Appendix F
International and professional engagement
International engagement
International Council on Archives
The National Archives is involved in the international archives community through membership of the International Council on Archives, which holds a congress every four years, providing a unique professional leadership and development opportunity. The 15th International Congress on Archives was held in Vienna on 23–29 August 2004. Director-General Ross Gibbs attended and Adrian Cunningham, Marian Hoy, Ted Ling and Maggie Shapley presented papers on records provenance, archival training and competency standards, archives’ buildings and digitisation.
International Conference of the Round Table on Archives
The Director-General was elected to the International Conference of the Round Table on Archives (CITRA) Bureau representing the Asia and Oceania region. CITRA is the annual meeting of heads of national archival institutions, chairpersons of national professional associations and chairpersons of ICA sections and committees. CITRA meets between quadrennial international congresses and allows members holding important responsibilities within the profession to meet every year to debate their views, update their knowledge and share experiences on subjects of common interest. The CITRA Bureau prepares the program for CITRA.
Advances in Digital Preservation: An International Working Meeting
On 15 September 2004, the Archives hosted an international seminar titled ‘Advances in Digital Preservation: An International Working Meeting’. The seminar brought together researchers and practitioners from around the world to learn about and discuss recent developments and approaches to preserving digital objects. Speakers came from the United Kingdom and the United States and Australia; participants came from Australian and state government agencies, academic institutions and research bodies, commercial software vendors, and professional organisations representing the recordkeeping, archival and information management sectors.
Pacific Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives
The Archives provides leadership and support to the professional archives community in Australia and overseas, particularly in the Pacific region, principally through assistance with training and advice. The Archives continued to provide Treasury support to the Pacific Regional Branch of the International Council on Archives.
Overseas visits by National Archives’ officers
The following staff represented the Archives overseas in 2004–05:
November 2004
Steve Stuckey visited the National Archives of Japan to present two lectures detailing the role of the National Archives of Australia in improving recordkeeping in government agencies. The visit was very successful and resulted in a visit to the National Archives of Australia by officials from the Cabinet Office of Japan.
The Spanish Government sponsored Adrian Cunningham to conduct a speaking tour of Spain to satisfy the high level of interest in the Archives’ recordkeeping initiatives. Overseas organisations have requested permission to reproduce material from the Archives’ recordkeeping website, including requests to translate the DIRKS manual into Dutch and into Spanish.
February 2005
Gabrielle Hyslop presented ‘From warehouse to treasure house: changing the public face of the National Archives of Australia’ at the Archives and Outreach Work Conference for the Association of Local and Private Archives, Oslo, Norway.
March 2005
Archives New Zealand sponsored Robyn Gamble to visit Wellington to help them review their film and audiovisual preservation programs.
June 2005
Adrian Cunningham and Ted Ling provided the National Archives of Solomon Islands with assistance with recordkeeping practices. The visit yielded insight into recordkeeping across the Solomon Islands administration, the extent of good governance generally and ways the Archives could contribute to it.
Joanna Baker and Sonya Sherman presented papers on archival theory and practice at the Association of Canadian Archivists Annual Conference in Saskatoon, Canada.
Visitors to the National Archives
August 2004
The National Archivist of Fiji, Mr Setareki Tale, visited the Archives’ Sydney office. Mr Tale was briefed on the management of audiovisual records, digitisation of records and economising energy consumption in an archive.
September 2004
Ms Sara Taylor, an analyst with Archives New Zealand, met with Archives’ staff to discuss access to information under archives and Freedom of Information legislation.
Ms Fey Wong from the National Heritage Board of the National Archives of Singapore visited the Sydney office to discuss audiovisual preservation, digitisation of sound recordings and access to records.
Seven archivists and historians led by Professor Masahito Ando of the National Institute of Japanese Literature visited the Archives’ Sydney office. The visit continued the examination of some of the 4 500 boxes of records of Japanese companies operating in Australia that were seized by the Controller of Enemy Property after the outbreak of World War II.
Many delegates attending the ‘Advances in Digital Preservation’ conference also visited the National Archives, including Justine Heazlewood (Public Record Office Victoria), Dianne Macaskill (Archives New Zealand), Janet Prowse (Queensland State Archives), Dr Andrew McDonald (International Council on Archives), Fynnette Eaton (US National Archives and Records Administration) and Richard Marciano (San Diego Supercomputer Center).
October 2004
A delegation from China visited to learn about the management of archives in Australia. The group of nine met with Archives’ staff to discuss records management, digital preservation and tour the exhibitions.
November 2004
Ms Louise Venter, manager of the National Archives and Records Service of South Africa’s Electronic Records Management Programme, visited the Archives to discuss DIRKS: A Strategic Approach to Managing Business Information and the preservation of digital records.
A delegation from Indonesia visited the Archives to gather information to help integrate and strengthen information exchange across Eastern Indonesia through new information technologies. Their aim is to be able to assist government and non-government organisations, research institutions and the general public. The visit was initiated by the World Bank-coordinated Support Office for Eastern Indonesia.
Professor Masatoshi Kubo, Director of the Information and Documentation Centre at the National Museum of Ethnology of Japan, led a delegation to the Archives’ Sydney office to discuss film and video preservation and tour the audiovisual facilities.
During the National Library of Australia’s Archiving Web Resources Conference, a number of delegates visited the National Archives to learn about the Archives’ approach to digital preservation. They included Louisa Venter (South African National Archives and Records Service); Malcolm Todd and Adrian Brow (UK National Archives); Filip Boudrez (Belgian National Archives); Nancy McGovern (Cornell University); and Kirsty Smith, Matt Black and Steve Knight (New Zealand National Library).
December 2004
A delegation from the Thai Cabinet Secretariat toured the Archives’ public facilities in Canberra and spoke with Archives’ staff about the transfer and storage of Cabinet records, and access to them.
February 2005
Staff of the National Archives of Singapore visited the Archives and toured storage and preservation facilities in Canberra.
March 2005
A delegation from the Botswana National Archives met with Archives’ staff to discuss digital recordkeeping systems and view a demonstration of the Archives’ digital recordkeeping system.
Mr Yasuhiro Kawaguchi, Director of the Policy Coordination Division of the Cabinet Office of Japan, and Mr Masahiro Haramiishi, Deputy Director, visited the Archives to discuss digital recordkeeping and digital preservation, and toured storage facilities in Canberra and Sydney.
Ms Hazel Dobbie, Communications Advisor with Archives New Zealand, visited the Archives to discuss raising public profiles, methods of communicating with different audiences and publication strategies.
Ms Clara Budnik, Head of Chilean Archives, Libraries and Museums met with Archives’ staff to discuss the Archives’ public programs and access to the collection.
April 2005
Mr John Roberts, Group Manager from Archives New Zealand, met with Collection Management and Preservation managers for wide-ranging discussions about legislative change, storage and preservation.
Professional engagement
The Director-General meets twice yearly with state and territory archivists through the Council of Australasian Archives and Records Authorities (CAARA). As Convenor of CAARA the Director-General also sits on the Collections Council of Australia. The Director-General is the Convenor of the Council and the Archives provides secretariat support for the Council.
In both professional and private capacities Archives’ staff contribute to the development of recordkeeping, information technology and archival practice. The following staff are members of Standards Australia Committees:
Joanna Baker |
Duncan Jamieson |
Ian Batterham |
Emma Jolley |
Esther Carey |
Sonya Sherman |
Adrian Cunningham |
Karen Skelton |
| Paul Ferridge |
|
Staff of the Archives are actively involved with the key recordkeeping and archives professional organisations in Australia, as listed below.
Australian Society of Archivists
Fiona Burn |
Ted Ling |
Jill Caldwell |
Matthew Lyons |
Esther Carey |
Anne McLean |
Denis Connor |
Melissa Sharkey |
Adrian Cunningham |
Sonya Sherman |
Paul Dalgleish |
Shirley Sullivan |
Jenni Davidson |
Melissa Thomas |
Marian Hoy |
Helen Walker |
Emma Jolley |
Dani Wickman |
Naomi Lamb |
Enid Woodley |
Ross Latham |
Anne Wright |
Records Management Association of Australia
Ross Latham |
Alan Ralph |
Mairi Popplewell |
Geoff Smith |
Australian Institute for the Conservation of Cultural Material
Ian Batterham |
Sallyanne Gilchrist |
Carey Garvie |
Prue McKay |
Museums Australia
Julia Hogan |
Geraldine Tyson |
Catherine Styles |
|
The following staff represented the Archives on a number of international committees and bodies in 2004–05:
International Council on Archives Committees and Bureaus:
Adrian Cunningham |
Ted Ling |
Marian Hoy |
|
International Organisation for Standardization
Joanna Baker
United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Australian Committee for the Memory of the World Program
Adrian Cunningham