In The Mailbox – June 2000
By Shauna Hicks
The trial publishing of In the Mailbox on the aus-archivists listserv from the April issue appears to have been a success. A number of members emailed me with favourable comments and the biggest surprise was that I did not receive one negative comment. Therefore, In The Mailbox will continue to be published both on aus-archivists and in the Bulletin for non-subscribers of the listserv.
It is a big mailbox this issue, possibly because of the earlier deadline for the April Bulletin. There are the usual suspects and some strangers, all making for an interesting read.
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A newcomer is Knowit No 246 March-April 2000. This is the official newsletter of the Library and Information Service of Western Australia and this issue has been primarily devoted to the 1999 Western Australian Premier’s Book Awards. This is also the first full colour edition of the revamped newsletter. The Community Heritage Grants 2000 are featured and there is a small piece on LISWA’s Preservation Services who have just received a $100,000 Lotteries Commission Grant. The money will be spent to purchase a planetary camera and duplicator to improve the microfilming of rare and fragile documents. More to be found at
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recordSArchives Issue 10, Feb 2000 is the official newsletter of State Records of South Australia. There is information on the planned Federation exhibition, the Founding Documents website (to be launched later this year), there is a family tree for the State Records Act, a small piece on the review of facilities for State Records, the role of the Records Policy Group is outlined and notes from State Records Council meetings. Also included as an insert is South Australia Postscript 15 which is a listing of records received by State Records of South Australia from Jul – Dec 1999. Still no URL mentioned on the newsletter but it is given on the Postscript - go to
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Records Territory No 20 Feb 2000 is the Northern Territory Archives Service Newsletter. The newsletter has a new look and has pieces on the NT History Awards for 2000, Contracts for Records Storage and Disposal Services, the Aboriginal Advisory Group and Protocol, the Founding Documents Website, Oral History Conference Notes, Implementation of Northern Territory Government Thesaurus, Good Record Keeping Now Possible, Why Disposal and Research in Progress. Just going back to the Aboriginal Advisory Group I was interested to see that five people have now been successfully accredited to conduct family history research, using Northern Territory Government records, on behalf of Aboriginal people seeking information about their families. These people have research skills, an understanding of the nature of the Stolen Generations research and disclose information in a sensitive and confidential manner. There is a street and postal address, phone and fax numbers and an email address but no website address. On the assumption that it is an oversight and not a secret, I reveal
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Still with the States we have Proactive No 21 March 2000, the newsletter of the Public Record Office of Victoria. The launch of the ‘Immigration to Victoria’ index series on CD-ROM is reported and the PROV’s website is given in the article (but not recorded elsewhere in the Newsletter) The Local History Grants Program is also included along with an insert giving the list of successful applicants and their projects. The joint archival support program (PROV, ASA and ACA) is covered with a number of glossy photos including a not very happy looking Michael Piggott. In contrast, on the next page Bronwen Merrett was all smiles as she retired from PROV with the best wishes of all PROV staff. I am not sure if it is a little bit of the old NSW/VIC rivalry but PROV have an exhibition ‘Fun and Games: The First Australian Olympics’ which will be touring in 2000 and 2001. Also included as an insert is The Victorian Archives Project Report No 7 March 2000 which updates progress on the new building. The Laverton Search Room closed on 31 March and the new enlarged search rooms at the Melbourne Archives Centre opened on 3 April. The new North Melbourne Search Room is not due to open until the second half of 2002.
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Australian Historical Studies Vol 31 No 114 April 2000 has six articles, one historical site, three debates and twenty-two book reviews. What caught my atttention? The historical site appealed to my archaeological side but I wasn’t quite prepared for the piece on one of Melbourne’s most celebrated brothels. I suppose brothels can be historical sites although I have never really thought of them in that light – not that I think about them all that often I should add. Moving on to the safer ground of the debates, these were all to do with Elizabeth Kenny and were in response to an article previously in Australian Historical Studies.
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The AICCM National Newsletter No 74 March 2000 looks at what happened when Y2K rolled around in Australia and preparations that went before the event, there are various project updates, information on grants and funding, the usual people and places section and their impressive calendar. It is the most amazing collection of conferences, symposiums, workshops etc from all around the world. My favourite conference title for this issue is ‘Heritage Mycology: Managing the Health of Our Heritage’ and what is it about – it will examine the relationship between fungi and our cultural heritage and the conference will be held in Liverpool, UK.
Another international conference which might be of interest to members is one being held in Melbourne on 10-14 October 2000 - the 18th International Congress of the International Institute for Conservation of Historic and Artistic Works. It is the first IIC conference to be held in the southern hemisphere and the theme is ‘Tradition and Innovation: Advances in Conservation’.
The AICCM Bulletin Nos 22&23 1997&1998 has fourteen articles in it (joint volume due to delay in publishing). A few of the articles that caught my attention were Contracting Out - The Change to Contract Cleaning and Security Services from a Conservation Perspective by Jackie Millard; Building for Disasters by Colin Macgregor; On Decent Exposure by Pat Townley; “Absolutely Mardi Gras” – From a One Night Stand to an Exhibition by Mary Gissing; and Is Current Conservation Training Serving the Long Term Needs of the Profession? by Marion Kite.
The AICCM Bulletin No 24 1999 has four articles in it – A Study of Pigments from a Roman Egyptian Shrine by Michelle Berry; Conservation of the SS Xantho Engine: Lessons Learnt by Ian McLeod; The Conservation Treatment of Two Trade Union Banners by Elizabeth Wild and Kim Brunoro; and Foundry Welding Goggles and Lenses: A Case Study in Cellulose Acetate Degradation. I really liked the photographs of the trade union banners but the photographs of the goggles and lenses were also fascinating in a strange kind of way.
The URL for the AICCM home page is – they are getting their own website but it was not operational when I wrote this (early May). Try
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The Annual Report 1998/1999 for the History Trust of South Australia provides an interesting summary of what is happening at the Migration Museum, National Motor Museum and the South Australian Maritime Museum. While increasing the use of the Internet to deliver services to the South Australian community and undertaking the management of the regional server for the Australian Museums On Line program was a highlight of the year, I could not find any reference to the website URL. A bit of searching on the Internet led me to the following
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It seems that the Friends of the Bicycle Museum liked my comments last time as I now have Newsletter No 36 April 2000 which came with a subscription notice should I be really interested. For $10 you can be one of 280 members and receive this interesting newsletter. The Museum has just received the ACT Heritage Award this year for the Australian Cycling History Resource Centre for outstanding work in promoting local heritage with the establishment of the Centre and for the publication “Cycling Canberra: History of Cycling in Canberra and Region. For more information visit their website
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Stockman’s Hall of Fame Vol 74 March 2000 is another newsletter that I am never really sure what to say about it. It is the official publication of the Australian Stockman’s Hall of Fame and Outback Heritage Centre which is in Longreach, Queensland. It is full of usually small, anecdotal type stories from members plus news on the Hall. Some of the first hand accounts of droving in Outback Australia are both funny and sad and reading them gives you a greater appreciation of what life can be like ‘out there’. Articles on Daisy Bates and Dame Mary Durack were also interesting. When searching for a website for the Hall of Fame I only found a series of broken links yet I am sure that they must have a website – if only they put the address on the newsletter!
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Moving overseas we have PARBICA Panorama 2000-1, the newsletter of the Pacific Branch of the International Council on Archives. First up it was announced that PARBICA 9 will be held in the Republic of Palau in 2001 with more details to follow. I have to confess that I did not know where Palau is but can now say that it is the westernmost jurisdiction in Micronesia, less than 500 miles from the Philippines. The URL is NB there is an underscore in the URL. The benefits of ICA membership were outlined in the newsletter with a round up of ICA publications. The Te Puna Web Directory provides URL’s to Pacific Island sites so visit (NB another underscore) to learn about Palauan Proverbs, Nauruan language lessons or buy Trobriand artworks online. The International Records Management Trust announced the release of their Management of Public Sector Records Study Programme materials which is distributed free of charge under license to nearly 69 national archives and universities mainly in developing Commonwealth countries. For more information on this programme visit There was also a section Ramblings which was full of interesting information and URLs for further information which must be appreciated by its members with internet access. PARBICA’s own website is (note underscore).
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Still in the Pacific we have Ola Nius No 1 Jan 2000 the official newsletter of the Office of Libraries and Archives in Papua New Guinea. A restructure in 1999 left the OLA with a staffing ceiling of 45, an Education and Research Communication Network was established in Nov 1999 to facilitate resource sharing etc with most of the other news about school libraries. Of interest to archivists is the South East Asia Pacific Audio Visual Archives Association (SEAPAVAA – I just love acronyms) which was formed in 1996. Their objectives in brief are the promotion of awareness and development of audiovisual archiving, the strengthening of national capabilities in audiovisual acquisition, management, preservation and access etc. The National Archives of New Guinea are automating file lists from selected departments to enhance location and retrieval of departmental files held by the Archives. No URL given but I did eventually find the following
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Moving over to the other side of the world (England) we have the Business Archives Council – Proceedings of the Annual Conference 1998. I am not sure how many papers were presented at the Professionalism Plus conference but only three have been published – Is Paper Better? by Dave Mercer; Responding to the Challenges and Opportunities of ICT: The New Records Manager by Seamus Ross and Do Not Be Afraid – It’s Only the Media by Francis Thomas.
In the Business Archives Council Newsletter No 118 March 2000 there is a one page piece on the new Museums, Libraries and Archives Council. It came into being on 1 April as a government established council for the development of policy and improvement of standards in the fields encompassed by the title. It replaces the Museums and Galleries Commission and the Libraries and Information Commission and the addition of archives in the title is seen to be a significant encouragement to all those working in the archives sector. The National Museum and Archives of Black History has received a £344,000 Heritage Lottery Fund award to document the contribution of the black community to the heritage and history of the UK. I find that amount of funding staggering and can’t help wondering what the Noel Butlin Archives Centre, for example, might do with a similar grant from our government.
The National Council on Archives announced the launch of its web site and includes information on activities, including the Archive Lottery Service, the Regional Archive Councils, publications etc. There is also a brief blurb on A2A (Access to Archives in case you were wondering) which is a project aiming to create a virtual national archives service to be up and running between 2000-2002. For more details about the project go to There is also a proposal to have a business records group within the Society of Archivists which would complement the work of the Business Archives Council and the Business Archives Council of Scotland.
The Business Archives Council URL is and the BAC Scotland is
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The International Council on Archives Bulletin 1999-1 has a section on What’s New in the ICA and given the age of this issue I won’t go into detail but visit the website at There is a section on the International Congress on Archives in Seville in September (yours truly has had her Seville slush fund since the Beijing Congress in 1996 and will be fulfilling a long held desire to go to Marrakesh (Morocco) after the Congress). There is also an interesting piece by the International Committee of the Blue Shield on Protecting Cultural Heritage in Emergencies and Exceptional Situations.
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The Journal of the Society of Archivists Vol 21 No 1 April 2000 contains a number of interesting articles - Working for the Protection of the World’s Cultural Heritage: The International Committee of the Blue Shield by George Mackenzie; Government Policy on Archives by UK Government; Business Orientation and Customer Service Delivery: The Tyranny of the Customer by Bruno Longmore; Use of the UNESCO Thesaurus for Archival Subject Indexing at UK NDAD by Peter Garrod; The Application of ISAD(G) to the Description of Archival Datasets by Elizabeth Shepherd and Charlotte Smith; Protective Packaging: An Introduction to the Materials Used to Produce Archival Quality Boxes, Folders, Sleeves and Envelopes by Helen Lindsay; Code of Practice on Archives for Museums and Galleries in the United Kingdom: A Commentary by Cynthia Short; and Fiftieth Anniversary of the German Archive School by Gunter Hollenberg.
As well as the journal articles, there are a number of obituaries, book reviews and notices of new publications received. Of interest to me as Managing Editor, was the review of the 1997 ASA Conference proceedings Archives and Reform – Preparing for tomorrow edited by Peter Crush. The reviewer, Susan Healy, points out the difficulties of reviewing conference papers, for example, papers are often written for live presentations and don’t come across quite the same when read later. One feature that was commented on was the inclusion of speakers from outside of the archival profession and I think I am right in that most ASA conferences do have speakers from other professional arenas. Susan believes that this is the sign of a healthy professional society so that is refreshing to know. Three papers of particular interest were Denise Picton’s handy hints on influencing (and I admit that I really did enjoy that presentation); the papers on functional appraisal (4 speakers) and finally Adrian Cunningham’s paper on collecting archives.
By sheer coincidence the same day that I was adding this section to In the Mailbox I also received a copy of the National Archives of Australia Grapevine which is the internal staff newsletter. In the May issue Adrian is described as being “renowned for his expertise on descriptive standards and metadata matters and has been affectionately accorded the title of ‘most boring man in the world’. Well all I can say there is that they obviously have not been out drinking with Adrian!!! Back to the review, Susan finishes up by recommending the ASA’s journal Archives and Manuscripts for recent downunder archival thinking and also referring to the Monash University website for archival work in progress The ASA website is and the Society of Archivists website is
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Of course, no Mailbox is complete without a foreign language contribution and this one is from Greece. It appears to be a cross between a journal and a newsletter. The Contents are listed in both Greek and English with sections on Activities of S.H.A, Archive News, International News, Archival Landscape, Conservation, In Memoriam, Book Review and New Publications received. So any Greek speaking/reading archivist is welcome to contact me if they are interested. No recognisable URL.
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Oak Knoll Press, Publishers of Fine Bibliographical References & Books About Books have sent me their Spring 2000 catalogue. New titles that caught my eye were ‘Recollections: A Life in Bookbinding’ by Bernard Middleton; ‘Practice to Deceive: The Amazing Stories of Literary Forgery’s Most Notorious Practitioners’ by Joseph Rosenblum and ‘Croquet: A Bibliography’ by David Drazin. Why anyone would want a bibliography of croquet escapes me but then I’ve never been the sporty type. Visit Oak Knoll Press at
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Submissions to In The Mailbox should be sent to the Managing Editor, Shauna Hicks, Australian Society of Archivists, PO Box 83, O’Connor, ACT, 2602 Australia. Or I can be contacted on telephone 02 6212 3636 or email
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