NB: The implementation of the Resolutions called 'Advice to institutions', which are contained in this report was assigned to a range of institutions with significant collections of Australia's documentary heritage. The implementation of the Resolutions included in the Towards Federation 2001 Final Report on Resolutions was assigned to specific organisations or groups of organisations.The information for this report was collected in June 1994 and June 1996.
The Conference, Towards Federation 2001: Linking Australian and their Heritage, was held in Canberra on 16-23 March 1992. It was attended by 140 invited participants, drawn from across the nation's libraries, archives, other national collecting institution and a range of organisations concerned with publishing, collecting and preserving Australia's recorded documentary heritage. The problems and issues affecting access to Australia's recorded documentary heritage were grouped in four broad categories: collecting, bibliographic control, preservation, and physical access. The mission for the conference process was seen as being:
to enable Australians to have the maximum possible bibliographic and physical access to their recorded heritage by the year 2001.
And it was planned that the Conference would:
identify present barriers to Australia's documentary heritage and establish initiatives and mechanisms which will enable the mission to be accomplished by the Centenary of Australia's Federation.
Since 2001 will be the Centenary year of the Australian Federation, the Conference Planning Committee took the view that a carefully identified set of tasks, agreed to by the Australian library community, kindred collecting institutions and related special interest groups, and which would lead to enhanced community access to Australia's recorded documentary heritage by the year 2001, might provide a basis for special funding support over the next decade. Also the time scale was of a length which provided a long range target in which even large tasks are achievable; required a collaborative approach, analogous to successful federation; forced thinking about technological opportunities at that time present only in the early or pilot development stage; and required consideration both of historical records and future needs.
The National Library had attempted to monitor progress on the 86 resolutions passed at the Conference. From March to November 1993, a planning committee of National Library staff, supplemented by Gordon Bower as ACLIS representative and Fran Awcock as the representative of the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL), undertook a thorough assessment of each resolution, its progress or lack thereof, and possible changes in the objective or action mechanism which might lead to faster and better progress in the future.
On 9-10 December 1993, representatives of 29 organisations met to review progress since the Towards Federation 2001: linking Australians with their Heritage Conference held in March 1992.
A series of assessment papers were prepared by the planning committee for the various development areas: collecting, bibliographic access, physical access, preservation, copyright, and services to special communities. These formed the bases of the agenda, together with redrafted resolutions.
Many conference resolutions which could be achieved only through internal actions by many institutions 'with significant Australian Collections' were regrouped as a proposed set of guidelines to be suggested as a n action framework to such institutions.
The Resolutions headed Advice to Institutions are designed to achieve one or both of two purposes. In some cases, they are directed to types of institutions who were not represented at the Review Meeting, but which are none-the-less deemed to have a particular interest in Australian documentary heritage materials. In other cases, they incorporate a wider range of libraries, archives and other institutions than those present could directly influence. In both cases, the intention is that the Resolutions act as a spur to institutions to take actions which would both complement and enrich the outcomes of the main resolutions and thus extend the impact of the Towards Federation 2001 program. Resolutions are divided into seven main categories:
RAA Collecting Activities RCA Bibliographical Activities REA Physical Access RGA Preservation Activities Service To Special Communities RHA Aboriginal And Torres Strait Islander Peoples RJA Multicultural Communities RKA People With Disabilities
In May 1994 and June 1996, a number of institutions, which had been identified as having collections of significant Australian documentary heritage, were contacted and asked to report on any activities which they had undertaken in relation to the Advice to Institutions. The following institutions supplied information for these reports:
The following progress report is based on the replies received from the institutions which were contacted. The report is divided into two sections for each Resolution:
June 1994 - Consolidated replies from all institutions.In all cases, institutions with collections of significant Australian documentary heritage showed positive support for, and were taking positive actions to implement, the Resolutions.June 1996 - Individual reports from all institutions. (Where libraries reported no change or activity in relation to a Resolution, no response is recorded in this section).
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