Database launch
The Director-General of the National Archives of Australia, David Fricker, launched our database on 6 June 2014, the 30th anniversary of the operation of the Archives Act. The database is accessible from the home page of our website at archives.anu.edu.au.
University Archivist Maggie Shapley, Director-General of the National Archives David Fricker, ANU University Librarian Roxanne Missingham and Senior Archivist Sarah Lethbridge at the database launch.
We have just upgraded to version 2.1 of the Access to Memory (AtoM) software which includes some small enhancements which we contracted Artefactual Systems Inc to develop to make it easier to input our data. We now have 45% of item lists on the database.
At a ceremony in University House on 24 November, the ANU Archives team was awarded the Vice-Chancellor's Award for Innovation and Excellence in Service for our work on the database, providing access to collection information and digitised material online as 'an integral part of the historian's toolkit, regardless of location'.
Vice-Chancellor's award for Innovation and Excellence in Service
Move to Birch building
More than 22,000 boxes of records were relocated from the upper level of the Archives repository in Acton Underhill (the Tunnel) to the Birch Building, the old Research School of Chemistry building. The move took place over three weeks without disruption to public services but required meticulous planning so that we could reuse existing shelving: boxes were placed on trolleys, shelving dismantled then re-erected in the new location, ready to be filled with boxes again.
Farewell tunnel!
Hello Birch!
We now have a circular courier run from the Menzies Building to Acton Underhill to Birch and back to Menzies each day. The bulk of the collection (17 kilometres) remains on the lower level of Acton Underhill. The move was completed in time to hold a Halloween Party in the repository for students at the end of October.
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