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National Preservation Office
Collaboration with other Committees and Groups
ALIA - the Australian Library and Information Association
The NPO has regular contact with and attempts to contribute to the activities of the ALIA Special Interest Group for the Preservation of Library Materials, referred to most commonly as ALIA SIG POLM. This group has a national focus through its quarterly newsletter. It also holds occasional conferences and regular evening meetings (in Sydney) with guest speakers. The ALIA SIG POLM is also marketing a few titles pertaining to electronic preservation issues. For information contact:
Alan Howell
Manager, Preservation Services
State Library of New South Wales
Macquarie Street
Sydney, New South Wales, Australia 2000
Ph: +61-2-2301679
Fax: +61-2-2333192
Each State and Territory of Australia has an ACLIS Committee which provides a forum for discussing policies and making recommendations to the ACLIS National Council. Representatives of ACLIS sit on the National Preservation Office (NPO) Advisory Body.
The State committees also carry out specialist work through task forces and subcommittees. Most States have a Preservation Subcommittee, and the NPO seeks to work closely with these subcommittees. Recently the ACLIS National Council and State Preservation Subcommittees provided significant resources and assistance in organising the State awards ceremonies for the NPO's 1994 Community Heritage Grants program. Contact details for the Conveners of State ACLIS Preservation Subcommittees and for the national ACLIS secretariat are available.
The Council of Australian State Libraries is represented on the NPO Advisory Body, and the NPO seeks to work closely with State Libraries, especially with their preservation managers and staff. Many State Libraries recently provided venues and resources for the award ceremonies for the NPO's 1994 Heritage Grants. The State Library of South Australia, representing the Council of Australian State Libraries, is co-ordinating the National Plan for Australian Newspapers (NPLAN) in co-operation with the NPO. This project aims to locate, acquire, preserve and make accessible all newspapers ever published in Australia.
CASL is chaired by:
Fran Awcock
Director
State Library of South Australia
GPO Box 419
Adelaide, South Australia 5001
The Council of Australian University Librarians is represented on the NPO Advisory Body. The NPO also forwards information to CAUL members via e-mail networks, and works closely with some of the members. The President of CAUL is:
Mr John Shipp
University Librarian
University of Wollongong
Locked Bag 8813
South Coast Mail Centre, NSW 2521
Ph: 042-21-3546
Fax: 042-21-4663
E-mail: jshipp@uow.edu.au
The NPO endeavours to keep professional conservators informed of its activities through attending AICCM functions where possible, through contributions to State and national AICCM publications, and by forwarding information of interest. For information about the AICCM national newsletter contact:
Gina Drummond
Editor, AICCM Newsletter
Australian War Memorial Treloar Centre
4 Callan Street
Mitchell, ACT 2911
Ph: 06-241-7998
The Director of the National Preservation Office attends the regular meetings of the informal group of Managers of Commonwealth conservation/preservation services as the representative of the IFLA Preservation and Conservation Centre for the South-east Asia and Pacific region. The other organisations represented in the informal group include the National Film and Sound Archive, the National Centre for Cultural Heritage Science Studies (University of Canberra), the Australian War Memorial, the National Museum of Australia, Preservation Services of the National Library of Australia, Australian Archives and the Conservation Section of the Australian National Gallery. The group meets regularly to exchange information on topics of mutual interest and to identify areas for co-operation.
The Director of the NPO sits on the Conservation Working Party, and indeed the NPO has been active in progressing the objectives of the working party. The Heritage Collections Committee was established in 1993 under the auspices of the Cultural Ministers Council, which comprises Commonwealth, State and Territory cultural ministers and local government representatives. The vision of the Heritage Collections Committee is to increase community knowledge, enjoyment and appreciation of Australia's heritage through its cultural heritage collections. These collections include a broad range of materials: artefacts, documentary materials, historical items and collections, industrial machinery, outdoor sculpture and monuments, works of art and other valuable materials. They are located throughout the country in regional museums, galleries and libraries. They are also collected by societies, associations, private individuals, businesses and corporations. Some material is found in public places like parks. Indeed, Australia's 'distributed national collection' is vast. The Heritage Collections Committee is currently conducting two programs by which to achieve its vision:
The National Conservation Program is managed by a working party of the
Heritage Collections Committee. The Conservation Working Party has
representatives of collecting institutions and heritage services from across
Australia. They are actively involved in, and committed to, preservation and
heritage management.
A national program of conservation activities will contribute to preserving
Australia's cultural heritage for the enjoyment and use of future generations.
It will also improve community access to that heritage now.
Community groups have a vital role in preserving the distributed national
collection, a role that they increasingly recognise but often are not equipped
to fulfil. A key component of the National Conservation Program (NCP) is the
establishment of a national training program in conservation skills for
community groups.
A program to develop conservation skills will help small organisations to care
for local collections, and to prepare and care for materials they wish to
exhibit.
Under the NCP, a modest training program will be developed for each State and
Territory (ACT combined with NSW). Each program will be based on individual
State needs. The program will include creating internships for Aboriginals and
Torres Strait Islanders, and for people from non-English speaking
backgrounds.
The working party also worked in conjunction with a team of consultants to
develop a national conservation and preservation policy. This policy was endorsed on July 6 and information about it is mounted on this information server.
The members of the Conservation Working Party are:
Ian Cook, Convener
Director
Artlab Australia (South Australia)
Damian Stevens
Secretary, Heritage Collection Committee
Heritage Branch, Department of Communications and the Arts
GPO Box 1920
Canberra, ACT 2601
Ph: 06-2791605
Fax: 06-2791684
Karen Coote
Senior Objects Conservator
Australian Museum (NSW)
Jacky Healy
Director
Northern Territory Museum and Art Gallery
Tamara Lavrencic
Preservation Consultant, Conservation Access
State Library of New South Wales (formerly of Queensland)
Ian McLeod
Manager, Conservation and Collections
Western Australian Museum
Chris Tassel
Director
Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery (Tasmania)
Jan Lyall
Director, National Preservation Office
National Library of Australia (ACT)
Aid programs are expensive. If Australia is to provide the best possible preservation and conservation assistance to developing countries in the South and South-east Asian and the Pacific regions it is essential that no duplication of effort occurs. As more and more Australians have become involved with preservation and conservation projects in the region it has become apparent that similar, and sometimes identical, projects are being undertaken by different institutions and agencies. This perhaps is unavoidable if different countries are involved but it should be possible to develop a system within Australia to prevent overlap of Australian projects. Australia will have greater credibility within donor countries if we work together constructively rather than acting independently. Co-ordination of activities is required. A group of concerned individuals, representing a variety of government, non-government, professional and academic institutions and organisations met in Canberra in July and September 1993 to address these issues. It was decided to form a group of about 40 members called Australian Preservation and Conservation Abroad to exchange information on activities and to set up a coordinating mechanism. It was agreed that the group would adopt the following goal: To facilitate the coordination of effective conservation and preservation assistance in the South-east Asia and Pacific region.
APACA has published a Survey of Australian Heritage Preservation and Conservation Assistance and Related Activities in the Asia-Pacific Region 1984-94, by Guy Petherbridge and Paul Wilson.
The DNC Office was established at the National Library of Australia in 1994. The role of the DNC Office is to provide national leadership in the development and co-ordination of strategies to achieve the agreed Distributed National Collection goals for Australian libraries. In order to achieve the directions of the DNC, the DNC Office is developing active working relationships with other national coordinating bodies, such as the NPO. The DNC is working to ensure that preservation features as a responsibility in all DNC collection agreements.
The NPO has been active in stimulating the establishment of needed standards in the preservation of documentary materials. It has been particularly involved in committees concerned with the establishment of standards for permanent paper, and is stimulating the establishment of a committee to address standards for preservation microfilming.
NATIONAL LIBRARY OF AUSTRALIA, Canberra, ACT 2600,
AUSTRALIA, ABN: 28 346 858 075
Telephone + 61 2 6262 1111; Facsimile +61 2
6257 1703; TTY: 1800 026 372