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News from Access Services at Public Record Office
Victoria
October 2003 – Number 1
Welcome to the first edition of rEsearch, a bi-monthly
update on public events and programs at Public Record Office Victoria
(PROV). Current and past editions of rEsearch are available online
here and are
also emailed to subscribers. Email
a request to ask.prov@dpc.vic.gov.au if you want to be included on our
subscriber list.
Contents
1. Christmas Closure
2. New Keeper of Public Records purchases
Kelly documents
3. Volunteering News
4. New North Melbourne Reading Room
5. Indigenous Records News
6. Central Highlands Historical Association
Family and Local History Expo 2003
7. Ballarat Archives Centre
8. New Accessions
9. Geelong Heritage Centre
10. 2003: The Anniversary year
11. Future Directions
12. Feedback
1. Christmas Closure
Please note: The reading rooms at the Melbourne Archives Centre, Ballarat
Archives Centre and Victorian Archives will be closed over the Christmas/New
Year period (25 December 2003 – 1 January 2004 inclusive).
2. New Director and Keeper of Public Records purchases
Kelly documents
Congratulations to Justine Heazlewood, who was appointed as the new Director
and Keeper of Public Records at PROV on 15 September. Justine has wasted
no time in promoting PROV through the widely reported recent purchase
of Ned Kelly documents at auction on 13 October. The Minister for
Victorian Communities, John Thwaites, remarked upon the importance of
these historically significant witness statements prepared for the murder
trial of Ned Kelly in 1880 which are now back in public hands.
3. Volunteering News
PROV volunteers have been labouring for many years on compiling indexes
to passenger lists, which contain the names of all the people who arrived
in Victoria by ship between the years 1852 and 1923. Some of these projects
are now nearing fruition. By the end of this year our online
Immigration Index will include all unassisted inward passengers to
Victoria from British and foreign ports for the period 1852 to 1909. Checking
of transcriptions for the final period (1910–23) continues and the
volunteers are also working now on the outward passenger lists for the
period 1852 to 1923.
Susie Leehane, the new manager of PROV’s volunteers
program, is always interested in meeting new people who are eager to help
us out with indexing passenger records or other forthcoming projects.
Susie is looking for people with an interest in Australian history, the
ability to read eighteenth and nineteenth-century handwriting (or the
interest to learn), word processing skills, proofreading skills, data
entry skills, interest in scanning documents and photograph identification.
Attention to detail is vital for much of the work, and research experience
is welcomed. Training for new volunteers will include the basic principles
of archival methodology (original order and provenance), an introduction
to PROV and work site training for each volunteer project. With the pending
relocation of the volunteer program to North Melbourne we look forward
to welcoming new volunteers, as well as continuing our long relationship
with our established teams of volunteers.
For further information regarding volunteering at PROV
contact Susie Leehane (tel. 03 9285 7944 or email Susie.Leehane@dpc.vic.gov.au).
4. New North Melbourne Reading Room
The National Gallery of Victoria has now relocated its staff back to the
newly refurbished National Gallery on St Kilda Road. Over the next few
months, Public Record Office Victoria will undertake a fit-out of the
vacated floor space in the Victorian Archives building.
Of most significance to researchers, the fit-out includes
the new reading room. On present indications it will open in April 2004,
at which time the Melbourne Archives Centre Reading Room at Casselden
Place will close. For the first time since PROV was established in 1973,
all of its Melbourne operations will be based in one location.
We are happy that the close working relationship between
Public Record Office Victoria and the National Archives of Australia will
continue in the new reading room. The joint PROV/NAA operation which has
worked so well at the Melbourne Archives Centre will continue in the new
Harry Nunn Reading Room at the Victorian Archives.
The relocation of the reading room to North Melbourne will
allow us to resume on-site access to PROV record holdings. On-site access
to public records will give PROV the opportunity to offer enhanced service
to researchers.
5. Indigenous Records News
One of the projects of PROV’s Victorian Koorie Records Taskforce
is the Finding Your Story resource manual. Finding Your Story
will provide a comprehensive and cohesive resource of government and non-government
record and archival collections in Victoria relevant to the Stolen Generations
and their families.
The publication, produced in partnership with Aboriginal
Affairs Victoria, seeks to assist in breaking down the barriers that surround
access to records. Finding Your Story will be useful and practical
by being written and presented in a clear, concise and culturally appropriate
manner achieved by extensive consultation and input from Koorie user groups.
As well as being in printed form, the Finding Your Story resource
manual will be available on the Victorian Koorie Records Taskforce website.
Finding Your Story is an integral part of the
Victorian Government’s response to the Bringing them Home
report and will be launched in mid-2004.
For more information on Finding Your Story or
the Victorian Koorie Records Taskforce please contact Emma Toon, Executive
Officer, Victorian Koorie
Records Taskforce (tel. 03 9348 5629 or emma.toon@dpc.vic.gov.au).
6. Central Highlands Historical Association Family
and Local History Expo 2003
The theme for the CHHA Expo held in Ballarat on 4 and 5 October 2003 was
'Batons, Bayonets and Bushrangers', in celebration of the 150th anniversary
of Victoria Police. Shauna Hicks, Manager of Access Services at PROV,
judged the prize for the stall that best interpreted the theme. Assisting
Shauna with the judging were Dr Anne Hunt, Dr Liz Rushen, and Catherine
King, MP. The prize of $250 worth of archival supplies to be provided
by PROV went to the Ballarat and District Genealogical Society with Linton
Historical Society and the Police Historical Society both being highly
commended. A new Encouragement Award of $100 worth of archival supplies
went to two groups – Napoleons and District Historical Society and
Skipton Historical Society.
7. Ballarat Archives Centre (BAC)
In September, the BAC held a successful seminar on ‘Local History
Research at the Ballarat Archives Centre’, which featured talks
on local government, courts and mining records. The PROV seminar Land
those Records, that introduces research using land selection records,
was also presented at the BAC on 29 October.
8. New Accessions
The PROV collection is not static and we are always transferring new records
to the Victorian Archives and to the Ballarat Archives Centre. In recent
months, transfers to Ballarat included a number of record series from
municipalities in the local area, specifically Avoca, Bacchus Marsh, Lexton,
Ballan, Maddingly and Ripon. In most editions of our newsletter PROactive
the ‘Fresh’ section contains details about recently completed
transfers. You can subscribe to PROactive by visiting the publications
page of our website (http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/publns.htm).
9. Geelong Heritage Centre
Norman Houghton, the Director of the Geelong Heritage Centre retired in
August after 25 years at the helm. Since his retirement, Tracey Manallack,
Manager Ballarat Archives Centre, has spent some of her time acting in
the Director’s position until a new appointment is made. Public
Record Office Victoria has had a long association with the centre since
it began operation in 1975. While the centre is an approved place of deposit
for both permanent and temporary public records, it also maintains a large
collection of local history material and memorabilia. Public Record Office
Victoria is committed to continuing its association with the centre, providing
assistance and advice for the preservation of Geelong’s heritage.
10. 2003: The Anniversary year
With December upon us, a major milestone year for PROV comes to a close.
This year has seen us celebrate the thirtieth anniversary of the proclamation
of the Public Records Act 1973 in April; the 100th anniversary
of the first transfer of public records into archival custody, which made
the Public Library of Victoria the first Victorian state archive in 1903;
and the thirtieth anniversary of the first meeting of our ministerial
advisory council in December 1973. To celebrate these anniversaries we
published two issues of a new journal, Provenance,
in April and July, and a major history of PROV which is being launched
in December 2003. In July we held a symposium entitled Keeping the
Record Public as part of the celebrations. Papers presented at the
symposium will be available from our website shortly.
11. Future Directions
In this email newsletter we will bring you news about PROV seminars, projects,
workshops, exhibitions, new accessions and indexes in 2004. We will also
let you know where our staff will be speaking, including various talks,
conferences and family history expos to which we have been invited.
12. Feedback
We welcome your feedback and suggestions on the content of this newsletter
via ask.prov@dpc.vic.gov.au. If you know someone who would be interested
in receiving rEsearch, they can subscribe also by emailing
a request to ask.prov@dpc.vic.gov.au
ISSN 1449-0331
Copyright © 2003 Public Record Office Victoria
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