ASA VIC BRANCH APRIL CATCH UP CONVENOR'S NOTE Dear Colleagues As you'll see below - we've had a busy month - and there's lots more to come. As Autumn is upon us, and the leaves change, it's a fitting time for us to consider how things change over time - and, neatly, we're looking at how the ASA might need to change as well. As you'll see below, we are delighted to be hosting our President, Kylie Percival, to consider how the ASA can adapt - and this conversation needs your voice. Even if you've not attended other Branch events, please consider joining us on the 3rd May and contributing to the future of your ASA. I hope you'll also have time to join us for our visit to the Shrine and their amazing collections. I always find the Shrine to be a deeply moving place to come face to face with the realities of war and to gain an insight into lives it affects. Finally, as evidence of archives at work - Chris Holmes and I recently went to see the amazing documentary 'Remembering The Man'. A documentary about the true story of John Caleo and Tim Conigrave (which was fictionalised by Conigrave as the book 'Holding The Man', recently made into a film). Afterwards we had the great pleasure of hearing the directors speak about its creation and some of the issues that the story raised. Both directors agreed that key to bringing this story to life was the work of archivists and those who spend so long making sure that material is still available - from the Xavier College archives holding student film footage to the NFSA and NIDA archives holding later material - that they could skillfully weave together into an incredibly moving narrative that had much of the audience in tears. It made me very proud to be part of a profession that allows for such powerful messages to be heard and to see the effects of that material on the broader community. I look forward to seeing you all at one - or more - events soon. Regards Adelaide
EVENTS OF INTEREST Victorian Branch ASA Re-Positioning Meeting Tuesday 3 May 4pm - 6pm, Ross House, 247 Flinders Lane, Melbourne The Victorian Branch invites all members and friends to the May branch meeting at Ross House to meet ASA President Kylie Percival. This meeting will be an opportunity to discuss the recently published paper by Kylie Percival and Tony Leviston on repositioning the ASA for the future. The discussion paper outlines the challenges facing professional membership organisations and makes initial recommendations regarding our membership structure, constitution, professional recognition and career development support. The discussion paper is available here: http://www.archivists.org.au/documents/item/784. This is an ideal opportunity to bring along your ideas to help shape the ASA's future. From 5pm there will be an opportunity to provide feedback on the proposed repositioning of the ASA to ensure its relevancy for the next 40 years. Please register for this event: http://www.archivists.org.au/events/event/victorian-branch-asa-re-positioning-meeting Tour & Talk at the Shrine of Remembrance Wednesday 11 May 4pm 5pm, Visitors Centre, Shrine of Remembrance, Birdwood Avenue, Melbourne The Victorian Branch and GLAMR New Professionals invites all members and friends to join us on a tour and talk at the Shrine of Remembrance. Neil Sharkey, Curator of Exhibitions and Collections, will talk to the group about the exhibitions on display and Jenna Blyth, Collections Manager, will provide an introduction to the Collection Room. The event will involve the group being split into two due to space restrictions, but a swap will happen half way through so you won't miss out! Please register for this event (there are only 20 spots so get in quickly!): http://www.archivists.org.au/events/event/victoria-branch-glamr-tour-and-talk-at-the-shrine-ofremembrance
FEATURE ARCHIVE From the Archives Image: Display case containing items from the Shrine of Remembrance Collection Story: The Shrine of Remembrance, through the use of personal mementos, artefacts, photographs, official documents and private letters, tells the personal stories of Australian service men and women during times of conflict and peacekeeping. Working with the families and descendants of service personnel, we aim to capture the intimate and private experiences of Australian s to help interpret the national story, from pre-federation to the present day. Sited within the original foundations of one of Melbourne s most iconic and historic buildings, the Galleries of Remembrance opened to the public on Remembrance Day 2014. With a changing program of permanent and special exhibitions, a developing collection, an active ceremonial calendar and variety of public programs, the Shrine provides residents and visitors to Melbourne with more than they would anticipate, and an opportunity to rediscover the State s memorial. Source: Jenna Blyth, Collections Manager, Shrine of Remembrance NEWS If you would like to include an event, piece of news, host a branch meeting or be our featured archive in the next email then please contact Nicola at asavic@archivists.org.au. We would love to see what you get up to for Information Awareness Month in May!
Previous Branch Meeting A group of us were lucky enough to attend the Museum Victoria archives tour and talk at the beginning of this month. Nik McGrath, Archivist, started by giving us an interesting overview into the archives, where it sits in relation to Museum Victoria, an overview of the collection they have and some highlights from Museum Victoria s history, before we all felt very special and got to go behind the scenes at the museum and into the repository. It was a bit of a squeeze (see the image to the left) but we all appreciated the opportunity to see items from the collection up close. Some of my favourite facts were that the collection has 17,000,000 items, Nik plans to write and publish finding aids for the collection for the first time (at some point in the future), the amazing photo (to the right) in the archives, shows Natural History specimens moving locations via horse and cart in 1899 (look closely and you can see the string on the neck of the ostrich attached to the cart keeping it upright!), and the records and archives team at the museum is relatively new and was only established in 1998. Nik has kindly provided a copy of the presentation she gave for those that couldn t attend. To access it please visit http://www.archivists.org.au/community/branches/victor ia383, log in with your ASA credentials and scroll to Presentations, this will enable you to download the presentation. GLAMR and Victorian Branch Trip to the Country Visit to the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre On Saturday 16 th April a group of GLAMRous people caught the train to Geelong to visit the Geelong Library and Heritage Centre, where we were given a fascinating inside into the library and the heritage centre by Mark Beasley, Manager of the Heritage Centre. From the decisions made regarding the location of the repository (they are lucky and on the 3 rd floor rather than the basement like many), to the views from the balcony of the function rooms, the colour scheme of the entire building, we discovered it all. The yellow in use signs on the repository shelving and simple locking system to ensure that people are not squished was a highlight for many!
While others enjoyed seeing first-hand the conservation work occurring in the Heritage Centre and discovering the unique chairs, practical but fun approach to the design and functionality of the library. It was a most insightful and interesting adventure and we highly recommend those of you that haven t made it down there yet do so! And again, a big thank you to Mark for his time on a precious Saturday! A picture tells a thousand words, well I think these photos capture just a small part of our day.
Anglican Diocese of Melbourne archives opens new facility! The Anglican Diocese of Melbourne archives had its grand opening at the end of March in its new location of Fitzroy. The archives have moved to the former St Luke s North Fitzroy buildings from the Chapter House and have a brand new facility to showcase as a result. We will be lucky enough to hear more about the archives over the coming months as Hazel, Project Manager of the Archives, as agreed to host a branch tour and talk in early July, and be the Feature Archive for June! Congratulations to all involved on getting the new facility up and running, we hope you enjoy your new space. Success for two early-career Victorian branch archivists Both myself and Annelie de Villiers have been lucky enough to receive an ICA New Professionals bursary to attend the ICA Congress in Seoul in September. As part of receiving the bursary we shall be participating in and supporting the workshops being run at the congress, running a conference session and being part of the communications team. We are both very much looking forward to our trip which will involve the opportunity to work with new professionals from other countries and the chance to meet a range of incredible archivists. We think it is going to be an amazing experience. We hope to see some of you in Seoul! BRANCH MEETINGS Branch meetings are currently held monthly in the first week of the month, at rotating venues. The next branch meeting will be Tuesday 3 May at Ross House, Melbourne, please register to attend as mentioned above! Kind regards, Nicola Laurent ASA VIC Branch Communications Officer asavic@archivists.org.au