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Oral and written sources are now commonplace in both library and archival collections. Such sources provide for a wider range of voices to be added to the historical record, and in an artistic context, allow for the capture of at least an element of the creative process. This article discusses the National Gallery of Australia's James Gleeson oral history collection, related collections of personal papers, and their role as primary sources in the National Gallery's Research Library. It highlights their uses as evidence for researchers interested in the history of the National Gallery's art collection. AARL December 2009 vol 40 no 4 pp 305-317, INTRODUCTION Oral history interviews and personal records arc used by researchers in a range of disciplines. They have become a focus of public and academic interest, with a number of [...]

The National Library first acquired papers of a Prime Minister, Sir Edmund Barton, in 1929. In the next fifty years it sought the papers of every Prime Minister, dead or alive. Negotiations were frequently protracted and frustrating, but ultimately the success rate was high: the Library now holds the personal archives of eleven Prime Ministers and smaller collections of another four. Since 1980 it has deferred to the National Archives in collecting further papers of Prime Ministers and has instead placed greater emphasis on making the existing collections better known and encouraging their use by researchers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The literature speaks of a "deluge" of scientific and research data and the importance of capturing and managing it for use beyond its original creating community, purpose, and time. Data value increases as it is interconnected, networked, shared, used, and re-used. This paper extends the conversation about data sharing to "wild data": that is, data generated and held outside of "academic" or "professional" science, as in the case of environmental voluntary groups (EVGs). Currently, important data generated by these groups are likely to be inaccessible to the academic community, or any community or body outside those often-small EVGs. Although large quantities of data are often generated by EVGs, management of these data may be poor or non-existent; and quality control of data may be haphazard and spasmodic. This article reports on a pilot project which explored the data sought, generated, stored, and shared by members of EVGs. The project also investigated members' views about data management and sharing for the future. Finally, as Australian university libraries are at the forefront of research and practice to promote the better management of data created by research, the paper also explores whether there might be a collaborative role for university libraries in the management of wild data. (Contains 1 figure and 2 tables.)

Within Australia there is a growing interest in e-research and the use of cyberinfrastructure. There is also increasing recognition that the use of cyberinfrastructure is often inhibited, not by technical issues, but by so-called "soft" issues, such as those related to work practices, intellectual property issues, the nature of research collaboration, and institutional imperatives. This paper reports on aspects of DART (Dataset Acquisition, Accessibility and Annotation e-Research Technologies), a current e-research project, specifically issues related to the broader questions of uptake and use of repositories by researchers. The paper concludes by discussing implications for libraries and for the design and promotion of repositories. (Contains 23 notes.)

The Federal Government is introducing a new funding model for research in Australian higher education institutions, the Research Quality Framework (RQF). This paper provides an overview of the RQF and looks at possible impacts of the RQF on academic libraries in Australia. These impacts are drawn from experience at one Australian university, RQF-related activities, and commentary and research from the UK, where a similar funding model, the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE), has been operating for a decade. The paper concludes by bringing these issues together with suggestions for academic libraries preparing for the 2008 RQF. (Contains 20 notes.)

The National Archives of Australia holds the papers of many of "Australia's Prime Ministers," including Bruce, Lyons, Curtin, Chifley, Holt, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating and Howard. From 2000 it undertook a four-year Prime Ministers' Papers Project to locate the records of all 25 men who have held the position of Prime Minister of Australia. The Australia's Prime Ministers portal website was launched in 2002 and the Archives is also producing a series of guides to the archives of Prime Ministers. (Contains 15 notes.)

How do internships and work experience, such as volunteering, give students a taste of the environment in which they hope to be employed? How do they provide pathways between educational institutions and the workplace? This paper reports on a qualitative research study about the initial professional learning experiences of individuals newly recruited by collecting institutions such as archives, galleries, libraries, and museums. It included investigation into work-based learning experiences, including internships or practicum placements, paid work, and student volunteer activities. The article highlights reflections of internships and student work experience. The findings are of interest to: educators organising internships; collecting institutions hosting or employing students in a paid or unpaid capacity; and individuals preparing for employment in collecting institutions. (Contains 1 table.)

Institutional repositories have been established by most university libraries but their level of success has varied. Determining what belongs in such repositories has been the subject of some discussion but research would suggest that a broader rather than narrower compass is a positive approach to adopt. By seeking out a variety of content types, the library is able to initiate, renew, or redefine its relationship with faculty, departments, and administration, generating critical support for scholarly communication and repository initiatives. This paper provides examples of successful IRs and their scope. (Contains 1 chart.)

In 2005 and 2006 the National Library of Australia (NLA) carried out two whole-domain web harvests which complement the selective web archiving approach taken by PANDORA. Web harvests of this size pose significant challenges to their use. Despite these challenges, such harvests present fascinating research opportunities. The NLA has provided Charles Sturt University's POA (Preservation for Ongoing Accessibility) research group with access to these web harvests and associated keyword indexes. This paper describes the 2006 harvest and uses the example of blogs to address how to identify material within the harvest and determine issues that need further investigation. (Contains 1 table and 23 notes.)

One of the major roles adopted by libraries is the long-term preservation of selected material within their collections. Traditionally, this role comprised identifying individual physical objects or collections based upon the library's own view of its role and the significance of items in its collections. With the rapid growth of digital materials there has been a blurring of the divide between museum, archive and library collections, with a growing concern amongst all cultural heritage sectors about the identification and ongoing preservation of digital objects. Due to the size and complexity of the issues and, in particular, the volume of digital material and costs involved in its long-term preservation, there has been a resurgence in the debate on identifying significance in materials and thus their priority in preservation programs. This debate has sparked widespread discussion in the museum, archives and record-keeping professions which can inform the more recent concerns now being voiced within librarianship. This paper looks at the concept of significance within all of the "memory institutions" and considers how the theory is shaped, how it has been put into practice and the applicability of such a notion to digital preservation. (Contains 41 notes.)

The National Archives of Australia holds the papers of many of Australia's Prime Ministers, including Bruce, Lyons, Curtin, Chifley, Holt, Whitlam, Fraser, Hawke, Keating and Howard. From 2000 it undertook a four-year Prime Ministers' Papers Project to locate the records of all 25 men who have held the position of Prime Minister of Australia. The Australia's Prime Ministers portal website was launched in 2002 and the Archives is also producing a series of guides to the archives of Prime Ministers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Australian Federal Government's Office for Learning and Teaching (OLT) has built an important collection of learning and teaching resources for the higher education (HE) sector, a product of the many projects OLT and its precursors, including the Australian Learning and Teaching Council and the Carrick Institute, have funded over the past two decades. Although these resources are freely available on its website, the OLT considers them underutilised. Hence it has commissioned a project to reorganise the collection using more accurate and consistent metadata. This paper presents the results of the initial phase of the project, in which a new metadata schema for the OLT's repository was developed through a systematic analysis of the collection, users' and prospective users' search needs, and the domain of HE learning and teaching. While the methods used to develop controlled vocabularies, such as subject thesauri, are well established, there has been far less discussion about how schemas for describing particular kinds of information resource should be constructed. This article contributes to this discussion by showing how methods used to build controlled vocabularies can be applied, and combined, to the development of a schema used to support effective access to a scholarly repository of national importance. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

With an online presence now paramount, many libraries, archives and museums have created, or are looking to create, a social media policy; one that will dictate an accepted level of interaction and outline how practitioners within these cultural heritage institutions use social media. But is the use of social media policy in direct defiance of the purpose of social media? And more importantly, is it practical for cultural heritage institutions to have one? This paper aims to answer these questions by reporting on the results of a study into the social media policy experiences of practitioners at the State Library of Queensland, Queensland State Archives and Queensland Museum. Findings from this study indicate that it is practical for cultural heritage institutions to have a social media policy if it inspires confidence, empowers practitioners, and encourages them to use social media. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The library of the Supreme Court of Victoria has a long history, much of it well documented. However, the historical artefacts related to the evolution of the library are difficult to access, limiting their use as a guide to past practice, or as something useful to inform activities in the future. This paper uses cases from the library's history to discuss why historical records should be reconstituted into formal organisational memory in order to strategically and culturally inform the future in a way that is not possible if the documents remain inaccessible or 'dead'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the major roles adopted by libraries is the long-term preservation of selected material within their collections. Traditionally, this role comprised identifying individual physical objects or collections based upon the library's own view of its role and the significance of items in its collections. With the rapid growth of digital materials there has been a blurring of the divide between museum, archive and library collections, with a growing concern amongst all cultural heritage sectors about the identification and ongoing preservation of digital objects. Due to the size and complexity of the issues and, in particular, the volume of digital material and costs involved in its long-term preservation, there has been a resurgence in the debate on identifying significance in materials and thus their priority in preservation programs. This debate has sparked widespread discussion in the museum, archives and recordkeeping professions which can inform the more recent concerns now being voiced within librarianship. This paper looks at the concept of significance within all of the 'memory institutions' and considers how the theory is shaped, how it has been put into practice and the applicability of such a notion to digital preservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of guides published by the National Archives of Australia (NAA) is considered against the background of various definitions and examples of archival guides produced in Australia during the past sixty years. The author then discusses the range of NAA guides: in particular, its so-called research guides, including the latest, published on-line and in hard copy, which surveys Commonwealth records about the Northern Territory. The article draws comparisons with the National Library's Trove system and ends with questions about the purpose of these guides, given the NAA's overall strategy for public discovery and its other information retrieval and promotional tools. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses the importance of preserving indigenous knowledge through libraries and archives and transmitting the knowledge. Indigenous peoples and those who create, manage and value libraries and archives share a commitment to the preservation and transmission of knowledge. For library, archives and information professionals, knowledge is the stuff in which they deal. They have a responsibility to curate it and ensure its transmission through good times and bad to those who may need or appreciate it in other periods and places. Their responsibility goes beyond the artifact-be it clay tablet, manuscript, codex, photograph or dataset-to preserve and make available the knowledge it carries. This is a deeply felt commitment which goes to the core of people being as professionals. It is a commitment which has emboldened many to protect collections and to promote the transmission of knowledge in the face of repression and sometimes acute personal danger. This commitment is in the tradition of the enlightenment: it founds information practice on a principled defence of intellectual freedom which entails a rejection of privilege and knowledge control except in terms of maintaining integrity and authenticity.

The article discusses the issue of developing protocols strategy for the library and information sector for indigenous Australians. The 1995 Protocols were a key outcome of both indigenous and professional concern about the state of indigenous relationships with libraries, archives and information services. In Australia, these relationships became a point of professional focus throughout the 1990s. The concerns of indigenous people had been on the record for some time and they were amplified in the 1990s as the profession accelerated its activity in response. In brief, indigenous concerns included issues such as: historical exclusion from libraries; the offensive nature of much of the material about indigenous people in library collections and archives; subject headings that described indigenous peoples and cultures in ways that had little to do with how indigenous peoples described themselves, and which demeaned indigenous peoples and cultures; access issues for indigenous peoples and materials; and general indigenous service issues.

The article outlines the key outcomes for New South Wales State records of the cadetship, including the ongoing and proposed activities to address indigenous issues in state records. The initial outcome of the cadetship has been the creation of a permanent position of archivist-aboriginal liaison at state records. The primary role of the position has been to liaise in the development and provision of services for indigenous people seeking access to the state's archives. The position covers those areas of activities that impact on indigenous people and records and does appear overwhelming for one person. Currently in second draft form, the indigenous protocols for state records are intended to assist and guide state records on best practice in interacting with indigenous people and in handling state archives with indigenous content. They ensure products and services are delivered in a respectful and culturally appropriate manner. It concludes that there are three key areas which need to be explored further in relation to issues in archives: employment, education and resource issues.

The article presents information on the role of information technologies in indigenous knowledge management. More and more communities and organisations around the world are realising the value and significance of indigenous knowledge and the importance of preserving it for future generations. Indigenous Knowledge Centres (IKCs) are being established globally, but particularly in Australia, Africa, Latin America and Asia. The capture and preservation of indigenous knowledge is being used to revitalise endangered cultures, improve the economic independence and sustainability of indigenous communities and to increase community-based involvement in planning and development. Many indigenous communities are developing local indigenous knowledge bases either informally or within IKCs established specifically for this task. The digital content being assembled and presented within these IKCs is either captured locally, donated or repatriated from external private and public collections belonging to museums, church archives, community members, anthropologists, missionaries, and others.