Tuesday was an eventful day for the National Archives. As well as the planned Shake Your Family Tree Day in all our offices, there was welcome news from our Minister Senator Ludwig’s office that the National Archives would maintain face-to-face services in Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart.
Immediately following the announcement in early November 2009, I began meeting with our Consultative Forums and concerned local organisations to explain what was happening and to develop a collaborative approach to the ongoing delivery of the National Archives’ services. I have only praise for their understanding and assistance. That assistance will be required even more now that we have the Minister’s announcement about the way forward.
One of the solutions looked at was the co-location model already in place in Melbourne with Public Record Office Victoria. Senator Ludwig acknowledged the successful working of this approach in his media release on Tuesday. I am pleased that this approach is the focus of his announcement. As some of you will know I was involved in the introduction of the ‘Victorian model’ when I was at the Public Record Office.
Over the past few months I have also received correspondence from people concerned about the closures. I would like to thank those of you who took the time to contact me and to suggest possible alternative solutions. I look forward to continue working with you as we develop a new co-location approach to providing National Archives’ services in Adelaide, Darwin and Hobart.
Every National Archives’ office around Australia was bustling with activity on Shake Your Family Tree Day. With more than 1500 visitors to the Archives’ offices, some surprising and engaging stories emerged.
At the National Archives in Melbourne, one visitor brought in two large maps and a booklet from World War I that belonged to one of his ancestors. The maps showed, among other historical points of interest, the actual positions of trenches. He was very keen to have the maps flattened and repaired as they had been folded for considerable time, which had resulted in some damage. The conservators were more than happy to advise him in this regard.
National Archives conservators were also surprised to be shown letters from one woman’s grandparents who had been interned in a prisoner of war camp. The letters were intact and still in their envelopes. Staff at the conservation clinic were able to advise the best storage method for the letters.
At the National Archives in Canberra, I was delighted to meet cooking legend Margaret Fulton, who was making her second appearance at the Archives, this time to launch our latest publication, Keeping Family Treasures. In this book our highly trained conservators share their expertise with well-known Australians including Margaret Fulton, ABC Collectors host Andy Muirhead, Australian Idol runner-up Hayley Jensen, and historian and actor Alice Garner. Among their ‘treasures’ were a travel trunk, tailoring shears, photos, notebooks and a scrapbook.
If you would like to find out more about preserving your family treasures, Keeping Family Treasures is available for purchase from the National Archives’ shop, or you can visit preserving your family archives online.
Until next time,
Ross
Ross Gibbs
Director-General
National Archives of Australia
Read previous messages from the Director-General.