INF 305 Professional Learning and Networking
Opening the Multilingual Archive of Australia: Digital Humanities and Virtual Archives
Date: Wednesday 9 August 2023. 12:30 – 1:30 pm
Description
Content: Virtual archives; archives; multi-lingual resources; Australian history
Format: Zoom online webinar
Length: one hour
Audience
This webinar would be of interest to all sections of the GLMAR profession; including local history librarians, government and non -government archivists, historians and the general public.
Organisers: University of Sydney School of Languages and History Department
Presenters: Dr. Judith Rozenboom; Dr. Giorgia Alù and Dr. Sophie Loy-Wilson
Delivery
A one hour lecture/webinar
Reflections
Objectives
The main objective of the webinar was to introduce the Opening of the Multilingual Archive of Australia website. The project is funded by an Australian Research Council Discovery project grant. It is designed to bring together historical resources from national and international collections in languages other than English. Its objective is to broaden the historical perspective of Australian history during important events in our nation building such as the 19th century creation of Australian settlement; World War 1 and World War 11; Decolonisation and the Cold War and the end of the Cold War. These periods in our history were documented exclusively by English language resources.
Reason for attending
I attended this webinar as I am very interested in the stories of non-English speaking migrants and settlers whose language and cultural diversity have contributed significantly to Australia’s history, identity and culture. There are many non-English archival resources in our archives, museums and libraries that have been neglected and locked away. I was interested in the diversity of languages that were in the archive and how they were being catalogued to increase greater access and discovery. As part of my personal philosophy, I believe that all sections of our community should be represented and acknowledged in our archives and only then will we have a more authentic representation of the past. I am an advocate of participatory archiving made possible through the new digital technologies. When I searched the archive I was surprised by the volume and diversity of languages in the collection materials and the variety of institutions which the material was sourced from.
Relationship of activity to work
In my role as an access services officer at PROV I meet researchers from across Australia and less frequently overseas researchers. When I am unable to assist clients from our site I often refer them to alternative information sources. Knowing about this archive will be helpful for me in assisting clients in connecting them with their families or provide them with a perspective that their ancestors may have shared through diaries and letters to loved ones.
Learning outcomes
I was really surprised to learn about the variety of languages that had been catalogued or linked to the individual organisation’s catalogue from the OMAA website. As I explored the catalogue I could see how these collections would add a more authentic and comprehensive perspective to Australia’s history; in addition to potentially unlocking collection items hidden in our large memory holding institutions. Overall, I found the webinar informative and it provided me with some knowledge of the research projects currently being undertaken by Australian institutions.
How will I use the Learning Gained
Having knowledge of the virtual archive will assist me with archival reference enquiries in relation and particularly to Chinese and Italian migration to Australia. Although PROV has many records about the Chinese on the goldfields it will be beneficial to advise researchers of this comprehensive resource with many records documented from personal narratives in contrast to PROV’s collection which is overwhelmingly taken from government record keepers.
Evidence
