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| News from Public Record Office Victoria |
February/ March 2009 |
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rEsearch is a bi-monthly update of Public Access News from PROV ISSN 1449-0323 Copyright © 2009 Public Record Office Victoria |
Max Dupain on Assignment
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1. 'Max Dupain on Assignment' now showing Max Dupain on Assignment is the new National Archives of Australia touring exhibition currently on display at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne. The exhibition was officially launched on 6 February 2009 by Susan Van Wyk, Curator of Photography at the National Gallery of Victoria, and features over 60 eye-catching examples of rarely seen government and commercial work taken during the 1940s to 1970s by world-renowned Australian photographer, Max Dupain. The photographs are themed around: landscapes; cityscapes; people; industry; and architecture. Sourced from the National Archives' collection and the Noel Butlin Archives Centre at the Australian National University, many of the photographs on display have never before been seen by the viewing public. PROV is pleased to offer audiences the opportunity to see them for the first time in Victoria. Max Dupain on Assignment is supported by Visions of Australia and is on display at the Victorian Archives Centre, North Melbourne, until 22 May 2009. For further information, visit http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/online/.
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Guests at the launch of 'Max Dupain on Assignment.' Photo courtesy National Archives of Australia. |
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2. Archival Support Program 2009 PROV is seeking feedback on future offerings through the Archival Support Program (ASP). The ASP is intended to assist small archives and community organisations with practical advice in managing and making historical records available. We have put together a short (5 min) online survey covering possible future seminars. If you are a member of a community group holding a collection or interested in basic archival training, we welcome you taking the time to complete the survey.
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3. 2008 Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Award - nominations open Each year the Public Records Advisory Council (PRAC) offers the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management Awards, recognising excellence and innovation in records management. The Sir Rupert Hamer Awards is accepting nominations for projects completed in the 12 calendar months from 1 January 2008 to 31 December 2008. Nominations must be received at PROV by close of business on Thursday 9 April 2009. The 2008 Sir Rupert Hamer Awards ceremony at which the winners will be announced will be held during Information Awareness Month in May 2009.
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Since last year, the Sir Rupert Hamer Records Management awards have expanded to incorporate categories relevant to both Victorian government agencies and community archives. For further information on nomination guidelines and to view and download the Community Archives or the Victorian government agency nomination forms, visit: http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/events/rmham.asp. The Hamer Awards are sponsored by the Records Management Association
of Australasia and the Australian Society of Archivists Inc., and
supported by the Records Management Network. |
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4. Local History Grants Program The Local History Grants Program (LHGP) supports projects that preserve and present Victorian local history. The LHGP is administered by Public Record Office Victoria and funded through the Community Support Fund. Applications for the 2009–2010 round of the grants program will be open in September 2009. In the meantime, if you would like further information on the LHGP, including programs which have received grants in previous rounds, visit http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/lhgp/.
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5. Review of PROV services In late 2008 PROV conducted a staff-led review of the services that it provides to researchers at the Victorian Archives Centre reading room. Since the VAC reading room opened in 2004, considerable change has occurred in the way researchers use PROV's services, especially in relation to the provision of online services.
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Over the next six months PROV will examine the recommendations of this review and how, if implemented, they will impact upon the service provision to all researchers. PROV will keep public users advised as more information becomes available regarding any proposed changes to the service delivery model. |
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6. CHHA Expo 2008 – 'That's Entertainment' The Central Highlands Historical Association (CHHA) Family & Local History Expo, held on the weekend of 4–5 October 2008 at the Australian Catholic University (ACU) Ballarat was themed 'That's Entertainment' in celebration of the Performing and Visual Arts. Best Display was awarded to Bungaree Historical Society, and Encouragement Awards were given to Creswick Museum, and Trentham Historical Society. Learmonth District Historical Society Association Inc., and Ballarat Engine & Machinery Preservation Society Inc. received Highly Commended awards. PROV presented certificates and prizes at the CHHA quarterly meeting on 28 February 2009. Watch this space for information on the upcoming CHHA Expo for 2009.
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7. Koorie Index of Names now available at VAC The Koorie Index of Names, launched in December last year by Ms Lily D'Ambrosio, Parliamentary Secretary, Community Development, is proving to be a valuable resource for people researching Aboriginal family and community connections in Victorian government records held by PROV. The KIN database can be consulted only in the PROV reading room at the Victorian Archives Centre in North Melbourne. For further information, see PROVguide 67 Koorie Heritage – Koorie Index of Names Project which can be accessed online, or contact the Koorie Records Unit at PROV on (03) 9348 5600.
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(From left to right) Simon Flagg, Acting Manager, Koorie Records Unit, PROV; Justine Heazlewood, Director and Keeper of Public Records, PROV; Ms Lily D'Ambrosio, Parliamentary Secretary, Community Development; Jim Berg, Public Records Advisory Council.
Jim Berg, Public Records Advisory Council at the KIN Launch on 19 December 2008. |
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8. New instalment of Outwards Passenger Index and first instalment of Probate Index At the end of 2008, PROV volunteers reached a milestone by completing an instalment of the outwards passenger index covering the period 1887–1896. PROV has now indexed outward passenger lists from 1853 to 1896, which covers an astonishing 978,883 entries. Family Search and the Victorian Association of Family History Organisations have completed the first stage of an index to probates in Victoria. Covering the period 1841–1925, this first stage allows researchers to search for probates by family name, place, occupation and date. This means that researchers are now able to access probate index and digital images of wills and probates between 1841 and 1925 via the PROV website free of charge.
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The new instalment of the immigration index and the new probate index can be accessed online through our indexes and digitised records page. Researchers are also encouraged to view PROVguide 29 Wills and Probate – Wills and Probate Records 1841–1925, which has been updated to demonstrate the new streamlined functionality of the online will and probate index. |
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9. Five new PODs appointed Places of Deposit (PODs) are community facilities that meet the storage standards required by PROV to preserve records of significance to local communities. The number of PODs continues to grow with the latest appointment of five new PODs by Minister for the Arts, Lynne Kosky. The newly appointed PODs are: Buninyong and District Historical Society – Court House; East Gippsland Family History Group; Lakes Entrance Family History Resource Centre Inc; Omeo Historical Society Inc; and Orbost and District Historical Society Inc – East Gippsland Council Admin & Library Building.
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There are now a total of 122 community facilities appointed as PODs across Victoria with more appointments to be made in 2009. For further information on PODs, visit our Places of Deposit page. |
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10. Now Open! - new records available from 1 January 2009 for viewing at PROV At the start of every year, PROV opens up a range of public records that have never before been viewed by the general public, as required by the provisions of the Public Records Act 1973. Some of the newly opened records from January 2009 are from series the contents of which have never been available for public viewing in any part. Among these are registers of various children's courts in Victoria. For privacy reasons, these records remain closed for 99 years from the date of the most recent entry in each unit. The Victorian Children's Court was established in 1906 after it was determined that children did not always understand the consequences of their actions and therefore should not be tried as adults in adult courts. By law, children's courts were required to keep a register of all cases and decisions that came before the court. The information included in the registers is: case number; the name of the accused or defendant; his or her age or apparent age; charge or application; the court's decision and order; and any remarks. Crimes for which children were charged include: property damage; placing explosives on railway tracks; behaving in an offensive manner in public; gambling; obstructing or riding bikes on footpaths; petty theft of items such as pigeons, lollies, ferrets, shoes and chaff bags; and peculiarly, being a 'neglected child' which at the time was a criminal offence, which was often the only way to institutionalise a child to a care facility. These are the first instalment of these registers as there will be further releases of similar records, including those from other court locations, in the coming years: VPRS 1792/P0 Children's Court Register (Richmond Courts),
units 1–2, 1907–1909
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Then there are series that have already been opened in part to the public, including those such as the criminal trial briefs which often contain a staggering amount of detail relating to the preparation of evidence for criminal trials. These files assisted the Governor in deciding whether people convicted of a capital offence and given the mandatory death sentence should be given the royal prerogative of mercy. Included in the files are: mug shots; police reports; court transcripts; and in some cases, petitions for clemency. Records from this series remain closed for 75 years from the year of registration of the most recent record in each unit. Portions of this series that were opened on 1 January 2009 include: VPRS 30/P0 Criminal Trial Briefs, units 2496–2554,
1933 Other records released in 2009 include portions of Inquest Deposition Files, tramways employee cards, asylum correspondence and patient records, and many more. For a full list and details of records that are due for release in 2009, go to the following PROV webpage: http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/main/nowopen/. |
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11. PROV gives the state archives the Flickr! Late last December, PROV set up a Flickr Pro account to promote
the rich and diverse photographic series contained in the Victorian
state archives collection. The first images to appear on Flickr
relate to the PROV travelling exhibition Victorians at Work:
Photographs from the State Archives. More images covering subject
matter from other areas of the archive will be added in the near
future. Each image contains a brief description and citation tracing
it back to its location in PROV's collection. The PROV Flickr page
can be viewed at http://www.flickr.com/people/public-record-office-victoria/.
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12. New PROV Wiki featuring Ned Kelly, women's suffrage and the 1956 Olympics PROV has developed a wiki-type website to give researchers the opportunity to provide comments, extra information and their own linkages about and around records held by PROV. Just like the online encyclopaedia Wikipedia, anybody can log into the PROV Wiki, contribute their own information including photos and edit the entries created by others. The first instalments on the PROV Wiki include information contributed by women from all over Victoria responding to the centenary of women's suffrage celebrations. Olympians and people associated with the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games have also started adding all sorts of interesting information and stories about visiting Melbourne to another section of the wiki which is dedicated to the 1956 games. One rower has even confided that he had a romance while at the 1956 Olympics. We are inviting researchers to help us improve the quality of descriptions of photographs in our collection, such as the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games collection, Ned Kelly documents, and Victorian Railways photographs, by making their own contributions to the PROV Wiki.
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The PROV Wiki is proving to be very popular. Add your comments or just read those made by others at http://wiki.prov.vic.gov.au/. We hope that researchers will find the opportunity to contribute their own information, tips and discoveries in the records to help make visits to the PROV website more meaningful and fulfilling.
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13. Highlights from VAC exhibitions and displays in 2008 In the latter half of 2008, PROV's exhibitions and displays attracted large visitor numbers to the Victorian Archives Centre and much interest from notable identities, individuals and local communities. Currach Folk The Great White Fleet On 2 September 2008, John Crowley, the Acting Consul-General of
the United States of America, visited the Victorian Archives Centre
(see image) to view the display of PROV and NAA records commemorating
the centenary of the visit of the Great White Fleet in 1908.
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(From left to right) Ross Latham, Diane Gardiner, Aric Schwan, Justine Heazlewood and Acting Consul-General John Crowley.
(From left to right) Mrs Anne Ó Fainín, His Excellency Mairtín Ó Fainín, Irish Ambassador to Australia and Diane Gardiner. |
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14. Family history competition winners Family historians answered the call to find Victoria's most interesting family history story as part of PROV's Family History Competition. Fifteen entries were received and reviewed. The judge's unanimous decision was to choose Brenda Ryan's delightful account 'A childhood at Nazareth House Ballarat', the reminiscences of Grace Ryan, nee Charlton. Brenda visited the Victorian Archives Centre to accept her prizes which included 2 hours of research with Regional Archivist Lauren Bourke and copies of PROV publications. 'The brick wall comes down' the unravelling of an intriguing family history puzzle by Val Weber was judged a very close second. Val won $20 worth of photocopying at PROV and a copy of Private Lives Public Records. Third place went to Fiona Lane and her interesting biographical tale, 'Annie Convary'. Fiona received a copy of Private Lives Public Records. Congratulations to the winners and a big thank you to all those that entered. Watch out for details of this year's competition in our next issue
and remember to keep it in mind when digging into your ancestors'
past, there may be the makings of an interesting story.
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Family History Competition winner Brenda Ryan (Left) accepts her prizes from Regional Archivist Lauren Bourke. |
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15. Last issue of PROactive The next and final issue of PROactive, Public Record Office Victoria's public access magazine, will be mailed to subscribers in March. This farewell issue of PROactive will be the last PROV will produce as we focus further on developing and enhancing our online resources. If you do not receive PROV's online history and news publications, Provenance and rEsearch, directly to your email, now is the time to subscribe! Provenance is an annually produced journal, which features historical and heritage research essays which draw on records from the PROV collection. rEsearch is a bi-monthly newsletter which provides all the latest news and information on events at PROV and information about our holdings. Subscribe free of charge to rEsearch and/or Provenance
by simply sending a request to ask.prov@prov.vic.gov.au.
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16. New series available on the PROV online catalogue Visit http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/main/newrecords.asp
to view new series that have been added to the online catalogue
'Access the Collection'. The list is updated every two months to
coincide with the publication of rEsearch.
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17. Staff speaking engagements Visit our events calendar at http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/events/calendar/
for a list of upcoming PROV speaking engagements. Book now!
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18. 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.
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19. 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. Back issues of this publication are also available at http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/publications/.
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