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Home
rEsearch >> News from Access Services at Public Record Office
Victoria 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@dpc.vic.gov.au if you want to be included on our subscriber list. Contents 1. Local History Grants Program – Fourth
Round The grants will fund projects that build the capacity of community groups to do project work, and enable them to better support their wider community through collecting and maintaining memories. The current round of funding for the Local History Grants Program will distribute $250,000 worth of grants to community groups throughout Victoria. Applications for grants of up to $12,000 will be considered. Applications close 16 August 2004. Further information, including guidelines and application
forms, are available at the Department for Victorian Communities grants
website www.dvc.vic.gov.au/grants and at the Local History Grants Program
website www.prov.vic.gov.au/lhgp/. 2. VAC Reading Room Opening The new Reading Room opened to the public on 13 April with an official opening on 29 April by Hon. John Thwaites, Deputy Premier and Minister for Victorian Communities. Researchers also welcome the provision of enhanced services such as the increase from two to three record collection times per day. The enhanced collection times are at 11.30am (for orders made by 9.30am), 2.00pm (for orders made by 11.30am) and 3.30pm (for orders made by 2.00pm) from Monday to Friday. Orders of up to 20 items can be made in advance, but it is best to allow two full days for them to be available for collection in the Reading Room. The Reading Room continues to be a joint facility with the National Archives of Australia. This arrangement provides the benefits of access to both state and federal government records in one location. 3. Treasures of the Keeper Exhibition at VAC In addition to these rarely seen treasures a supporting exhibition – keepers of public records – features images and descriptions of PROV staff’s favourite records. PROV staff members have chosen the records that have fascinated and intrigued them as they’ve gone about their work at the state archives. The word ‘archives’ can conjure up images of a rather dull and dusty place, but working every day with the recorded history of this state can be a powerful and moving experience as some of our staff have testified. Tours and seminars inviting a closer look at the Victorian Archives Centre and the PROV collection are currently being planned for the second half of 2004. Watch for more details in the next issue of rEsearch. Treasures of the Keeper will be on display at VAC until the end of October 2004. 4. What Has Been Indexed at PROV To avoid duplication of indexing projects, we would like to know of any index to a PROV series / item for inclusion in our master list. This can be for current or completed projects. Please send details to Shauna Hicks, Manager Access Services at shauna.hicks@dvc.vic.gov.au or contact Shauna on 03 9348 5608. 5. Feedback from the Reading Room To date we have received 24 feedback forms through this forum, with eight of these being congratulatory in relation to the facility and staff. The rest have included suggestions for improvements to the Reading Room or services. All suggestions for improvements are considered and we have already responded to a number of these. We have now: 6. Provenance: A Call for Papers We are seeking articles from people whose primary research sources are PROV records and whose research illuminates the history of Victoria; its people, places, communities, infrastructure and administration of Victorian government. Similarly, the audience is anyone interested in Victorian history and the history of Victorians. There is no provision for payment to authors as Provenance is a free online journal. To express an interest in writing for Provenance, please
contact: 7. PROV User Survey 2003 Feedback (continued)
In the February 2004 edition of rEsearch I reported on the User Survey and this is a continuation of that report. Last time I commented mostly on our strengths and the positive things that we were doing or planning to do. This time I will be looking at our perceived (and real) weaknesses and how we might address these issues. One obvious area is Reading Room opening hours both in North Melbourne and Ballarat. A number of survey respondents suggested extended opening hours or different open days in the case of Ballarat and more Saturday openings in both Reading Rooms. This encompasses budget and staffing resource issues. If we did have one night a week open, would researchers use it? If we closed one weekday a week to resource the extended hours, would researchers be happy? If we had a Saturday opening at Ballarat would researchers use it? It is too soon to tell the impact of the new North Melbourne reading room location on the two Saturday openings a month (usually) but we anticipate that Saturday visitors will increase. The sheer size of the new reading room has meant that staff working on a Saturday have increased from two to four and that is without retrievals on a Saturday. If we opt to do retrievals as some researchers have requested, then at least another two staff would be necessary. It is not hard to see that the overtime budget needs to increase to maintain existing services and more so if we have additional services. Another way that we can approach this is by having more information, indexes, databases and digital records online so that a visit to the reading room is not always necessary. As reported in the April issue of rEsearch we are already going down that path with some of the more frequently used records. Another option that we are currently exploring is a bulk digitisation/microfilming project with the Genealogical Society of Utah. We are exploring copying the three most heavily used series – wills, probates and inquests to 1925 and when the project is finished, those series will also be available through the various Family History Centres located around Australia. If we also digitise the records, then they will be available online. Another weakness commented on by a number of respondents was the fact that our database Archives@Victoria is not overly user friendly and that there is a lack of data content which makes it difficult to order items prior to visiting the reading rooms. As part of the Digital Archive project, a new user interface will be constructed to replace Archives@Victoria and a public user group has been established to ensure that we have user input into the design. This is scheduled for completion in 2005. In conjunction with this, there is also a planned project to input more data content into the system so that the majority of records will be accessible by the time of the new interface. Another identified weakness was that the PROV seminar program is mainly aimed at the Melbourne and Ballarat areas, as that is where our reading rooms are located. While this is true, since my arrival at PROV I have made a point of visiting as many regional Victorian areas as I can and speak about the new directions within Access Services. Also, I have found it very useful to get the regional perspective that is quite different from the metropolitan view of our services. As a Queenslander, I find it hard to think that any place in Victoria is remote as I can drive to most places easily within a day whereas when I went to Mount Isa or Cairns it was a good two day drive with two days to get over it! Last year I visited places including Colac, Yarrawonga, Rosebud, Learmonth, and Ballarat. This year I have been even more adventurous visiting Mildura, Wangaratta, Werribee, and Colbinabbin. Still to come this year are trips to Leongatha, Mordialloc, Echuca, Beechworth and Ballarat (again) plus anything else that might turn up! One of the ideas that I am considering is placing my talks on the website so that those unable to attend any of the events can still see what I had to say. The drawback is that Powerpoint presentations don’t always translate well but where it is an actual written paper that has more possibilities. Another similar weakness is that few respondents know about our travelling exhibition program and we will be doing more to have these exhibitions out and about so that regional Victorians have the opportunity to view them. So if you know of a venue that might be able to showcase one of our exhibitions, please contact our Public Programs section. This section has taken on more of a chatty feel to it than I originally intended but I think it is important for PROV to seek your feedback on these issues. So if any of my words have caused you to think about putting pen to paper or fingers to keyboard, please contact me at shauna.hicks@dvc.vic.gov.au or PROV, PO Box 2100, North Melbourne VIC 3051. 8. Indigenous Records Information Day Emma and Cate staffed a PROV information stall where they spoke to over 50 locals about accessing records in Victoria for Indigenous family history. The information that they were able to provide was useful for a large number of attendees who had family history in NSW and Victoria. A group of elders who have been recording their oral history found the information provided particularly useful for their project. Other organisations involved in the day were the National Archives of Australia Melbourne Regional Office, State Library NSW, Department of Aboriginal Affairs NSW, Wagga Wagga City Library and the Australian Institute of Aboriginal & Torres Straight Islander Studies. The cooperation between all these organisations makes accessing records in both states easier for indigenous people. For further information on the Victorian Koorie Records Task Force, visit www.prov.vic.gov.au/vkrt 9. Student Work Placements at PROV One student, Dr Caitlin Stone, is researching the various failed attempts to establish a Native Police Corps in Victoria in the mid nineteenth-century. Caitlin’s work will provide material for an online exhibition, planned for 2005. Cassie O’Bryan is compiling an index of references to Aboriginal people in VPRS 16 Outward Registered Correspondence of the Superintendent, Port Phillip District (VA 473). Cassie’s research will complement PROV volunteer Jack McRae’s index of the Superintendent’s inward correspondence (VPRS 10). Look out for articles by Caitlin and Cassie in the next issue of PROactive. 10. Volunteers News Only six volunteers withdrew from the volunteer program when we moved to the VAC, which is an outstanding result, mainly due to the considerable effort and seamless planning of Access Services staff and the volunteers themselves with the relocation. 11. Ballarat Archives Centre News The seminars are always a good way for people to obtain
an understanding of how the Melbourne and Ballarat facilities operate
and relate to each other. A lot of work in the Ballarat district (or for
that matter, any local area) can actually be done in Melbourne using general
records such as births, deaths and marriages or records created centrally
by agencies such as the Education and Crown Lands and Survey Departments.
What is unique to Ballarat, however, are original records generated by
local bodies such as courts, municipalities and agencies responsible for
mining administration. The Ballarat Reading Room is often busy. There are often local groups working on joint projects using the local original records – the Genealogical Society is indexing the Ballarat East Petty Sessions Registers, and members from the Friends of the Botanical Gardens are working through Council correspondence to glean information about the gardens and the statues which are a feature of Ballarat. We also have a steady stream of family history researchers, including some overseas and interstate visitors. Ballarat Archives Centre is open on Mondays and Tuesdays 9.30am-4.30pm, and staff are always happy to take phone calls about our holdings. 12. PROV Seminar Series July – November Program
Now Available The PROV Seminar Series July – November is an extended program that covers a range of topics. ‘Online Indexes and Registers’ and ‘Digitised Records’ are new introductory seminars which encourage participants to find out about resources and records available to them in electronic formats. Other seminars include family history research, immigration records and land indexes and registers. For the first time, the program is also featuring a number of weekend seminars to be held on some of the Saturdays that the Reading Room is open. Full details may be obtained from the Seminar Series July- November brochures (including a booking form) at PROV Reading Rooms or via the PROV website http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/events/patrn.asp 13. Archival Support Program July – November
Program Now Available The new Archival Support Program brochure for July – November is now available and features events including the upcoming ‘Introduction to Archives’ to be held at Wodonga on Saturday 7 August. This event will cover current methods of setting up and managing archives including collection policies and the arrangement, description and cataloguing of records. Practical and legal issues involved in providing public access to records will also be covered. Later on in the year, ‘Computers and Small Archives’ will be held at the Victorian Archives Centre on Saturday 20 November. Participants will find out about the computer databases and software that can assist in managing and improving access to small archives. Practical and technical issues that involve accessing electronic records, such as protecting and preserving data will also be covered. Bookings are essential and group bookings are welcome. Brochures (including a registration form) can be obtained from PROV reading rooms or can be found via the PROV website http://www.prov.vic.gov.au/events/patrn.asp 14. PROactive - Subscribe Now! 15. Saturday openings June – August 2004 16. PROV Calendar June - August 2004 August 17. Feedback 18. About this publication ISSN 1449-0331
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