Presentation by Ilma Martinuzzi O'Brien, Victoria University of Technology, at the 2nd National Preservation Office Conference: Multimedia Preservation - Capturing the Rainbow, in Brisbane, 28-30 November 1995.
The Italian Australian Records Project is a multimedia project funded by the Australian Research Council, through the Infrastructure and Facilities Program, for the preservation of and access to materials relating to Italian immigration, settlement and influence in Australia. The project will establish a system for the digitisation and microfilm preservation of the materials which are scattered in archives, libraries and private holdings in Italy and Australia, and an efficient method of retrieval and access will be developed and implemented. Victoria University will conduct the project with six collaborating universities, in association with public libraries and Italian universities.
- National research and cultural heritage priorities
- Background
- Nature of the Resource and Description of the Facility to be provided
- The Hybrid or Multimedia Model
- Participatory Arrangements
National research and cultural heritage priorities
The project will support research into an important aspect of Australia's cultural diversity. The Italian contribution to the Australian population is numerically second only to that of the British Isles, and has had a significant impact on many aspects of Australian society since colonial times and increasingly in the post-war period. Because of the time depth, complexity and variety of the 'Italian' experience in Australia, research into Italian immigration and settlement is of significance in gaining an understanding of citizenship and multicultural issues, including questions of national identity, assimilation and cross-cultural interaction, and language and cultural maintenance and transformation. History, literature, sociology and economic history are among the disciplines served by the project. The documentary record to support this research is scattered across two continents in both public and private ownership, and considerable material remains unidentified and unevaluated, and therefore unavailable to researchers.
The IARP project will redress an identified deficiency in the national research infrastructure. Records relating to the cultural diversity of Australia's population have not been extensively collected or copied. It is appropriate that the largest non-Anglo-Celtic group, those of Italian origin, will now be the subject of such a collection. The 'New Responsibilities Conference' in 1988 addressed this issue, which received further attention in the 'National Agenda for a Multicultural Australia' of the following year [1]. The project is in accord with the 'Plan for Australian Cultural Heritage Institutions to Reflect Australia's Cultural Diversity' which was endorsed by the Cultural Ministers' Council in 1992 [2]. These issues are of particular relevance to the initiatives co-ordinated by the National Library: 'Towards Federation 2001', and the document 'Linking Australians and Their Heritage' of March, 1992 and 'Linking Australians and Their Heritage' of December, 1993. The project is consistent with national policies and initiatives for Multimedia developments outlined in 'Creative Nation', and will enhance other activities to be undertaken such as 'Australia on CD'. Thus it will meet identified national needs and priorities.
Background
The project was conceived during the second half of 1993 by the author upon joining the staff of Victoria University. The plan for IARP was presented to the National Library in December 1993, and the Director-General, Warren Horton, was generous in his encouragement. Further refinements were made after suggestions from staff at the National Library, and later, following discussion in July 1994 with Stuart Lynn, then President of the United States 'Commission for Preservation and Access'. Also in 1994 the project was mentioned under the Cultural Agreement between the Republic of Italy and the Commonwealth of Australia. The project was submitted to the ARC for funding in 1994, and was successful in the 1995 round, receiving a grant of $150,000 for 1996.
The IARP is modelled on two previous on-going projects of national significance which entailed locating and copying materials to form national collections. The first is the British-Australian Joint Copying Project, which over 25 years located and copied or otherwise acquired all known records relating to the development of Australia [3]. Like the Joint Copying Project, the IARP facility includes the copying of official records held in Government archives overseas. It relies on cooperation between Governments through the Cultural Agreement between Italy and Australia [4]. The other model is the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau Collection initiated by the Australian National University's Pacific and South East Asian History Department for the microfilming of documents relating to the Pacific. The project has 12 participating institutions, in Australia and overseas, collaborating to microfilm documents relating to the Pacific [5]. Two other collection building projects concerned with Italian immigration, are those being carried out by the NSW State Library, and the Italian Historical Society in Melbourne, where the author was previously the Director. Both projects are largely concerned with State-based material. These initiatives will be extended through IARP as material is located in both Italy and Australia to create a national resource which is accessible to all researchers.
Nature of the Resource and Description of the Facility to be provided
The aim of the project is to ensure both the preservation and accessibility of the records. Standard microfilm technology will be used for preservation, and CD-ROM or disk-stored digital imaging will provide access.
The resource will consist of a comprehensive copied collection of documents and other materials. The material will be indexed and available through digital access. Types of materials for incorporation in the facility include the following:
a. Official Documents in Italy (selected for copying)
Subject to the approval of the Government of the Republic of Italy, and encouraged by the joint Cultural Agreement between the Commonwealth of Australia and the Republic of Italy, documents in National Archives, Diplomatic Archives, Consular Archives, Regional Archives, and possibly selected Commune (local government) repositories will be copied.
b. Material relating to Australia held in organisations, businesses and family collections in Italy
This will include political groups, religious orders for non-confidential material, as well as businesses having particular dealings with Australia or sections of the community in Australia. Finally material sent to relatives in Italy from immigrants in Australia, describing their experiences in Australia, will be sought.
c. Records of organisations, businesses and families in Australia
Clubs, organisations and political groups, businesses and families all have material which deserves to be preserved for researchers now and in the future. This material provides a valuable record of community life and of immigrant experience.
d. Newspapers and Journals associated with the Italian community in Australia
Rare items of this type will be sought to establish and/or complete series.
The Hybrid or Multimedia Model
The project is designed to provide both archival storage and ready availability, and is based on models developed in the United States by the 'Commission on Preservation and Access', combining microfilm technology for preservation with digitisation and on-line or CD-ROM storage for access, in what has been described as a hybrid model because it combines the best characteristics of different systems [6]. In particular, the CLASS project being developed at Cornell University in conjunction with the 'Commission on Preservation and Access' and the Xerox Corporation, and the Open Book Project under-way at Yale University are of special relevance [7]. Perhaps the biggest project which employs the hybrid model is the project to digitise and preserve the Archive of the Indies in Seville, in which the materials relating to the discovery and colonisation of the Americas are systematically being digitised and then transferred to microfilm [8]. The IARP project will use these technological developments to combine many different types of material from diverse sources and formats into one system.
Participatory Arrangements
The facility arises as a result of resource sharing between the participating institutions. Each member contributes expertise in locating and nominating material for inclusion in the collection together with management support, staff time and infrastructure support for the local component. It is expected that not all participants will contribute the same amount of time, nor will all material be identified at the beginning of the project. As research activities progress, new material will be identified for inclusion. Preservation and indexing will be undertaken centrally and copies will be available to all institutions through both microfilm and electronic storage. Thus this is a collection which is built by the collaboration of experts in their respective fields of academic research and professional records management practice.
Organisational and managerial arrangements include a system based on three levels: a community consultative committee to meet every year at a national conference, with the task of suggesting and referring materials. Representatives of community groups, cultural organisations and Italian academic institutions will join this group. There will be a management group of about 11 members representing each participating institution. A small executive of the management group will meet four times a year, with the responsibility to establish priorities and recommend and oversee directions proposed and taken. Membership will include academic researchers and specialist library staff, at least one interstate representative, and one representative of the Public Library sector. Day to day management takes place at the lead institution. Here the material is indexed and copied, technical organisation and supervision is undertaken, and the consultancies supervised. The lead institution will arrange the distribution of the final data.
The participants are Victoria University of Technology as lead institution, Curtin University, James Cook University, La Trobe University, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, University of Wollongong, the National Library of Australia, the NSW State Library, the Queensland State Library, and the State Library of Victoria. Italian Universities which will participate are the Universita` di Venezia (Ca` Foscari), the Universita` degli Studi di Perugia, Istituto di Storia, the Universita` di Firenze and the Centro Studi Emigrazione, Roma.
Margaret Birtley and Patricia McQueen, eds, New Responsibilities: documenting multicultural Australia: a record of the conference for museums, libraries, archives and historical collections: towards a national agenda for a multicultural Australia, 11 - 13 November, 1988, published by the Museums Association of Australia Inc, Victorian Branch, and Library Council of Victoria, 1989, 167 pp.
- Plan for Australian Cultural Heritage Institutions to Reflect Australia's Cultural Diversity, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1991.
- Phyllis Mander-Jones, ed, Manuscripts in the British Isles relating to Australia, New Zealand, and the Pacific, ANU Press, Canberra, 1972, 697 pp.
- This agreement was negotiated between the two National Governments, and was signed during 1994.
- Robert Langdon, 'The Pacific Manuscripts Bureau' Span: Newsletter of the South Pacific Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language Studies, No 10, April, 1980, 35-43.
- Don Willis, A Hybrid Systems Approach to Preservation of Printed Materials for the US Commission on Preservation and Access, November, 1992, 64 pp.
- 'Conference Report: Coalition for Networked Information', Archives and Museum Informatics, Vol 7, No 1, Spring 1993, pp 9-11.
- Hans Rutiman and Stuart Lynn, Computerisation Project of the Archivo General de Indias, Seville, Spain: a report to the Commission on Preservation and Access, Washington, 1992.
Return to 1995 NPO Conference