Tag: Australian Society of Archivsits

Nominations now open for the 29th Mander Jones Awards – Publications

The Mander Jones Awards Committee is pleased to announce that the call for nominations for the 29th annual Mander Jones Awards – Publications is now open!

These awards recognise excellence in publications relating to archives and recordkeeping. They are named in honour of Phyllis Mander Jones, a founding member of the Archives Section of the Library Association of Australia (later the ASA) and co-editor of the first issue of Archives & Manuscripts. 

Works published in 2024 are eligible for nomination. 

Nominations close Friday 6 June 2025.

How do I nominate?

You can submit your nomination(s) (electronic and hard copy) via our online nomination form in our new applications portal. You will need to create an account to nominate. You can save your progress and return at a later date to complete your nomination. You can also access and view any completed submissions. 

A copy of any nominated hard copy publication must be sent to the Mander Jones Award Committee and postmarked prior to the nomination deadline. You can find full details on how to send hard copy nominations on our website and within the online nomination form. 

You can find full details about nominating for the 29th Mander Jones Award – Publications on our website. 

Questions?

If you have any queries about the Mander Jones Awards, please contact Louise Trott, the Mander Jones Award Secretary.

If you have any questions about the online nomination form or submitting your online nomination, please contact the ASA Office.

CFP: Australian Society of Archivist Conference

The Call for Papers is now open and will close on:

  • AEST: 9:00 am on Monday 28 April 2025
  • AWST: 7:00 am on Monday 28 April 2025
  • ACDT: 8:30 am on Monday 28 April 2025
  • NZDT: 11:00 am on Monday 28 April 2025

How to Submit

  1. Read the information below regarding the theme and proposal types.
  2. Click on the Submit Your Proposal button below to create an account and follow the instructions to submit your abstract. Abstracts should be no longer than 300 words.
  3. If you have any technical issues accessing the portal or submitting your proposal, please contact us.
  4. If you have questions about the theme or your proposal in general, please contact the Program Chair.

SUBMIT YOUR PROPOSAL

Theme

The purpose of archives is often explained as being for the benefit of societal memory. As the International Council on Archives’ Universal Declaration on Archives states; they are authoritative sources of information which play an essential role in the development of societies by safeguarding and contributing to individual and community memory and that open access to archives enriches our knowledge of human society, promotes democracy, protects citizens’ rights, and enhances the quality of life.

What has been the societal impact of archives and archival practice over the past 50 years? How is this changing over time? How should it be changing?

The conference aims to bring together a wide range of perspectives and stories on our profession and practice by showcasing what archives mean to communities, institutions and individuals. It is also a space to explore where we have been, are, and want to develop as a sector.

Call for Papers

The Australian Society of Archivists is excited to invite your proposals for contributions to our upcoming conference “Telling Our Stories: Community, Connection, Resilience”, to be held 10-12 November 2025 in Warrane/Warrang/Sydney.

We invite you to share your experiences, reflections and research by ‘telling our stories’ from and about the archives by submitting a brief proposal of no more than 300 words.

Topics could include, but are not limited to:

  • Archival history
  • Community and school archives
  • Impact of technology on archives
  • Digital accessibility
  • Access to and repatriation of displaced archives
  • Privacy and ethical considerations
  • Cultural considerations
  • Audiences: who is missing?
  • Social responsibility
  • Reparative description, Indigenous self-determination
  • Teaching with archives
  • Community outreach and access
  • Archival education
  • Using technology to improve engagement
  • Impact of digital transformation on archival concepts
  • Artificial intelligence and machine learning
  • Big data

We encourage submissions from all who engage with archives: students, new professionals, experienced archivists and recordkeepers, information professionals, academics, researchers, artists, and community members.

Conference Audience

Your audience will mainly be archivists, records and information professionals from small, medium and large organisations in government, private and community sector organisations. It will also include students, academics, educators and researchers.

The conference will be face to face, however it should be noted that sessions will be recorded for on-demand viewing. This should be considered when developing your abstract and any subsequent presentations.

Proposal Types

All presentations will be presented on location and in-person:

  • Posters
    • presentation of research, project, idea, or other type of work in a paper poster
    • presenters will be required to present during the poster session in order to answer questions and further explain their poster
    • we specifically invite students to use this category
    • posters will need to be printed
  • Project show and tells (10 minutes)
    • strictly limited to 10 minutes per talk (all speakers combined), including questions
    • short, less formal presentations to share information about in-progress or completed projects
    • provide opportunities to share project status and potentially engage and network with other delegates interested with relevant expertise
    • speakers may use slides to enhance their talk
  • Lightning talks (10 minutes)
    • strictly limited to 10 minutes per talk (all speakers combined), including questions
    • short, less formal presentations to share information about ideas and research and connect with other delegates
    • speakers may use slides to enhance their talk
  • Individual papers (30 minutes)
    • comprise one or more speakers presenting on a topic for a maximum of 30 minutes
    • presentations should last 20 minutes to allow at least 5 minutes for questions
    • papers will be grouped to form 90 minute sessions around a common theme
  • Interactive presentations (30-60 minutes)
    • comprise one or more speakers
    • an interactive presentation designed to engage the audience in active discussion
  • Panels (90 minutes)
    • comprise 3 to 5 speakers who together present on a topic for 90 minutes
    • panels have options in how they use the time available, potentially giving each panellist a set time to speak and allowing time for questions during or at the end of the panel session
    • panellists may use slides to illustrate or enhance their contribution to the panel
  • Workshops half-day or full day, to be held on day before or after the conference
    • hands-on sessions designed to involve participants in practical activities
    • limited capacity per workshop (please note maximum capacity requirements in the submission).

Call for Expressions of Interest for a new Judge – Mander Jones Awards

Do you love reading? Would you like to read and assess the latest archival publications?

Consider becoming a Mander Jones Awards judge! This is your chance to play a vital role in the ASA’s efforts to encourage, promote, and recognise excellence in archival publications.

Since 1996 the ASA has been awarding the Mander Jones Awards for publications in the field of archives and recordkeeping.

The Awards are judged by a team of three judges, which reports its recommendations to the ASA Council. The 2024 judges were Sarah Lethbridge, Christine Yeats, and Sarah Brown.

In 2025 Christine Yeats and Sarah Brown are continuing in this role, and Sarah Lethbridge has stepped down. The ASA Council is grateful to Sarah L for her service to the Awards and is now seeking a new Judge.

Eligible candidates must be an ASA Accredited Profession (ASAAP) and should have:

  • substantial experience as a practising Archivist
  • a relatively wide acquaintance with Australian recordkeeping and archival literature

Judges need to commit an estimated 15-20 hours per week from mid-March to the end of July each year (depending upon the timing of the ASA Conference), to read and assess the nominated works, prepare judges reports, liaise with other judges, and develop citations for winning nominations.

We particularly encourage archivists working in the small archive sector to apply.

Please address Expressions of Interest and any questions to the Mander Jones Awards
Secretary, Dr Louise Trott: by 12 March 2025. 

You can learn more about the Mander Jones Awards here.

Call for Nominations: Mander Jones Award

The Mander Jones Awards Committee is pleased to announce that the call for nominations for the 27th annual Mander Jones Awards – Publications are now open!

These awards recognise excellence in publications relating to archives and recordkeeping. They are named in honour of Phyllis Mander Jones, a founding member of the Archives Section of the Library Association of Australia (later the ASA) and co-editor of the first issue of Archives & Manuscripts. 

Works published in 2022 are eligible for nomination. There are eight award categories open for nomination.

Nominations close Wednesday 5 April 2023.

See the full call for more information.

Archives & Manuscripts Survey

We currently publish three issues of Archives & Manuscripts annually, and access to the journal is included in Corporate A, B (standard) and Individual memberships. The journal has been published continuously since 1955, and the ASA is committed to continuing to publish work by academic and professional authors through Archives & Manuscripts.

This survey aims to measure member and reader satisfaction with Archives & Manuscripts as we look to the future in a volatile and fast-changing time for academic publishing.

Your response to this survey is anonymous, and any identifying information will be removed for reporting purposes.

The survey will be open until Wednesday 18 November 2020.

Take the survey.

Archives & Manuscripts Publication Award Winners

Sigrid McCausland Emerging Writers Award

We are pleased to announce the 2019 recipients of the Archives & Manuscripts Sigrid McCausland Emerging Writers Award. The award recognises the work of emerging writers who have published an article in the journal. Each year the members of Archives & Manuscripts Editorial Board decide the winner of this award, which features a $1000 cash payment.

Congratulations to the 2019 recipients of the Archives & Manuscripts Sigrid McCausland Emerging Writers Award – Sharon Huebner and Stella Marr for their article ‘Between Policy and Practice: Archival Descriptions, Digital Returns and a place for coalescing narratives’ published in Volume 47, Number 1.

Citation:

This is a very powerful article that uses the instance of the Strathfieldsaye Estate collection at the University of Melbourne Archives as a way of opening out questions of how mainstream archiving practice can productively engage with Indigenous epistemologies. It shows how shared custodianship of cultural heritage can provide new ways to understand the meaning and significance of materials that have previously only been understood within the colonial historical record. This article contributes to important and timely debates around decolonising the archive and the politics of ownership. It also shows how critical heritage materials are to healing, to community and to cultural activism.

Mander Jones Award

Congratulations to the 2019 Mander Jones Award recipients who were presented with an Award or Commendation certificate and Judges’ Comments at the Mander Jones Awards ceremony, held after the Annual General Meeting on 18 September 2020 in the Dixson Room, State Library of New South Wales.

Award Recipients

Category 1A:  (Not awarded)

Category 1B:   Kirsten Thorpe, ‘Transformative Praxis – Building Spaces for Indigenous Self-Determination in Libraries and Archives’, in In The Library With The Lead Pipe.

Category 2A: Clive Smith, Port Macquarie’s Last Convicts: the end of the convict establishment at Port Macquarie as told by the original documents

Category 2B: Cate O’Neill, ‘The shifting significance of child endowment records at the National Archives of Australia’, in Archival Science, Vol 19, issue 3, 2019, pp. 235-253

Category 3: Terry Kass, ‘Unlocking land: A guide to Crown Land Records held at State Archives NSW’

Category 4: Iain Wallace & Sandra Funnell, ‘Fort Street Tours App’

Category 5: Kirsten Wright, ‘Archival Interventions and the language we use’, in Archival Science Vol. 19, No. 4 (December 2019, published online May 2019), pp. 331-348

Category 6: Gregory Rolan, Joanne Evans, Rhiannon Abeling, Aedan Brittain, Elizabeth Constable, Matthew Kelemen, & Ella Roberts, ‘Voice, agency and equity: deep community collaboration in record-keeping research’ in Information Research, Vol. 24 , No. 3, 2019

Category 7: (Not awarded)

Category 8: Vanessa Finney, ‘Capturing Nature: Early Scientific Photography at the Australian Museum 1857-1893’

Commendation Recipients

Category 2B Joint: Tony James Brady, ‘The Empire has an Answer: The Empire Air Training Scheme as reported in the Australian Press 1939-1945’

Category 2B Joint: Tiffany Shellam, ‘Meeting the Waylo: Aboriginal encounters in the archipelago’

Category 3: Narrelle Morris, ‘Japanese war crimes in the Pacific: Australia’s investigations and prosecutions’

Category 5: Joanne Evans, Sue McKemmish, and Gregory Rolan, ‘Participatory information governance: Transforming recordkeeping for childhood out-of-home Care’ in Records Management Journal, Vol. 29, No. 1/2, 2019, pp. 178-193

Category 6: Evanthia Samaras and Andrew Johnston, ‘Off-Lining to Tape Is Not Archiving: Why We Need Real Archiving to Support Media Archaeology and Ensure Our Visual Effects Legacy Thrives’ in Leonardo, Vol. 52, No. 4, 2019, pp. 374-380

Visit the Mander Jones Awards Recipients page to read the judges comments for each award.

New Research and Education Special Interest Group, Australian Society of Archivists

10 Aug 2020

ASA Council has approved the formation of a new Research and Education Special Interest Group, or REDSIG.

Many researchers and educators in fields such as archives, archival science, records management, digital preservation, conservation, and related disciplines (referred to here as ‘archival research and education’) work in the university, training, and consultancy sectors, as well as in dedicated archival institutions. Though these members of the ASA and their colleagues have many shared issues and concerns (e.g. accreditation, changing university fee structures, student access, proposed changes to research funding models, the need to develop links between theory and practice) their interests are not currently represented by an existing ASA SIG.

The draft objectives of REDSIG are as follows:

  1. To develop Australia’s research capacity and capability with regard to archives, archival science, records management, and digital preservation, and promote the rich legacy of Australian archival research and archival theory.
  2. To advocate on behalf of researchers and educators to government, educational institutions, unions, employers, and the Society with regard to issues which affect archival research and education in Australia.
  3. To foster relationships and collaborations which create and invigorate connections between archival theory and practice in Australia.
  4. To assist with the diversification of Australia’s archival profession, through the pursuit of equity of access to archival education and improved diversity and representativeness in research.
  5. To advise the Society on matters related to research and education, including accreditation standards and advocacy issues.
  6. To provide opportunities for researchers and educators to discuss matters of mutual concern and to study the problems and needs of Australian archival researchers and educators, including publishing or otherwise promulgating the results of such studies.
  7. To provide a local organisational structure through which to develop further engagement with international groups such as the Archival Education and Research Initiative (AERI) and the International Council on Archives Section for Archival Education and Training (ICA-SAE).

The rules of the SIG, including these objectives, will be confirmed at an inaugural REDSIG AGM in September, at which time a Convenor and Secretary will also be elected. In the meantime, Dr Mike Jones will act in these roles for the purposes of setting up the AGM and corresponding with prospective members.

To join the REDSIG:

  • go to My Memberships in the Member Centre
  • select the Update Details tab
  • select REDSIG from the list of available Special Interest Groups.

If you have any questions regarding the new group please contact Mike via email here.

Mander Jones Awards Judging Committee: Call for Expressions of Interest for a new Judge

for members of the Australian Society of Archivists:

Since 1996 the ASA has been awarding the Mander Jones Awards for publications in the field of archives and recordkeeping.

The Awards are judged by a team of three which reports its recommendations to the Council. The 2019 Judges were Peter Crush, Prue Heath, and Catherine Robinson.

In 2020 Peter Crush and Catherine Robinson are continuing in this role, and Prue Heath has stepped down for 2020. The Council is grateful to Prue for her service to the Awards, and is now seeking a new Judge for 2020.

Eligible candidates must be an ASA Member* and should have:

  • substantial experience as a practising Archivist; and
  • a relatively wide acquaintance with Australian recordkeeping and archival literature.

Judges need to commit to 15-20 hours per week from mid-March to the end of July each year, to read and assess the nominated works, prepare judges’ reports, liaise with other judges, and develop citations for winning nominations.

We particularly encourage archivists working in the small archive sector to apply.

Please address Expressions of Interest and any questions to the Mander Jones Awards Secretary, Dr Louise Trott via email by 28 February 2020.

* Note the ASA Council will consider applications from all ASA members who can demonstrate relevant experience and knowledge.

Publications Awards Announced: Australian Society of Archivists

2018 Archives & Manuscripts Emerging Writers Award announced

22 Oct 2019

Congratulations to the 2018 recipient of the Archives & Manuscripts Sigrid McCausland Emerging Writers Award – Hannah Ishmael. The award recognises the work of emerging writers who have published an article in the journal. Each year the members of Archives & Manuscripts Editorial Board decide the winner of this award, which features a $1000 cash payment.

  • 2018 – Volume 46, Number 3, November 2018 – Hannah Ishmael, ‘Reclaiming history: Arthur Schomburg’.

2018 Publications Mander Jones Awards Recipients Announced

22 Oct 2019

Congratulations to the 2018 Mander Jones Award recipients who were presented with an Award or Commendation certificate and Judges’ Comments at the Welcome Reception.

Recipients

Category 1B: Maryanne Dever, Archives and New Modes of Feminist Research

Category 2A: World War 1 Writers Group, Ku-ring-gai Historical Society Inc., Rallying the Troops: A World War 1 Commemoration (Volume IV)

Category 2B: Frank Clarke, Graeme Dean, and Martin Persson, Accounting Thought and Practice Reform: Ray Chambers’ Odyssey

Category 3: Lisa Joseph and Fiona Milway, Finding Aids from the National Library of Australia’s Sidney Nolan Project, published online

Category 4: Iain Wallace and Jules Davies, Fort Street High School History and Archives webpages

Category 5: Michael Jones, “From Catalogues to Contextual Networks: Reconfiguring Collection Documentation in Museums”, Archives and Records 39, No.1 (24 April 2018)

Category 6: Gregory Rolan, Joanne Evans, Jane Bone, Antonina Lewis, Frank Golding, Jacqueline Z. Wilson, Sue McKemmish, Philip Mendes, and Keir Reeves, “Weapons of Affect: the imperative for transdisciplinary Information Systems design” in Building and Sustaining an Ethical Future with Emerging Technology: Proceedings of the ASIS&T 81st Annual Meeting 2018. Vancouver: Association for Information Science and Technology.

Category 7 Joint winner: Barbara Swebeck, Anna-Bella Silva, and Natalie Dimmock, Report on the Archives and Memorabilia of the Botany R.S.L Sub-Branch [established 1946]

Category 7 Joint winner: Michael O’Connor, Police and Policing in Western Australia 1829 to 1945

Category 8: Public Records Office of Victoria PROV, Provenance: the journal of Public Record Office Victoria, Issue 16, 2018

Commendation

Category 8: Sophie Garrett et al, Inside the Repository – A Virtual Tour of the University of Melbourne Archives, 2018.

2017 Archives & Manuscripts Emerging Writers Award announced

Congratulations to the 2017 recipient of the Archives & Manuscripts Sigrid McCausland
Emerging Writers Award – Ross Spencer. The award recognises the work of emerging writers who have published an article in the journal. Each year the members of Archives & Manuscripts Editorial Board decide the winner of this award, which features a $1000 cash payment.

  • 2017 – Volume 45, Number 2, July 2017 – Ross Spencer, ‘Binary Trees? Automatically identifying the links between born-digital records’.