is there life after lecturing? academics, administrators ... · is there life after lecturing?...

CSU REGIONAL ARCHIVES OFFICE OF THE DVC (RESEARCH)

Is There Life After Lecturing? Academics, Administrators,

Archivists

Edward Reid-Smith & Wayne Doubleday 24th September 2014


Is There Life After Lecturing? Academics, Administrators, Archivists

School of Information Studies Seminar 24th September 2014

1. Introduction

2. CSU Regional Archives (CSURA)

3. Academics

4. Administrators

5. Archivists 6. Analysis of CSURA holdings

7. Digital strategy moving forward


CSU Regional Archives – ‘Blakemore Building’ – South Campus – Wagga Wagga


CSU Regional Archives (CSURA) - CSURA is a combined function regional repository servicing Charles Sturt University, a designated regional repository for State Records NSW in the Riverina & Murray regions and a collecting archive for private and non-government archives and manuscripts from the aforementioned regions. - Established in 1973 as the Riverina Special Collection within the Riverina College of Advanced Education Library, and established autonomously in 1978. - CSURA is the largest archival repository in regional Australia, and the third largest University Archives in Australia. - Total holdings now extend to approximately 4,500 linear meters, with a building capacity of around 5,500 linear metres.


Staffing - Four permanent professional staff (two archivists, a librarian and an art curator).

Opening hours - 9.00am to 5.00pm, Monday – Friday. - 10.00am to 3.00pm, first Saturday of every month.

Services:

- No charge to use available resources. - No need to make an appointment. - Research service available at an hourly rate for those users unable to visit in person.


CSURA collecting categories:

1. University records (including precursor institutions). 2. State archives (semi-active and inactive records created by local and regional offices of state government agencies in the Riverina & Murray regions). 3. Private and non-government archives and manuscripts.


University records - Including the archives and records of the precursor institutions of CSU dating back to 1892.

- Two Experiment Farms; Two Agricultural Colleges; Three Teachers Colleges; Four Colleges of Advanced Education; and one Institute of Higher Education.

- We collect those records identified as being required for permanent retention including Committee records, early non-electronic student records, personnel & staff files, annual reports, graduation programmes, handbooks and calendars, photographs, maps and plans, trophies etc.

- To determine which records are required to be kept staff utilise Government Disposal Authorities (GDA). GDA23 is designed specifically for University records.


State Archives

- CSURA is the approved regional repository for the Riverina & Murray regions to collect semi-active and inactive records created by local and regional offices of state government agencies.

- These include; Local, District, Coronial & Licensing Court Houses; Department of Agriculture; Department of Education; Department of Health; Department of Public Works; Department of Mines; Water Resources Commissions; Valuer-General’s Office; Department of Lands; and Police Stations.


Regional records and private manuscripts - private papers and non-government records from: local and regional businesses; academics, artists, researchers and writers; artistic, cultural and community organisations; agricultural, employer, labour and professional agencies; religious agencies; educational agencies; politicians and political parties; medical agencies; stations and properties; interest and pressure groups; media agencies; sport, leisure and recreational associations; families and individuals.


The NSW Regional Repositories Network

- Operates under the auspices of State Records NSW.

- Network comprises of six regional repositories located throughout NSW:

- Broken Hill City Library (‘Outback Archives’)

- University of New England Regional Archives (Armidale)

- University of Wollongong Archives

- University of Newcastle Archives

- Newcastle Region Library

- Charles Sturt University Regional Archives (Wagga Wagga)


Source: State Records New South Wales [www.records.nsw.gov.au]


“The evil that men do lives after them; the good is oft interred with their bones.” (Shakespeare, Julius

Caesar, 3:ii)

IS THERE LIFE AFTER LECTURING?


Academics RCAE -- arrival in Australia 16 April 1974. (2005 private pamphlet). Accommodation: surgery, mortuary. My task: two months to produce submission. Paper trail: survey, correspondence,

liaison with other lecturers. Committees: SBLS, RCAE, NSW BAE,

Federal.


Administrators Academics have administrative tasks. Administrators do not have lecturing tasks. Record keeping tends to be by

administrators. Sydney University Archives (Adult

Education): mainly administrative. Universities’ central function is “Education”.


Archivists

Custodians of parts of our lives: partial immortality?

CSU Archives de facto extend to the

professional lives of lecturing staff scattered through paper and digital records, as a by-product.


SIS and Archives relationship Archives & Records as electives (UG / PG). Keith Swan and Tubbo Station records. Digby Hartridge. Evening adult education classes 1970s-

1980s.


Records deposited by ER-S This is a “biased” personal talk. Warwickshire County Record Office. CSU Archives (initially no policy). Both personal (family) and university

records. Broadly sorted in boxes, more to be done. Personal LIS (e.g. Norman Horrocks). Photographs (in progress).


Early SIS Records 1970s still paper-based. Limited ‘phone access. Very limited computer access. Correspondence (students, librarians). RCAE Committees (including non-SIS). Visitors book. Printout of PG dissertations (3 survive).


Other LIS activities LAA Riverina Regional Group. LAA RRG Newsletter. LAA NSW Branch Committee. Publications: Hartridge, Howes, ER-S.


Why bother? Historiography. Theses by PG students of CSU. Research on LIS by others. Awareness of CSU Archives as one source.


CSURA Policy Mission: To operate as a combined function regional repository, managing archival holdings in the interests of: 1. Corporate accountability, administration and memory

2. Research, teaching and learning

3. Outreach to the University’s regional communities

Functions include: To promote academic and professional research use of archival holdings


Analysis of CSURA holdings Included: - Academic usage of collections housed at CSURA;

- The number of collections deposited by Academic staff over time; and - Breakdown of the number of collections deposited at CSURA by

Administrators vs Academics.


0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

1996 1998 2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014

Perc

enta

ge

Year

Percentage of Academic Usage at CSURA 1998-2013


0

2

4

6

8

10

12

14

16

18

20

1979 1984 1989 1994 1999 2004 2009 2014

Num

ber o

f col

lect

ions

Year

Number of collections deposited by Academic staff each year at CSURA


Administrator 84%

Academic 16%

Administrator/Administrative vs Academic deposits at CSURA

Note: This analysis is based on the number of collections/accessions not quantities of archival material.


What next? - Keep academic usage of the collections at CSURA as high as possible. - Attract more academic deposits and collections ... easier said than done!

- Hardcopy vs digital misconceptions.

- Development of a digital strategy for CSURA utilising: a. TRIM b. Intersect storage facility


CHARLES STURT UNIVERSITY REGIONAL

ARCHIVES

www.csu.edu.au/research/archives

[email protected] Phone: 02 6933 4590

http://www.csu.edu.au/research/archives

mailto:[email protected]

is there life after lecturing? academics, administrators ... · is there life after lecturing?...

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