Report on performance
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Output 1.2
Develop, manage and promote a visible, known and accessible national collection that engages and informs the community; and foster appreciation of the role of archives in society.
Strategies
To develop and manage its collection, the Archives:
- reviews its holdings;
- undertakes extensive arrangement and description of material in the collection;
- assesses records for public release in accordance with provisions in the Archives Act 1983; and
- manages RecordSearch, the collection database, which is accessible through the Archives’ website (www.naa.gov.au).
To enhance the accessibility of its collection, the Archives:
- mounts exhibitions and displays, develops websites, conducts events, delivers education activities, and maintains an active publication program;
- maintains reading rooms in Canberra, Darwin and each state capital city; and
- provides a national reference service for off-site researchers.
Members of the public can view records, purchase photocopies or request that digital copies of selected collection material be placed on the Archives’ corporate website.
Performance
Measure |
A well-described National Archives’ collection |
Indicator |
Number of additional archival items described in RecordSearch |
Highlights
- The Archives updated or added 706,121 entries on the RecordSearch database in 2005–06 to describe items in the collection.
- The Archives’ websites continued to be the primary means by which the public accessed and used the Archives’ collection and services, with 4,060,445 visits to the corporate website alone. RecordSearch was used 2,254,136 times; research guides were downloaded 85,591 times; and a broad range of services – from ordering copies of records of Australian war service personnel to submitting job applications – were provided online.
- Archives touring exhibitions visited 24 venues throughout Australia and attracted 190,703 visitors in regional and metropolitan areas.
- The Archives responded to 140,294 reference inquiries in 2005–06. The records of World War I and World War II service personnel and post-World War II migrants to Australia continued to be highly used.
- Records accessed online increased by 28 per cent in 2005–06 from 646,296 to 830,343.
Collection review
The Archives reviews its collection to ensure that storage space and staff resources, including preservation and arrangement and description, are being used to best effect. During 2005–06, 4970 metres of records were reviewed, approximately 1 per cent of the 354,845 metres of the collection. In 2005–06, the Archives completed a major analysis of the cost-effectiveness of its continuing review work. This analysis showed that significant opportunity still exists for the cost-effective review of the Archives’ holdings but that the work is resource-intensive because of the care needed to avoid inappropriate destruction of records.
Arrangement and description of the collection
All of the collection can be identified through paper documentation and indexes that were prepared when the records were created or transferred to the Archives. To increase accessibility of records for researchers, the Archives has an ongoing program of work to document, describe and index items on the collection database, RecordSearch.
Major descriptive projects in 2005–06 included War Cabinet Secretariat records, documents recording aspects of International Women’s Year 1975, and depositions of suspected enemy subjects in the Commonwealth Public Service following World War I. An expanded list of major descriptive work undertaken in 2005–06 can be found at Appendix C. As at 30 June 2006, there were 6,519,119 items described on RecordSearch and 664,811 items described in PhotoSearch (see Table 7).
The Archives develops its collection through the transfer of records from Australian Government agencies, and from key individuals associated with the Commonwealth, including governors-general, prime ministers and ministers.
The Archives accepts records that have been identified as ‘retain as national archives’, in accordance with a current disposal authority. Table 8 lists the number and quantity of records transferred to the Archives in 2005–06 and the two previous years. A selection of the records transferred in 2005–06 are described in greater detail at Appendix C.
Access examination
The Archives Act 1983 provides a general right of access to most Commonwealth records over 30 years old. Before records are released for public access, Archives staff assess them to ensure they do not fall within Section 33 of the Archives Act, which requires some categories of records to be exempted, or partially exempted, from public release. Decisions on public access are reported in Table 9.
The Archives Act also provides a right to appeal decisions if the Archives withholds records from public access. The Archives received 27 applications for internal reconsideration. Decisons were modified in 61 per cent of cases, resulting in extra material being released. See Table 10.
Where members of the public apply for access, the Archives Act provides that the Archives should make decisions about the release of records within 90 days. During 2005–06, the Archives examined and notified decisions on 94 per cent of records within the statutory 90‑day response time; 80 per cent were completed within 30 days. Longer response times were generally caused by the need to refer records to agencies or to overseas governments for advice, or because the records were not in the Archives’ custody.
The Archives also proactively examines records likely to be of high research use. In 2005–06, the range of material examined included the 1976 Cabinet records, the 1956 Cabinet notebooks, and records about the key events, issues and personalities of 1975, including International Women’s Year, the fall of Saigon, the Loans Affair, the dismissal of the Whitlam Government, Sir John Kerr, the Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser and the deaths of five Australia-based journalists at Balibo, East Timor.
Table 7 – Cumulative total of record items described
|
2003–04 |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
RecordSearch |
5 372 479 |
6 115 617 |
6 519 119 |
Percentage increase since previous year |
8% |
13% |
7% |
PhotoSearch |
611 606 |
639 786 |
664 811 |
Table 8 – Records transferred to the Archives
|
2003–04 |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
Number of transfers |
899 |
903 |
1 057 |
Quantity of records transferred in shelf metres |
3 828 |
2 380 |
2 467 |
Table 9 – Archives records examined for release
2003–04 |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
|
Total records examined for release |
440 760 |
245 441 |
222 287* |
Numbers of records sought by the public |
36 832 |
37 218 |
41 352 |
Other records examined for public release |
403 928 |
208 223 |
180 935 |
Access decisions resulting from examination |
435 143 |
240 927 |
217 765* |
Partially released |
4 160 |
4 343 |
4 277 |
Withheld from public access |
345 |
171 |
245 |
Other (eg closed period) |
1 112 |
0 |
0 |
Time taken to respond to applications made by the public |
37 027 (99%) |
35 843 (96%) |
22 451 (94%) |
More than 90 days |
102 (1%) |
1 698 (4%) |
1 381 (6%) |
* A decrease occurred because the record series examined and cleared in 2004–05 and 2005–06 comprised fewer individual records than the series examined and cleared in 2003–04.
Table 10 – Archives internal reconsideration of access decisions
2003–04 |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
|
Internal reconsideration applications received |
17 |
30 |
27 |
Internal reconsideration applications processed |
8 |
7 |
1 |
Decision modified |
8 |
20 |
22 |
Request withdrawn |
1 |
25 |
13 |
Time taken to respond to internal reconsideration applications |
10 (59%) |
16 (31%) |
5 (14%) |
More than 14 days |
7 (41%) |
36 (69%) |
31 (86%)* |
Internal reconsideration applications outstanding |
58 |
36 |
27 |
* Time increase reflects the more complex nature of assessments.
Programs enhancing access to the collection
The Archives undertakes a range of activities to enhance the Australian community’s engagement with the collection. These include developing and touring exhibitions, publishing books and websites, holding events and educational activities, visiting regional areas, providing reference services, and promoting the annual release of 30-year-old Cabinet documents.
Exhibitions and displays
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The Archives continued to enhance accessibility to the collection through its active exhibitions program. One new exhibition and a number of displays were developed, four existing exhibitions continued touring Australia, two visiting exhibitions were hosted in Canberra, and a major redesign of Gallery 1 in the National Office began.
Summers Past: Golden Days in the Sun 1950–1970 was launched in December 2005 by singer and entertainer Little Pattie. This photographic exhibition, with images from the Archives’ Australian News and Information Bureau collection, reminds visitors vividly of the Australian love affair with the sun and the sea. Visitor response to it was extremely positive, with many people contributing their memories to the visitor book. Summers Past was on show in Gallery 2 in the National Office, Canberra until July 2006, before touring nationally. Funds totalling $86,790 were granted by the Australian Government Visions of Australia program to tour the exhibition to 19 venues over four years. Its first venue will be the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery, where it opens in December 2006.
Beacons by the Sea: Stories of Australian Lighthouses continued its tour, visiting five venues in New South Wales and Queensland. Beacons by the Sea received 16,270 visitors during 2005–06.
It’s a Dog’s Life! Animals in the Public Service continued its tour, visiting six venues in New South Wales, Victoria, Western Australia and Tasmania. It’s a Dog’s Life had 72,160 visitors during 2005–06.
Unexpected Archives: Introduced by Robyn Archer continued its tour of art centres, museums, libraries and theatres throughout Victoria, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia. Unexpected Archives had 80,528 visitors during 2005–06.
Just Add Water: Schemes and Dreams for a Sunburnt Country commenced its three-year national tour, beginning with interactive components displayed at events in Queensland and Victoria, then touring to venues in South Australia and New South Wales. Just Add Water had 20,445 museum visitors during 2005–06.
All exhibition tours were supported by the Visions of Australia grant program and reached a total of 189,403 visitors across Australia. See Appendix D for information on venues, touring dates and visitors to Archives’ exhibitions.
The National Office, Canberra hosted two touring exhibitions to raise awareness of the Archives and attract new audiences. The first exhibition, Courage to Care, was on display from 13 August to 25 September 2005. The second exhibition, The Waterhouse Natural History Art Prize, was on display from 7 October to 20 November 2005. The two exhibitions attracted a total of 9887 visitors.
Gallery 1
Gallery 1 in the National Office, Canberra is being redesigned to showcase iconic items from the collection, as well as provide information about the Archives and its functions. The exhibition will promote the Archives’ key role in Australia’s cultural and social history. During 2005–06, extensive work was undertaken in the gallery space to the flooring, lighting, audiovisual and air-conditioning systems, and disabled access to increase visitor satisfaction and improve navigation through the various galleries and spaces. The redeveloped Gallery 1 will be launched in February 2007.
Table 11 – Visitation to websites and collection database managed by the Archives
2003–04 |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
|
National Archives of Australia |
3 767 684 |
4 771 252 |
4 060 445 |
Documenting a Democracy |
429 521 |
437 037 |
417 264 |
Archives of Australia |
117 955 |
155 966 |
323 373 |
Australia’s Prime Ministers |
261 454 |
321 160 |
463 581 |
National Archives eShop |
148 563 |
123 106 |
104 122 |
Uncommon Lives |
38 234 |
100 366 |
95 648 |
Our History* |
- |
- |
32 410 |
Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative** |
- |
- |
11 481 |
Whitlam research portal† |
- |
10 498 |
18 486 |
Fraser research portal‡ |
- |
- |
3 470 |
Vrroom§ |
- |
- |
7 141 |
RecordSearch sessions |
844 112 |
2 495 863 |
2 254 136 |
* Launched in September 2004
† Launched in November 2004
§ Relaunched in May 2006
** Launched in September 2005
‡ Launched in November 2005
Find of the Month
Each month, items from the Archives’ collection are showcased in the main foyer of the National Office, Canberra and on the Archives’ website as ‘Find of the Month’. The displays have included such diverse items as the Beatles’ incoming passenger cards, alternative national anthems, and a May Gibbs’ postcard. Find of the Month has proven popular with the media, and stories featuring it have appeared on a national television morning show and in major national daily newspapers. Appendix D reports statistics on web and media coverage.
Websites
The Archives’ corporate website, www.naa.gov.au, continued to be the primary means by which most users of the Archives’ collection and services obtained access. It had 4,060,445 visits in 2005–06. Following a major evaluation in 2004–05, a project began to redevelop and redesign its content and structure. The project will continue in 2006–07, with an aim to launch a new site in early 2007.
Ten other satellite websites were managed by the Archives in 2005–06 (see Table 11). Among these were two newly developed sites (the Australasian Digital Recordkeeping Initiative site and the Malcolm Fraser portal) and two redeveloped sites (Documenting a Democracy and Vrroom).
The Documenting a Democracy website (www.foundingdocs.gov.au) was further enhanced during 2005–06 to include documents of significance for the Australian Capital Territory (ACT). The redevelopment project added 13 new documents for the ACT, as well as a number of previously ‘unfound’ documents uncovered during research in The National Archives of the United Kingdom. The redeveloped website provides online access to digital copies, transcripts and information about Australia’s 110 key founding documents for the Commonwealth and each state and territory.
All websites were available over 98 per cent of the time during the reporting period. User statistics for the websites are shown at Table 11. URLs for the websites are listed in Appendix E.
Events
The events program in 2005–06 was designed to highlight the Archives’ collection and exhibitions, attract new visitors to the National Office and to retain existing audiences.
Release of Cabinet and other 1975 records
The embargoed release of the 1975 Cabinet papers to the media took place in the National Office, Canberra on 13 December 2005. Forty-six media representatives attended, including journalists from all leading Australian newspapers, television networks and radio stations.
The Archives media kit supplied to those attending provided a full listing of submissions, decisions and supporting Cabinet files and a booklet of copied documents relating to key Cabinet issues for 1975.
To make the 1975 Cabinet and other related records more accessible, the Archives digitised and loaded more than 500 records on the Archives’ website, together with key non-Cabinet records and fact sheets. These included the records of Sir John Kerr, the Rt Hon. Malcolm Fraser and Sir Clarence Harders, and records created by the Department of the Treasury, the Attorney-General’s Department, and the Department of Prime Minister and Cabinet.
Media coverage on 1 January 2006 was extensive and continued for a number of days, with the Archives acknowledged in all key media presentations. The Archives reviewed its Cabinet release process in early 2006 and is planning opportunities for additional and expanded record releases, such as the RG Neale Lecture.
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RG Neale Lecture
In 2006 the Archives, in partnership with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT), commenced a new lecture series, the RG Neale Lecture, to complement the annual release of Cabinet records. The RG Neale Lecture, to be held annually, will focus on international events from 30 years earlier, as documented in records held by the Archives. It commemorates Professor Robert George Neale AO, who was Editor of Historical Documents in DFAT from 1970 until his appointment as the first Director-General of Australian Archives (now the National Archives of Australia) in 1975.
The inaugural RG Neale Lecture was delivered on 1 May 2006 by historian and author Professor Peter Edwards AM. Professor Edwards spoke about the fall of Saigon in 1975. Among the high-profile audience were diplomatic, government, academic and media representatives and a number of people evacuated from Saigon before its surrender to North Vietnamese forces.
To support the inaugural lecture, the Archives digitised 40 key records relating to the fall of Saigon and made them available on the Archives’ website and in the Canberra Reading Room.
Speakers Corner
The Speakers Corner series presented five speakers in 2005–06. The diversity of speakers engaged highlighted aspects of the Archives’ collection, exhibitions or initiatives. Professor Ian Lowe AO spoke on climate change to promote the Archives’ exhibition Just Add Water. Authors of The Story of Italian Migration, Julia Church and Laura Mecca, prompted Italian migrants and their families in the audience to research their own records in the Archives’ collection.
Celebrating the Dutch in Australia
March 2006 marked the release of the Archives’ Australia & the Netherlands 1606–2006 web portal and the National Archives of the Netherlands database, From the Netherlands to Australia: Emigrants 1946–1991. His Excellency Mr Niek van Zutphen, the Netherlands Ambassador to Australia, and Paul Santamaria, Chairman of the National Archives Advisory Council, officially launched these initiatives designed to promote accessibility of public records.
Throughout 2006 the Archives is conducting ‘Discovery’ workshops in its state and territory reading rooms. These free workshops aim to assist Australians of Dutch descent access records about their families’ migration to Australia.
Grandkids Day
Grandkids Day, held on 18 January this year, continues to be the Archives’ largest annual event and is a strategic opportunity to introduce children to the Archives and its treasures. Despite inclement weather, over 1000 grandkids and their families attended the fun-filled day.
Regional visits
The Archives conducted tours through regional Australia to promote awareness and use of the collection. Centres visited in 2005–06 included Coffs Harbour, Tweed Heads and Cowra in New South Wales; Kalgoorlie in Western Australia; Rockhampton and Longreach in Queensland; and Victor Harbor in South Australia. Local and family history groups, students and teachers were among those who benefited from the workshops and presentations.
In addition, demonstrations of the Bringing Them Home name index were provided to Indigenous communities in Alice Springs, and the Making Australia Home kit was promoted at cultural festivals in Brisbane.
Education
The Archives’ educational website Vrroom (‘virtual reading room’) provides teachers and students with access to a selection of archival records organised by topic which address the needs of school curricula. The website was further developed during 2005–06 and officially launched in Canberra by Senator the Hon. Rod Kemp, Minister for the Arts and Sport, in October 2005. The website will continue to develop and expand as new content is produced in accordance with curriculum development, research analysis and client input.
Additional promotion resulted in an increase in school groups visiting the Archives, with 35 per cent more student visitors in 2005–06 than the previous reporting period. An emphasis on pre-visit liaison enabled the Archives to deliver programs that better responded to the individual learning needs of students. New education programs focusing on civics and citizenship are being developed to coincide with the opening of Gallery 1 in the new school year.
Publications
The Archives’ publication program is a key strategy in promoting the collection and improving access for the Australian community. A list of publications produced in 2005–06 is provided at Appendix E.
Review of the publishing program
In line with recommendations of the Archives’ 2004 publishing review (Review of National Archives of Australia Saleable Publications), priorities and production processes changed in 2005–06.
A publications advisory group was established to provide advice on future directions and activities. Online, rather than print publication, became the main method of delivery, and print-on-demand was introduced for short-run titles. Co-publishing ceased after contracts already under way were completed, and production of exhibition-related publications received greater priority.
Changes were made to the format and frequency of Memento, with more in-depth articles introduced and two issues published per year.
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Guides and books
Chinese–Australian Journeys: Records on Travel, Migration and Settlement, 1860–1975, by Dr Paul Jones, was launched in July 2005 at the biennial conference of the Chinese Studies Association of Australia, held in Bendigo, Victoria. The guide has sold well and was downloaded 6462 times from the Archives’ website in 2005–06.
The Life and Death of Harold Holt, the first comprehensive biography of Australia’s seventeenth prime minister, was co-published by the Archives and Allen & Unwin. Author Dr Tom Frame used the Archives extensively in his research and reproduced a number of collection photographs in the publication. In August 2005, Federal Treasurer Peter Costello launched the book in Melbourne. The book was well received, favourably reviewed and has sold well.
A guide to help Indigenous people link up with family was published in June 2006. Tracking Family: A Guide to Aboriginal Records Relating to the Northern Territory is to be officially launched in Darwin in August 2006.
In the National Interest: Civilian Internment in Australia during World War II by Dr Klaus Neumann was in production and scheduled for release early in 2006–07. It provides a brief overview of Australia’s internment policies during World War II and tells the stories of 10 internees whose records are held in the Archives. The book also lists key record series to help others conduct research.
Usage, reviews and awards
Research guides published in previous years continued to attract strong readership. They were downloaded from the Archives’ website 85,591 times in 2005–06, an increase of 277 per cent over the previous reporting period. Allies, Enemies and Trading Partners: Records on Australia and the Japanese, by Dr Pam Oliver, was reprinted to meet ongoing demand for print copies.
Numerous favourable reviews of Archives’ books and guides were published in a variety of historical and academic journals.
In November 2005, two Archives’ publications received Mander Jones Awards, presented by the Australian Society of Archivists. John Curtin: Guide to Archives of Australia’s Prime Ministers was selected as ‘Best finding aid to an archival collection’, and Memento was commended as ‘Publication making the greatest contribution to archives’.
Reference service
The Archives assists the Australian community to access its collection by:
- maintaining reading rooms in Canberra, each state capital and Darwin;
- offering a remote reference and mail-order copy service; and
- facilitating online research by providing a comprehensive website that includes access to the collection database, RecordSearch, and digital copies of almost 15 million pages of collection material, including most of the 376,000 World War I service records (a small number are being uploaded in 2006–07).
During 2005–06, the Archives responded to 140,294 reference inquiries, a decrease of 3 per cent. The records of World War I and World War II service personnel and post-World War II migrants to Australia continued to be the records in highest demand. Table 12 provides a breakdown of the public’s use of the collection, and Table 13 shows Government agencies’ use of the collection.
The Archives also redeveloped its Canberra Reading Room. The Orientation Room for new researchers was co-located in 2005 with the secure Reading Room. This co-location enabled new researchers to move directly from the Orientation Room, where reference staff introduced them to the collection and research strategies, through to the Reading Room to view records. The more prominent position of the new Orientation Room drew more visitors, allowing staff to promote the collection more widely.
In June 2005, a review of the reference service documented and costed current services, compared the Archives’ services with those provided by similar institutions, and identified efficiencies and opportunities for new and improved services. It noted that most users of the Archives’ reference services accessed them via the Archives’ main website or other remote means, and that researcher visits to reading rooms were declining. This trend continued throughout 2005–06, as demonstrated in Table 12.
Online access to the Archives’ collection is now the public’s primary means of access. The Digitisation on Demand service received 43,891 requests in 2005–06, and 1,328,934 digital images were created and provided online. The growth in the number of digitised pages available for online research is shown in Table 14.
The Archives is continuing to respond to this major shift in public access and has redirected resources to enhance online access to the collection. Extensive consultation on possible changes to the reference service was undertaken in 2005–06. Changes will be implemented in 2006–07.
Service Charter
The Archives Service Charter sets out Archives’ services available to the public, the standards applying to each, and mechanisms for comments and complaints. It applies to a range of services, including file retrieval, reference services, copying, publications, websites and exhibitions. The Service Charter is available from all of the Archives’ offices and the Archives’ website. Performance against the Service Charter in 2005–06 is set out in Appendix F.
Table 12 – Use of Archives records by the public
2003–04 |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
|
Reference inquiries |
109 534 |
120 237 |
116 953 |
Visits to reading rooms |
25 332 |
22 660 |
22 040 |
Total reference inquiries |
134 866 |
142 897 |
138 993 |
New visitors to reading rooms |
5 979 |
5 620 |
5 074 |
Records made available |
112 641 |
125 817 |
88 822 |
In reading rooms |
55 003 |
57 892 |
51 851 |
Total |
167 644 |
183 709 |
140 673 |
Records accessed in digital form on website |
- |
646 296 |
830 343 |
Table 13 – Use of Archives records by Government agencies
|
2003–04 |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
Reference inquiries |
787 |
747 |
730 |
Visits to reading rooms |
1 121 |
948 |
571 |
Total reference inquiries |
1 908 |
1 695 |
1 301 |
Records made available |
57 925 |
55 079 |
38 572 |
In reading rooms or through the reference service |
1 473 |
980 |
818 |
Total |
59 398 |
56 059 |
39 390 |
Table 14 – Cumulative total of digitised pages and photographs online
|
2003–04 |
2004–05 |
2005–06 |
Total digitised pages on RecordSearch |
4 286 035 |
8 638 107 |
14 857 744 |
Total digitised photographs on PhotoSearch |
129 499 |
103 080* |
104 180 |
* The reduction in the number of images available on PhotoSearch is due to a change in the method of reporting introduced in July 2004.
Table 15 – Output 1.2 quality and quantity measures
Quality |
Performance |
A well-described National Archives collection. |
All of the Archives’ collection can be identified through paper documentation and indexes that were prepared when the records were created or transferred to the Archives. Details of all record series and the agencies that created them are available on the RecordSearch database, which can be accessed via the Archives website. |
Enhanced experience for public users of the Archives’ products and services. |
In 2005–06 the Canberra Reading Room and Orientation Room were co-located to provide a better service to users. This drew more users to the Reading Room and allowed staff to promote the collection more widely. The launch of the Archives’ education website Vrroom has significantly enhanced access to the Archives’ collection to students and teachers throughout Australia, and beyond. Vrroom now delivers a valuable resource – once limited to those with access to a reading room in a capital city – to all schools with ICT capabilities. |
Quantity |
Performance |
Number of additional archival items described in RecordSearch. Target: 600,000 |
During the year, 436,121 items were added to RecordSearch and a further 270,000 item descriptions were enhanced which improved accessibility. |
Level of public awareness and use of the Archives’ products and services. |
The Archives’ websites continued to be the primary means by which the public accessed and used the Archives’ collection and services, with 4,060,445 visits to the corporate website alone. RecordSearch was used 2,254,136 times and research guides were downloaded 85,591 times in 2005–06. |