5 minute read
of Archivists 2022
Jenny Pearce Archivist
Monday
With the School Archives Special Interest Group not starting until lunch time, I had the morning to investigate the new exhibitions at the National Archives of Australia. I was particularly interested in the touch screen wall panel that, when touched, had layers of information behind each of the images on display from educational challenges to historical facts or multiple images on a theme. The implications for something similar, even on a smaller scale, for The King’s School Bicentenary were obvious. The wall panels interacted with significant documents/ objects about key events in Australia’s past on issues, such as immigration and evidence of racism (White Australia Policy). The second exhibition, “Voices,” used sound and an amazing visual display to look at First Nations’ history and the natural Australian environment over thousands of years. The temporary exhibition space held the Waterhouse Natural Science Art Exhibition in conjunction with the South Australian Museum. There was plenty to inspire our up-and-coming artists and I sent images to the Visual Arts Department.
Radford College, the site for the School Archives Special Interest Group, was founded in 1986. The Archives collection is fairly small and housed in a compactus. The Archivist is a former student and during the afternoon we held a discussion on student records and the changes to legislation in the varying states brought about by the Royal Commission and the implications this is having on Schools and the management of records. This discussion was followed by the Annual General Meeting of the Society of Archivists, held at the National Press Club.
Tuesday: Here We Are Conference Day 1
The keynote speaker was Dr Kirsten Thorpe from UTS. Kirsten has long been an advocate for First Nations people and their access to records having had a mother and grandmother who were members of the Stolen Generation. Kirsten was involved with the 1997 “Bringing them Home Report” and her keynote looked at whether anything had changed in the intervening years. She concluded that in fact, very little had changed as there were still not enough First Nations employees in the Cultural and Records Institutions, and the ones that are employed are the “experts” and often burn out. There are still too many institutions that do not consult with Indigenous Peoples, leading to a lack of cultural awareness and competence that often perpetuate negative stereotypes. A more positive way forward is to foster smaller institutions “on country” that involve the local community under Indigenous stewardship to foster and encourage Indigenous cultural practices and ceremonies. Could a similar model be used for School’s as well?
A session led by Sion Ulderschultz, the Archivist at the National Gallery, looked at collaborative ways the Archives enhanced Exhibitions. In larger Cultural Institutions, this is one of the advantages of having a team to set up an Exhibition.
Rachael Greaves, the CEO of Castlepoint– a consultancy firm working with EDRMS–presented a paper on the Changing Role of Archivists in the Age of AI and Automation. Some very large Institutions and governments are using AI (artificial intelligence) to scan records for retention; however, currently the scans are running at 80% accuracy and there is still a need for records managers. A similar theme was presented by Catherine Nicholls and Tash Murray looking at Electronic Records. Despite their format, electronic records need to bear sufficient evidence to be held accountable to create and maintain memory. Records need to be retained on a risk-based approach and records, whether physical or electronic, are assets and their management must reflect this approach.
CONTINUED
With more and more digitally-born records, there needs to be greater awareness to retain records to ensure they are protected from technological obsolesce. A TKS case in point, is our inability to refer to academic records from the early 2000s–we must ensure that digital records that need very long-term retention are constantly checked and migrated as the need arises. Cyber security is also not only topical, but essential to protect the data we are collecting. There are enough recent events to demonstrate the absolute need for security of data. We must, therefore, not only adapt and embrace new technologies, but also protect the digital records produced through their use.
Dr Megan Evans presented a paper entitled Natural Capital Accountancy and Environmental Governance, which looked at the Government’s Carbon Emission scheme and how records could be interpreted to ensure an individual or company was eligible for carbon credits. Dr Evans noted that the records may not always fit with the reality and policy, especially in semi-arid areas. I moderated a session mostly attended by School Archivists, where three School Archivists spoke about current issues facing the profession. Paul Mishara, from Scotch College Melbourne, discussed his school’s approach to digitisation–it was similar to our own. Ros Malone, Bunbury Grammar, gave a paper on the responsibilities of schools to approach record-keeping in a serious manner, particularly in response to the changing legislation in varying states as a response to the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse; for example, NSW removing the statues of limitations regarding such matters and the implications for storing records long-term, what information should be kept, and the recommendations regarding records of Indigenous students and those of Children in Care.
Catherine Pulford discussed her quest to determine a web-based Collection Management System to satisfy the needs of the Archives of Prince Alfred College Adelaide. As an archivist, she has worked mostly in libraries and chose to adapt a library system; not a solution most archivists would agree with as most library systems do not take context into consideration, which is an absolute when accessioning archival records.
A presentation on the Queensland State Archives digital archives project, considered challenges and opportunities on a largescale digitisation project and highlighted the project’s capability to preserve records and improve client services through a large team approach. Janet Villata, City of Sydney Archivist, presented a paper on Recollect and the use of Power Bi and Google analytics to change what the user sees when they engage with Recollect to become more customer focused. Recollect is the preferred new Collection Management System for TKS.
There followed a series of Lightning Talks on the following:
• Monash University–The power of the podcast to promote Archives • Australian Railway Historical Society–
Not-for-Profit Archives Grants and
Volunteers
• Amelia Birch–How Archival snippets can embellish or change perspectives by looking at the life of Agnes Goodsir and
Rachel Dunn
Thursday’s visit to the Australia War Memorial Large Store and Conservation Centre.
A visit to each of the Conservation Laboratories for the AWM provided snippets for better conservation practice such as using museum grade silver polish on medals even those made mostly from bronze as it is less abrasive. They can then be rubbed with Archive wax to delay tarnishing.
