Deadline 2025: AIATSIS and the audiovisual archive

ABSTRACT

The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS), Australia’s archival repository for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage, is the nation’s peak body for collecting, recording, archiving and returning Indigenous-related knowledge and information. Since 1964 AIATSIS has amassed the world’s largest collection of print, audio and film materials on Australian First Nations peoples. This paper canvasses the Deadline 2025 campaign for audiovisual collections at risk and the complexities of preserving audiovisual archives. It argues that while the Plan’s institutional focus is essential, equally essential is institutional leadership in establishing integration with community-held archives, supported by appropriately resourced and skilled community-based partnerships.

KEYWORDS:

• AIATSIS
• digitisation
• archives
• audiovisual preservation
• community collections

Acknowledgements

Firstly, I would like to acknowledge and honour the tireless work of Mr Tom Eccles of AIATSIS audiovisual archive for his input and his many years of dedication to the preservation, digitisation and community access to the AIATSIS audiovisual collection. I acknowledge KALACC board and staff, Thamarrurr Development Corporation staff and Wadeye community. Acknowledgement is also due to Daniel Featherstone of First Nations Media, Australia for his support of the Indigenous media sector in the preservation of community audiovisual archives; AIATSIS board and staff including CEO Craig Ritchie, Lyndall Lye, Gerald Preiss and Russell Taylor (AIATSIS Principal); and Tasha James (Manager, Indigenous Connections, National Film and Sound Archive). Thank you to Dr Dino Hodge for his constructive input and many thanks to the reviewers for their considered comments. Lastly to Dr Katrina Dean, General Editor, Archives & Manuscripts, for bringing together this very special edition on Information Technology and Indigenous Peoples.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies, ‘Australian Institute of Aboriginal Studies’, Aboriginal and Islander Identity, vol. 3, no. 6, 1978, pp. 37–40.

2. AIATSIS, ‘Our History’, available at <https://aiatsis.gov.au/about-us/our-history>, accessed 1 November 2018.

3. AIATSIS, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies: Annual Report 2011–2012, AIATSIS, Canberra, 2012.

4. M Christie, ‘Computer Databases and Aboriginal Knowledge’, Learning Communities: International Journal of Learning in Social Contexts, vol. 1, 2004, pp. 4–12.

5. K Shilton and R Srinivasan, ‘Participatory Appraisal and Arrangement for Multicultural Archival Collections’, Archivaria, vol. 63, Spring 2007, pp. 87–102.

6. ACIL Allen Consulting, M Rose and M McMillan, Final Report to the Department of Education. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Independent Review, ACIL Allen Consulting, Canberra, 2014, p. 56; and, more recent figures supplied by Tom Eccles, Senior Technical Manager of the Moving Images section, AIATSIS.

7. Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies: Annual Report 2016–2017, AIATSIS, Canberra, 2017, p. 22.

8. AIATSIS, ‘Our History’.

9. ACIL, Rose and McMillan, p. 57.

10. AIATSIS, Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies: Corporate Plan for 2018–2022, AIATSIS, Canberra, 2018.

11. See <https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2016A00006>.

12. UNESCO, ‘World Day for Audiovisual Heritage’, 2015, available at <http://www.unesco.org/new/en/communication-and-information/access-to-knowledge/archives/world-day-for-audiovisual-heritage/>, accessed 5 June 2015.

13. J Wengström, ‘Access to Film Heritage in the Digital Era – Challenges and Opportunities’, Nordisk kulturpolitisk tidsskrift, vol. 16, no. 1, 2013, pp. 125–36.

14. AIATSIS, ‘Collection Development and Management’, in Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies: Annual Report 2008–2009, AIATSIS, Canberra, 2009, pp. 35–44.

15. ibid.

16. L Ormond-Parker, M Langton, S Heubner, J Coleman, C Pearson, R Sloggett, R Nordlinger, K Smith and K Clarke, When Magnets Collide: Digital Preservation and Access of At-Risk Audiovisual Archives in a Remote Aboriginal Community, Melbourne Networked Society Institute, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Australia, 2015.

17. R Wright, ‘Technology Watch Report 12–01: Preserving Moving Pictures and Sound’, Technology Watch Series, Great Britain, Digital Preservation Coalition in association with Charles Beagrie Ltd., March 2012, pp. 1–37, available at <https://www.dpconline.org/docs/technology-watch-reports/753-dpctw12-01-pdf/file>

18. Wengström.

19. K Bradley, ‘Defining Digital Sustainability’, Library Trends, vol. 56, no. 1, Summer 2007, pp. 148–63.

20. Australian Government, Closing the Gap: National Partnership Agreement on Remote Indigenous Public Internet Access Implementation Report 2011–12 Northern Territory as at 30 June 2012, Australian Government, Canberra, 2012.

21. Commonwealth of Australia, ‘Indigenous Radio and Television’, 2017, available at <http://www.australia.gov.au/about-australia/australian-story/indigenous-radio-and-television>, accessed 11 December 2017.

22. J Lanagan and A Smeaton, ‘Video Digital Libraries: Contributive and Decentralised’, International Journal on Digital Libraries, vol. 12, no. 4, 2012, pp. 159–78.

23. R Stroud, ‘Hunter-Gathering in the Digital World to Build a Keeping Place for the Future’, The Electronic Library, vol. 27, no. 5, 2009, pp. 856–62.

24. L Ormond-Parker and R Sloggett, ‘Local Archives and Community Collecting in the Digital Age’, Archival Science, vol. 12, no. 2, 2012, pp. 191–212.

25. I Kral, Plugged in: Remote Australian Indigenous Youth and Digital Culture, Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research, Australian National University, Canberra, 2010, p. 9.

26. N Stevens, Review of Australian Government Investment in the Indigenous Broadcasting and Media Sector, Office for the Arts, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Canberra, 2010.

27. Productivity Commission, Broadcasting: Report no. 11, AusInfo, Canberra, 2000; Task Force on Aboriginal and Islander Broadcasting and Communications, Out of the Silent Land: Report of the Task Force on Aboriginal and Islander Broadcasting and Communications, Department of Aboriginal Affairs, Australian Government Publishing Service, Canberra, 1984.

28. Office of the Arts, Arts and Culture Development, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet Annual Report 2010–2011, Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet, Canberra, 2011, pp. 100–6 and 112–13.

29. Wengström; M Meadows and K Foxwell, ‘Community Broadcasting and Mental Health: The Role of Local Radio and Television in Enhancing Emotional and Social Wellbeing’, The Radio Journal: International Studies in Broadcast & Audio Media, vol. 9, no. 2, 2011, pp. 89–106; Lanagan and Smeaton; Ormond-Parker and Sloggett.

30. AIATSIS, Keeping Your History Alive: How to Establish and Maintain an Audiovisual Archive, AIATSIS, Canberra, 2006, p. 83.

31. AJ Copeland and D Barreau, ‘Helping People to Manage and Share Their Digital Information: A Role for Public Libraries’, Library Trends, vol. 59, no. 4, 2011, pp. 637–49.

32. First Nations Media Australia, ‘Archiving Project: A Strategy for Culturally Important First Nations Media Collections’, available at <https://firstnationsmedia.org.au/projects/archiving-project>, accessed 11 December 2017.

33. A Agrawal, ‘Dismantling the Divide between Indigenous and Scientific Knowledge’, Development and Change, vol. 26, no. 3, July 1995, p. 413.

34. Stevens.

35. S McQuire, ‘Photography’s Afterlife: Documentary Images and the Operational Archive’, Journal of Material Culture, vol. 18, no. 3, 2013, pp. 223–41.

36. R Boast, M Bravo and R Srinivasan, ‘Return to Babel: Emergent Diversity, Digital Resources, and Local Knowledge’, Information Society, vol. 23, no. 5, 2007, pp. 395–403.

37. Bradley.

38. KF Gracy and MB Kahn, ‘Preservation in the Digital Age: A Review of Preservation Literature 2009–10’, Library Resources and Technical Services, vol. 56, no. 1, 2012, pp. 25–44.

39. A Smith, National Cultural Policy Discussion Paper: Submission from National & State Libraries Australasia, National & State Libraries Australasia, Melbourne, 2011, p. 10.

40. Bradley.

41. ibid.

42. G Chowdhury, ‘Sustainability of Digital Libraries: A Conceptual Model and a Research Framework’, International Journal on Digital Libraries, vol. 14, nos. 3/4, 2014, pp. 181–95.

43. L Ormond-Parker, A O’Donnell, M Cuthbertson and O Slifierz, Report: Collection Documentation and Preservation Needs Assessment for the Kimberley Aboriginal Law and Cultural Centre, Fitzroy Crossing, Western Australia, Indigenous Studies Unit, The University of Melbourne, Melbourne, forthcoming.

44. ibid.

45. ibid.

46. UNESCO.

47. National Film and Sound Archive, Deadline 2025: Collections at Risk, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Canberra, August 2017, p. 3.

48. National Film and Sound Archive, Digitisation Strategy 2018–2025, National Film and Sound Archive of Australia, Canberra, c.2017, p. 7, available at <https://www.nfsa.gov.au/footer/corporate-information/publications/digitisation-strategy>, accessed 18 December 2018.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous Grants [IN130100007] and [IN180100014].

Notes on contributors

Lyndon Ormond-Parker

Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker is the recipient of an Australian Research Council Discovery Indigenous Fellowship [Project Number IN180100014] and funded by the Australian Government. The views expressed herein are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Australian Government or Australian Research Council.