Community Advisory Committee February 2011 - Agenda and Report

1. State Records
Report of State Records NSW Community
Advisory Committee meeting
10am, Wednesday 16 February 2011, Sydney Records Centre
Updates
State Records’ website and online resources
A PowerPoint presentation which addressed the following updates:
• Additions to State Records’ website
• Reading rooms
• Archives Investigator
• Additions
• Tips
is available at http://www.records.nsw.gov.au/about-us/advisory-groups/community-
advisory-committee click here
Reading Rooms
Two self-service digital cameras will be installed in the reading room at Western Sydney
shortly. One of the cameras, plus lights, was donated by Ancestry.com
Tips
The ‘How-to’ tips for using Archives Investigator are being added to over time. They are
designed to provide simple step-by-step advice.
The following tips were discussed in more detail:
• How to search the “Notes” field in an advanced search;
• Tips for Mac users;
• Searching for item ‘stroke’ numbers; and
• Series search.
Special Business
Digital State Archive
State Records has finally been allocated funding to establish a Digital State Archive
(DSA). Advice of the allocation was received from Treasury on Tuesday 8 February 2011.
The funding is for a 3 year project to establish a structure to manage digital state
archives. After the initial 3 year period State Records will be expected to fund the
ongoing maintenance of the DSA from its own resources.

2. Minutes of meeting
It has taken seven years to get the funding for the DSA. It is unlikely that a Liberal
government would withdraw funding.
There is a massive pool of digital data awaiting transfer. State Records needed to set up
procedures and workflows to transfer this data. The timing of the funding allocation was
ideal, as mention of this could now be included in the history of State Records which is
being written by Dr Peter Tyler as part of the celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of
the establishment of the Archives Authority of NSW.
Funding allocations to State Records from 2000
A table was circulated showing the recurrent allocation received by State Records from
Treasury, and the GRR contribution, for the period 2000 to 2010.
There had been hardly any movement in the recurrent appropriation in the period from
2000 to 2010. The top-up from the GRR constantly increased over the same period. In
addition, electricity costs have increased. This is a cause for concern, as State Records
needs to operate air conditioning in the storage areas 24/7. Use of solar power has been
investigated, but the costs to move to solar power are massive.
It was noted that the GRR contribution was lost to GRR and couldn’t be used to develop
the business. There will soon be a need to construct Stage 7, to provide audiovisual and
cold room storage. Although the transition to digital records is underway, the GRR is still
receiving an enormous transfer of paper records. As a result, the GRR has hired about 6
satellite repositories in the Penrith area.
Request for more of State Records’ map collection to be digitised and placed
online
A more consultative approach in relation to deciding which maps from the State archives
collection would be digitised has been requested. The Land and Property Management
Authority (LPMA) is undertaking a major project to digitise all the Crown Plans – including
the Crown Plans that were transferred to State Records many years ago. As LPMA is
undertaking this project, State Records is allocating minimal resources to the digitisation
of this series of records. Once LPMA has completed this project the digital copies of the
Crown Plans will be accessible via the Lands Kiosks in the reading rooms.
State Records is happy to receive suggestions for future digitisation projects that could
be included in its Digitisation Program.
State Records’ 50th anniversary
A function to mark the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the Archives Authority of
NSW will be held at the Sydney Records Centre at 6:00 pm on Wednesday 1 June 2011.
Community Advisory Committee members will be invited to this function.
Peter Tyler is writing a short history of records and archives in NSW from 1788 to 2010.
The history, which will run to about 150 pages, will be free. The history will be published
by Federation Press.
Commemorative bookmarks and postcards had been printed. Samples of the postcards
were circulated. The Committee was also advised that a 50th anniversary logo has been
developed as part of the publicity material for the anniversary. The logo incorporates an
updated version of the infinity symbol.
The Committee was reminded about the digital gallery which is being developed to
commemorate the 50th anniversary. The digital gallery will feature 50 items from the
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3. Minutes of meeting
collection showcasing the richness and diversity of the NSW State archives. Work is well
advanced on the project to digitise, interpret and transcribe the fifty selected items.
Other Business
There was some discussion regarding whether State Records captured school and
hospital records as State archives. Relevant disposal authorities will be provided to the
Committee.
Date of next meeting
The next meeting will be held at a date to be determined on 17 August 2011 at 10:00am at the
Sydney Records Centre.
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