and consistency, which led to concerns about the accessibility of records using this new model. By the end of the exercise, the participants were questioning whether it was possible to implement the conceptual item model as expected. Archivists were left with the realisation that the resulting representation of the metadata and the digital content was a retrograde step in terms of the records’ accessibility and flexibility to users. At times it felt as if the mapping exercise was like connecting the dots to try to ensure that there would be an accurate representation of the record.
Managing Digital Assets: Metrics and Performance Anne Lyons , Assistant Director-General, National Archives of Australia
Abstract: In today’s digital environment, information is an asset which needs to be managed wherever it is held for as long as it provides business value; and information management is everyone’s responsibility. Generally, it is agreed that poor information management practices may lead to costly consequences for organisations, while good information management practices may lead to business benefits. Many organisations are transitioning to digital practices to gain business benefits. However, there is little tangible evidence linking information management practices to the value of information and the performance of the business. Because information creates business value indirectly, measuring the value of 14 information and its management are problematic. In addition, most organisations focus on information within electronic records management systems, ignoring information held within business systems, databases, social media and mobile devices; potentially underestimating the costs and benefits of managing all their information assets.
This paper focuses on the challenges and opportunities in establishing metrics for digital information management. For digital information management to be positioned at the forefront of organisational focus, and the recipient of continued resourcing, the link between information management performance and organisational performance needs to be established and exploited. This paper considers the nature of digital information management factors influencing business performance and how these factors may be measured towards a fully digital information management future.
Session 15: Recordkeeping and the Canterbury Earthquakes
Environment Canterbury: Moving on after the shaking stops Denise Thompson, Environment Canterbury
Abstract: Environment Canterbury was based in Christchurch’s CBD and like many businesses located there was impacted by the February 2011 earthquake. The 400 + staff had to be relocated, and we had no access to the hardcopy files for 15 months. This session will describe what we did to get set up and running again, the challenges of changing from one site for 400 people to 60 – 100 people spread over 7 (main) sites across greater Christchurch, and the challenges of being cut off from the hardcopy files that staff relied on.
Court Records after the Canterbury Earthquake Eamon Bolger, Ministry of Justice
Abstract: The Canterbury earthquake of February 2011 suddenly brought a halt to most business in Christchurch and surrounding areas. The most immediately impacted was the High and District Court building in Durham Street, the Environment Court and the offices of the Legal Services Agency in Oxford Terrace. The earthquake resulted in the immediate evacuation of both buildings which were subsequently "red or orange stickered" meaning that staff access was restricted until the last quarter of 2012. The building status and its location within the RED Zone essentially meant that no staff were able to access the building, and most were entirely unaware of the actual state of their records and the dangerous nature of access. The focus following the earthquake was on ensuring staff safety and then establishing temporary offices to continue essential work. The basement of the High and District Courts and shelves throughout the building held over 3,000 shelf metres of current and non-current court records. In July 2011 Maria Andre and Eamonn Bolger from the Ministry of Justice were assigned to prepare for, and oversee the physical transfer of all records from the Durham Street building contracting our storage provider Online Security Limited to manage the boxing and transfer to secure storage. Based on experiences from both the Durham Street and later transfers from the Environment Court, and Legal Services this presentation will describe the context of each site, the condition of the records and the process of on the spot disposal sentencing. The session will discuss lessons learned, the wider impact on other courts, and the process of defining “what really matters”.
CERA – The challenges of a temporary government department Juliet Moore, Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA)
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Abstract: The Canterbury Earthquake Recovery Authority (CERA) is a unique instance of a temporary government department in NZ. This agency was born out of a disaster to deal specifically with the recovery and rebuild and act as a middleman between individuals, agencies, the public and the private sector. What has eventuated is that CERA is the connector between the past city and the future city. It faces unique challenges as an organisation born out of nothing, growing immensely over a short space of time and then shrinking back to nothing through the transference of powers, responsibilities and records to other agencies. This has thrown up many recordkeeping challenges. As a temporary organisation set up post-disaster there was no existing infrastructure or processes to work from. The initial response phase has created its own series of issues – use of personal email accounts, lack of any record keeping systems and many building changes.
The second phase of response created further issues with no Records Manager and the implementation of an EDRMS within the space of two months. A very quick implementation with the consequent issues of lack of understanding of file plan and record keeping responsibilities. As we move into the third phase we have fewer contractors and more permanent staff, an EDRMS and various other lines of business systems. Processes are more established if not documented and the organisation as a whole is more stable. Now we have to focus on the future, the eventual transfer of all records and business to other agencies. Where do the records belong? What about those which are already complete – who will take them? So many questions, two years to run…
Session 16: Connecting Experiences
“Hands-on, minds-on” at the Macmillan Brown Library and Archive Dr Joanna Cobley and Caroline Syddall, University of Canterbury
Abstract: History teachers, librarians and archivists are trained to work with collections and primary source material. This paper looks at the student experience from HIST128: New Zealand History From Waka to Weta taught at the University of Canterbury (UC). UC’s Level-100 history curriculum includes teaching research skills and ensuring that students understand how to use primary sources. But how do we measure this?
Over two workshops students were introduced to visual and material evidence from the Macmillan Brown archive and a variety of reference sources. The next step was for students to engage in their own social history primary source assignment. In essence students were asked to explore the ways in which history is made and what makes history. These ideas were drawn from the introduction of Bronwyn Dalley & Brownyn Labrum’s edited book Fragments: New Zealand Social & Cultural History (2000: 1). There is no one way of doing history, the methodological tools vary, and so too do the ways of presenting history.
In this project students moved into the world of material fragments to explore a social history event in New Zealand. They were asked to investigate the social constructions of the event and how its significance changed over time.
Methodologically the research project was informed by feminist theory and practice. The course content was shaped by a mission of social justice. It was hoped that students might be challenged by the ideas investigated and approach the topic critically.
The data set drew from student assignments and exam responses. Questions shaping the project included how students perceived primary source documents and how they incorporated the source material into their course work assessments. The knowledge would then inform the way history research is taught at undergraduate level.
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Is there a role for crowd-sourcing and gamification in archives? Zoe D’Arcy, National Archives of Australia
Abstract: In recent years many galleries, libraries, archives, and museums have developed a wide range of crowdsourcing websites in an effort to capitalize on public interest to enhance and enrich their collections. In late 2012, the National Archives of Australia launched a website called “the arcHive,” (http://transcribe.naa.gov.au/). Also known as “the Hive,” this crowdsourcing initiative seeks to draw upon the willingness (and competitiveness) of people to help directly with the work of archives.
This case study will look at how “the Hive” trials OCR scanning technologies, crowdsourcing and gamification in order to encourage the public to assist the National Archives in creating usable descriptions of materials in the backlog of collections that aren’t listed on our online database, RecordSearch.
Lessons Learned: An historian’s experience of locating and transcribing archival records and how user created surrogates can support discovery of the real thing. Michelle Novacco, Curtin University
Abstract: In an undertaking that has spanned thirty-five years, Australian academic historian Professor Alan Frost located and transcribed 2,500 records that document the British government’s decision to colonise New South Wales and mount the First Fleet. This study uses Professor Frost’s account of his locating, transcribing and analysing these records to explore ways in which archival documents may more easily be located and utilised. It attempts to explore notions of authenticity and conceptualisations of ‘the archive’, as well as exploring practical applications to make both the transcribed and original documents more accessible.
As a consequence of Australia’s beginnings as part of the British Empire, there have been several wholesale undertakings to locate and describe records relating to Australia that are in the custody of British institutions. Despite keen efforts, records identified and documented as relating to the colonisation of New South Wales have formed a limited documentary base. This has lead to the creation of narratives representing partial viewpoints and the skewed identification of ‘significant’ sources.
There are opportunities to reunite disconnected collections, and existing technology that could support the discovery of the content and context of such archival material. The undertaking of a study to identify and document lessons learned, offers a chance to reflect on what has worked and not worked so well it comes to making archival material discoverable. The practical solutions and recommendations presented in this paper may assist historians and other researchers planning such broad overviews. And for archivists and librarians, the management of transcribed archives.
Session 17: Connecting with Digital Collections
Digital Humanities, Universities, and Archives in Australasia Paul Millar, Christopher Thomson, University of Canterbury
This paper will outline the state of academic digital humanities across Australasia, and New Zealand in particular. Many people are unaware that, although it has only recently gained prominence in universities and the GLAM sector, it has a relatively long tradition in our region, with work being conducted in universities as far back as the 1960s.
The development of graduates that can contribute meaningful to communities like ARANZ / ASA must be a key focus of academic efforts as we develop the digital humanities. Digital humanities programmes exist, after all, to teach skills that will help students enter stimulating careers, and become productive members of wider
17 professional communities. We have an exciting opportunity ahead of us, because the pedagogical principles and learning outcomes of the field are still in development. Significant work has been done by the international community, but the situation is still malleable enough for Australasians to mould the discipline to our needs. The guiding question in this process could well be: What kind of graduates are going to be needed over the coming decade? The input of working professionals is needed to help us answer that.
Digital Humanities research also offers us with a range of opportunities. Our research outputs are strikingly different from that normally associated with arts and humanities scholars, and are underpinned by a desire to reach beyond academic settings into the community. Research tends to be highly interdisciplinary, and teams often involve academics, archivists, librarians and technologists. Working in such teams provides many challenges, and represents an invitation to rethink the traditional relationships between scholarly and archival communities.
From Evidence to Collective Memory: connecting communities to organisational knowledge Michael Jones, University of Melbourne
Abstract: This paper will outline the findings and implications of the Find & Connect Records Access Documentation Project (RADP). For the past three years the Find & Connect web resource project (www.findandconnect.gov.au) has worked to document history, collections and resources relevant to Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants. At the time of writing, the resource includes well over 13,000 entries, including information about 4,937 organisations, 1,736 archival entities and 193 record holders.
In 2012 and 2013, archivists from the web resource project were also responsible for providing tools, training and support to 29 organisations as part of RADP. In working with these organisations – all of whom hold records relevant to Forgotten Australians and Former Child Migrants – we found most had minimal resources, small holdings, untrained staff and little understanding of the tools and techniques required to effectively manage a collection. But the records held by small organisations are vitally important to people seeking to understand their own past, and are potential evidence for individual legal action as well as for enquiries such as the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse.
Find & Connect archivists developed training sessions and material, and a new basic archival indexing tool, all now freely available online. The RADP tool has also since been developed into a generic archival indexing tool called DORA (Documenting Records and Archives). This paper will outline how RADP helped make records vital to people’s understanding of their own past more discoverable, present the tools and materials developed, and explore the broader implications of RADP for future online projects working with distributed collections across organisations and jurisdictions.
Trailblazer: Heritage, augmented reality and the curriculum Dr Mark Brogan, Edith Cowan University
This paper is a case study of the Trailblazer project, a partnership between Edith Cowan University's School of Computer and Security Science and National Trust (WA) to develop an augmented reality framework for National Trust places of interest. In a demonstration application developed for the Tranby Precinct on the Swan River, the project aims to deliver a suite of augmented reality learning activities based on the Australian national curriculum for year five, encompassing environment, heritage, ecology and bio diversity. The project makes extensive use of archival and manuscript resources as the basis of learning activities delivered via markers (GPS, QR & other).
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In this conceptual paper, the authors review progress with augmented reality research and innovative approaches to curriculum and learning activity design that utilize platform features of mobile devices such as smart phones and tablets. The paper also reviews systems architecture and field issues that go with deployment of AR applications in challenging environments. The paper concludes with an assessment of the promise and limitations of AR as a transformative technology for archives and manuscripts online.
Session 18: Community Connections
Sustainability of community based information management practices Dr Pauline Joseph, Curtin University
Abstract: This is an issues paper focused on the sustainability of community-based information needs and practices in the 21st century. How state and national cultural institutions like libraries, archives and museums could assist community-based organisations with their information management practices and information needs. The motor sport community in Australia is used as a case study to identify the information management issues experienced by a community-based organisation in Australia. Small associations, clubs and not for profit community-based organisations are struggling to manage their current, historical and archival information assets. There is lack of knowledge and expertise on how to manage paper based and increasingly digital information assets. Information created and residing in social media tools adds to this challenge. The long term digital preservation of these information assets is a struggle for these community-based organisations, as well. This could be caused by the lack of funding to hire professional expertise to advice and manage these collections or funding to implement infrastructure and resources to sustain such continuing initiatives.
In this paper the motor sport communities' issues with managing information is identified and described. A discussion on how cultural institutions could step in to support community-based information management is explored, followed by issues in such initiatives. A literature review of what other countries are doing to address this problem is presented. Can we learn from them? If not, it highlights a global problem that needs to be solved.
This paper concludes with a presentation of the potential solutions for the motor sport community to manage its information and address its information needs. More importantly, the paper explains how this solution may be executed for the benefit of other community-based organisations.
Talking about small NZ community archives: Findings so far Sarah Welland, Open Polytechnic
Abstract: The presentation will summarise the first phase of research carried out as part of the ARANZ Ian McLean Wards Trust Scholarship, an investigation into “The role, impact and development of community archives in New Zealand”.
There is a gap in professional literature about the role, impact and development of community archives in New Zealand, and this is one of the causes of a limited understanding about community archives across the profession. As a result, and given the changes to the broader information landscape (especially over the past 10-15 years), it is not clear whether community archives are actually cutting edge in their practices and formal archival theory has not caught up, or whether archival theory is simply not understood or applied during normal day to day business practice.
The research seeks to address some of this confusion by analysing the viewpoints of two groups of people through two phases of research. This presentation will introduce the 19 research project, its purpose and benefits, and summarise the initial themes arising from the first phase of research – interviews with workers in small community archives, and on-site visits. It is hoped that what is learnt from this first phase will enable some of the issues surrounding small community archives to be more clearly conveyed, leading to a better understanding of whether their practices enhance or detract the development of community memory.
Connecting Donors and Archives: An International Perspective on Collecting, Advocating, and Building Donor Programs Dr Aaron D. Purcell, University Libraries at Virginia Tech, USA
Abstract: Donors are central to the success of all types of archival programs. Without new collections, new funding, and new supporters, archives programs can stagnate and become vulnerable to economic downturns. Competition for new collections and donors by archives programs is fierce, equaled only by the insatiable demands of today’s researchers. Such challenges require archivists to reconsider their connections to donors and donations. Donors are more than just one-time contributors, instead they make additional gifts, influence others to contribute, and become lifelong advocates for the archives program. Archivists must take a more proactive and shared role in the process of working with donors in the long-term.
This presentation emphasizes the long-term connections between donors and archives, with examples from building international collections and a donor base to support the International Archives of Women in Architecture (IAWA) at Virginia Tech. Started nearly thirty years ago, the IAWA represents a joint partnership between the Special Collections Library and the College of Architecture. Over 400 IAWA collections from across the globe document the history of women’s contributions to the built environment. Acquiring these collections requires creating international professional and personal networks, negotiating with donors over long periods and distances, overcoming language and communication barriers, cooperating with other archives programs collecting in related fields, and maintaining ongoing relationships with many donors. The IAWA example points to a proactive and expanded view of the donation process and the critical role of donors in building the future for archives programs.
Session 19: Connected Collecting
Documenting Australian society: lessons learned and where to next? Sigrid McCAusland, Kim Eberhard, Charles Stuart University
Abstract: This interactive discussion takes its cue from two sessions from the 2013 Australian Society of Archivists Conference[1]. These were ‘Appraisal – Shifting the Paradigm’ (Mark Crookston) and ‘Managing Non-government and Private Records in a National Framework’ (Kim Eberhard, Janet Howse and Kathryn Dan). Mark’s paper reminded us of the possibilities the documentation strategy offers today, despite the differences in our national political and archival structures. Kim Janet and Kathryn provided expert summaries of key recordkeeping and appraisal issues for certain sectors within the non-government domain. However, there are many other sectors outside government purview that we did not cover in the session, such as volunteering (Surf Lifesaving, the Country Women's Association) etc. We lack not only a national framework for documenting the breadth of Australian society, but also a strategy for identifying sectors of society whose records we wish to know more about. How do we gather and record information about them? Then there is the big question asked by Sue McKemmish in the discussion, “How do we define the ‘national archives of Australia’?” As Australian archivists we need to do more than rue the misfortunes of inadequate funding and relative powerlessness. Being able to analyse and document context and content are among our chief claims to professional uniqueness. How can we apply our
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This session will throw open this challenge to conference participants, seeking their suggestions and forming a draft action plan then and there.
Session 20: Open Data, Archival Access and Public Access: What is the difference?
Panel discussion facilitated by Barbara Reed, Recordkeeping Roundtable.
Abstract: The 2012 Recordkeeping Roundtable Workshop on Reinventing Archival Methods began a discussion on access. The subsequent issues paper on access (published in May 2014 Archives and Manuscripts) raised many questions for the recordkeeping community. This session aims to build upon this work by presenting three perspectives on access which seem to be considered quite separately. A facilitated discussion will follow three short presentations to explore these and other access related concepts being pushed at organisations. By juxtaposing individual frameworks which all seem quite rational when viewed from their own perspective, we hope to explore the relationships between these approaches and whether they can or do fit together. Can archival organisations gain valuable traction with organisations, funders and build public visibility through these or other emerging access initiatives? Open data: just who is responding to this agenda, how, and what does this do to archives and records frameworks. Archival access: The ICA Principles of Access to Archives seems almost geared for a different place and time. How do these ‘archival’ approaches to access fit with the digital agenda. Public access: What are the experiences of people getting access to records: their records or the older public records now available through commercial services.
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