News from Access Services at Public Record Office Victoria
February 2008 – Number 27

rEsearch is a bi-monthly update on public access news 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@prov.vic.gov.au if you want to be included on our subscriber list.

1. Shake Your Family Tree at the Victorian Archives Centre
2. PROV Seminar Series and Archival Support Program 2008
3. Sir Rupert Hamer Record Management Awards 2007
4. Provenance - Call for articles
5. Exhibitions Update
6. Grants News: Holsworth Heritage Trust
7. Koorie Records Unit
8. Updated PROVguides
9. VAC and BAC Reading Room Easter Closure
10. New Series Available on the PROV Online Catalogue
11. Staff speaking engagements
12. Feedback
13. About this publication

1. Shake Your Family Tree at the Victorian Archives Centre
On Wednesday 27 February 2008, 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, staff of the National Archives of Australia and Public Record Office Victoria will present four one-hour seminars on the scope of and use of the NAA and PROV collections as a way to discover your family history. Please note that the two seminars in the morning session will be repeated in the afternoon session. For further details about the program, go to the National Archives of Australia events page at <http://www.naa.gov.au/whats-on/events/shake-melbourne.aspx>.

Episodes of Who Do You Think You Are? will be screened periodically throughout the day, complimentary show bags will be on offer, and PROV and NAA publications will be available for purchase. The PROV exhibition 'Victorians at Work' will be on display in the main foyer and the Victorian Archives Centre Reading Room will be open as normal. Tours of the Victorian Archives Centre by PROV volunteers will be available at 12.00 pm, 12.15 pm and 1.00 pm. The Australian Institute of Genealogical Studies and the Genealogical Society of Victoria will have information stalls present, and Café 99 will be open all day. There will be Lucky Door Prizes throughout the day.

To book your place at one of the seminars call (03) 9348 5600.

2. PROV Seminar Series and Archival Support Program 2008
The Seminar Series program for February to June 2008 and the Archival Support Program 2008 will be available from mid February as inserts in your mailed copy of 'PROactive', from PROV reading rooms and the seminar webpages on the PROV website at <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/events/seminars.asp> and <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/events/asprogram.asp>. Both programs feature a range of new seminars and material for anyone who wants to know more about archives and the type of research subjects that can be undertaken at PROV. See details regarding seminar sessions under section 11 below.

3. Sir Rupert Hamer Record Management Awards 2007
Each year the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) offers the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards, recognising excellence and innovation in records management in the Victorian public sector.
The Awards are named after Sir Rupert Hamer who was the Victorian Premier when the Public Records Act was passed in 1973 and when PROV opened its first office and repository in 1975.
Awards are made to government agencies who demonstrate preservation of records of permanent value and innovation in records management practices.
While in the past the awards have only been available to government agencies, for the first time in 2007, award categories for Places of Deposit (PODs) have been included in recognition of the work they do to preserve the local history of their communities.
The Sir Rupert Hamer Record Management Awards 2007 are now open for nominations and close on Thursday 20 March 2008. Information and nomination forms are available on the PROV website at <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/events/rmham.asp>. In the mean time, please contact Manager, Public Programs, James McKinnon for further information by phone (03) 9348 5675 or email
<james.mckinnon@prov.vic.gov.au>.

4. Provenance - Call for articles
Are you researching PROV records and interested in writing an article about what you have discovered? Then consider submitting an article to 'Provenance'. We are now calling for articles for the 2008 issue of 'Provenance'. The submission deadline is 31 March 2008.

'Provenance' is the free scholarly journal of Public Record Office Victoria (PROV), the Victorian state archives. 'Provenance' features peer-reviewed articles, and other contributions, that present research drawing upon records in PROV custody.
You can read articles from issue no. 7, published late September 2007, at: <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/provenance/>.

If you are interested in submitting an article (or would like to receive an email reminder when each issue is published online), please contact the Editor, Sebastian Gurciullo by phone on (03) 9348 5600; or email <provenance@prov.vic.gov.au>.

5. Exhibitions Update
'Victorians at Work' on display until 28 February
PROV's newest travelling exhibition 'Victorians at Work' is on display at the VAC until 28 February 2008. It will then be offered on loan (minus the records and artefacts) as a PROV travelling exhibition for venues and organisations throughout Victoria.
The exhibition draws on PROV's vast photographic holdings, dating from the mid nineteenth century to the late 1960s and offers the viewer a glimpse of many different types of work undertaken by people in Victoria over the last 150 years.

For more information on the exhibition and for enquiries on borrowing 'Victorians at Work' in 2008, please contact Public Programs on (03) 9348 5600 or email Asa Letourneau on <asa.letourneau@prov.vic.gov.au>.

Centenary of Women's Suffrage Exhibition and Walks
On 13 March, a new PROV exhibition 'Centenary of Women's Suffrage: Signature Stories' will go on display. To celebrate the centenary of the achievement of the women's vote, the Women's Suffrage Petition and other significant documents together with stories of women who signed the petition will be on view at the VAC until 14 June 2008.

On Saturday 15 March, PROV and Hotham History Project will jointly conduct the first of a series of walks and talks that will reflect on the significance to the suffrage movement of sites in and around North Melbourne. The walks are also available for secondary school groups. Bookings are essential. Costs: individuals $10; school students $2; teachers accompany students free.

For further information on these and other events celebrating the centenary of women's suffrage in Victoria, please phone PROV on (03) 9348 5600, or email us at <ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au>. For information on the activities planned by the Victorian Government, visit
<http://www.women.vic.gov.au/womenvote>.

6. Grants News: Holsworth Heritage Trust
The Holsworth Local Heritage Trust, a charitable fund with the Victorian Community Foundation, provides grants to assist publication of local histories in Victoria. Applications for grants are invited from not-for-profit organisations such as historical societies, clubs, schools and museums in Victoria. Grants of up to $1,000 are available for projects that will enable the preservation and appreciation, through publication, of local and other history in rural Victoria. Closing date for receipt of applications is 1 August each year.

The following conditions apply to all grant applications:
• Grants will be to a maximum of $1,000 for each project;
• No more than 50% of the cost of publication will be funded;
• Manuscripts should be complete before submitting an application;
• Requests for funding of reprint or facsimile editions will not be considered;
• Requests for funding for publications on media other than paper will not be considered; and
• Requests for funding of genealogical publications will not be considered (unless they are of clear community significance).

Organisations that have not previously published are encouraged to apply. For enquiries please contact ANZ Charitable Services on (03) 9273 2927 or the Royal Historical Society of Victoria on (03) 9326 9288.

Guidelines and applications forms can be obtained in PDF format on the following ANZ Charitable Services webpage at
<http://www.anz.com/aus/fin/Trustees/guFinding.asp>.

Applications for grants should be sent to:
Victorian Community Foundation
Holsworth Local Heritage Trust
ANZ Charitable Services
GPO Box 389D
Melbourne Vic 3001.

7. Koorie Records Unit
New six-monthly newsletter
The Koorie Records Unit (KRU) has just published the first of its twice a year newsletters. The KRU newsletter provides updates on activities and projects the KRU have conducted or are developing. You can subscribe to the newsletter by sending an email to
<ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au>. An online version of the newsletter can be accessed at <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/about/kru/>.

Footprints book launch April 2008
Footprints tells the story of Lucy and Percy Pepper, an Aboriginal family from Gippsland in south-eastern Victoria. The publication details the struggles they faced dealing with the Board for the Protection of Aborigines through a twenty-year journey that unfolds through transcripts of government documents held in the collections of PROV and NAA. The book will be launched in April 2008 – for further updates refer to the KRU webpage <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/about/kru/>.

Copies of the Footprints will be available for purchase from April at the Victorian Archives Centre.

8. Updated PROVguides
The following PROVguides have been updated and are available online at <www.access.prov.vic.gov.au> through the Research Tools menu, and in PROV reading rooms:

PROVguide 55 Land Records
A substantial update for greater clarity and inclusion of links to online resources, including lists of microfilm and microfiche in PROV reading rooms.

PROVguide 23 PROV's Digitised Records and Online Indexes
Updated to incorporate recent additions to the Index to Outward Passengers to Interstate, U.K. and Foreign Ports. The index has been extended by 10 years and now contains entries from 1852-1886. The PROVguide has also been updated to indicate that probate records are beginning to be made available through PROV's online catalogue.

PROVguide 13 How to Cite Public Records
General update.

9. AC and BAC Reading Room Easter Closure
The VAC and BAC reading rooms will close from 4.30 pm on Thursday 20 March 2008 and reopen at 9.00 am on Tuesday 24 March 2008.

10. New Series Available on the PROV Online Catalogue
February 2008
Visit <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/main/newrecords.asp> to view new series that have been made available online at 'Access the Collection'. The list is updated every two months to coincide with the publication of rEsearch.

11. Staff speaking engagements
Visit our Events Calendar at <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/events/calendar/default.asp> for a list of upcoming PROV speaking engagements. Book now!
February
21 Seminar Series 'A Picture Says a Thousand Words: Researching Photographs in the PROV Collection', 1.30 pm to 3.30 pm, VAC
25 Sebastian Gurciullo, Archivist Online Exhibitions and Publications, PROV, speaks about Conservation, 2.00 pm to 3.00 pm, Glenroy Library
27 James McKinnon, Manager, Public Programs, Shake Your Family Tree, 10.00 am to 4.00 pm, VAC

March
02 PROV stall at Bendigo Family & Local History Expo, Kangaroo Flat
08 Archival Support Program, 'Introduction to Archives', 9.30 am to 4.00 pm, VAC
13 Seminar Series 'Women in the Archives: Women with a Mission', 2.00 pm to 4.00 pm, VAC
29 PROV Seminar, Discovering Archives for Research
Mar – May PROV display, walks and activities highlighting Centenary Celebrations of the Victorian Women's Vote, VAC

April
12 PROV Seminar, Discovering Archives for Research
26 Seminar Series, 'Ancestors in the Archives Part 1, 2 and 3', VAC

12. Feedback
If you would like to send feedback and suggestions on the content of this newsletter or if you know someone who would be interested in receiving rEsearch, please email <ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au>

13. About this Publication
We have included you on our mailing list because you have indicated interest in receiving PROV information. However, if you do not wish to receive this newsletter, please email <ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au> or phone PROV Reception (03) 9348 5600 and we will remove you from our list.

You can access the web page version of this newsletter at <http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/publications>. Back issues are also available on the website.

ISSN 1449-0323 Copyright © 2008 Public Record Office Victoria

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