The Director-General of the National Archives of Australia, Ross Gibbs, has announced University of Melbourne researcher Gavan McCarthy as the winner of the 2007–08 Ian Maclean Award.

‘I am pleased to announce that Gavan McCarthy, a senior research fellow from the School of Historical Studies and director of the eScholarship Research Centre at the University of Melbourne has been granted the $15,000 Ian Maclean Award,’ said Mr Gibbs. ‘His project will identify the archival and research implications of the digitisation of Tasmanian convict records, paving the way for future preservation, access and research.’

Mr McCarthy is recognised as an international leader in using ICT to bring archival records off the shelf and onto the personal computers of the world.

Researchers from the universities of Melbourne and Tasmania are currently working on a project to digitise the records of 75,000 Tasmanian convicts. They will be combining the information with other more recent records as the foundation for a long-term intergenerational health study.

Mr McCarthy’s research will study how the project can be made as flexible as possible to ensure any resulting records are not lost but are stored securely and are easily accessible to meet the needs of researchers and the community for generations to come.

‘The importance of the Tasmanian convict records is highlighted by their nomination for inclusion on UNESCO’S Memory of the World register,’ said Mr Gibbs. ‘The convict database will rival the world’s other great historical databases and Mr McCarthy’s project will investigate how the resultant digital records can best be integrated back into existing archival collections to provide secure and flexible access for future researchers.

‘His results may change the way archivists and researchers work together in future to create digital data and preserve it in a sustainable and re-usable way.’

The National Archives of Australia’s Ian Maclean Award is made annually to provide a paid opportunity for research that will benefit the archival profession. Named in memory of Ian Maclean (1919–2003) – who worked passionately for the archives profession both nationally and internationally for 50 years – the award was established to encourage and facilitate use of the National Archives’ extensive collection of files, photographs, films and other items.