Friday, October 21, 2022

1:00 PM - 5:15 PM

National Archives National Office

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Presentation Type

A Documenting Australian Society Symposium

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Session Information

Four years ago, the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Program ran a national summit which addressed the issue of improving the planning, prioritisation and coordination of distributed national efforts to preserve documentation of important aspects of Australian society for the benefit of future generations. The summit agreed to the Canberra Declaration, as an action agenda for those with an interest in preserving documentary heritage in ways that are as inclusive and representative of the diversity if Australian Society as possible. Two years ago, the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Program, in cooperation with the National Archives of Australia ran its first Documenting Australian Society event: a successful one-day virtual symposium on Documenting COVID-19 in Australia. This year’s event forms part of the worldwide activities that celebrate the 30th anniversary of the UNESCO Memory of the World Program. Is the lived experience of Australians who experience disadvantage adequately recorded in our national, state and community collections? What evidence and memories of these Australians should be recorded? When it is preserved for the benefit of future and current generations, how should access to these resources be managed? What say should Australians who experience disadvantage have over the information that is created and preserved about them and how it is accessed? - Hear leading representatives from government, collecting institutions and academia - Discuss what needs to be preserved and the challenges associated with doing this - Learn about the work that is already underway - Discuss what else needs to be done - What kinds of documentation do we need to target for preservation? - Who is taking responsibility for what kinds of documentation? - How do we ensure that we are capturing the best possible and most representative body of documentation in our national documentary heritage estate? - How do we ensure that we are not devoting scarce resources to duplicating efforts, whilst neglecting other important sources of documentation? These and other questions will be addressed in this half-day hybrid symposium. Presented by the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Program, the Australian Society of Archivists and the National Archives of Australia.