Documenting Australian Society: Progress Report on an Initiative of the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee

  • Adrian Cunningham UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee
DOI: https://doi.org/10.37683/asa.v51.10949
Keywords: Documentation strategy, Archival silences, National coordination, Appraisal, UNESCO

Abstract

The topic of Documenting Australian Society has been something of an occasional perennial on ASA Conference programs since the 1990s. Archives and manuscripts published a theme issue on it in 2001. In December 2018, the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Program organised a national summit on the topic in Canberra. That summit meeting endorsed ‘The Canberra Declaration’ as an action agenda for the documentary heritage sectors and agreed that the UNESCO Memory of the World Program should continue to take carriage of the initiative. Since then, a steering committee has been established, and two seminars/webinars have been organised: the first on Documenting COVID-19 in Australia and the second on Documenting the Experiences of Australian on Welfare. This paper discusses the background and objectives of the initiative, its current status and plans for the future.

Author Biography

Adrian Cunningham, UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee

Adrian Cunningham worked in a variety of roles in government archives and research libraries from 1981 to 2017. Since then, he has continued to be professionally active on a range of committees and as a part time consultant. He has been a member of the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee since its inception in 2000. He is a Fellow of both the Australian Society of Archivists and the International Council on Archives.

Published
2023-12-01
How to Cite
Cunningham A. (2023) “Documenting Australian Society: Progress Report on an Initiative of the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Committee”, Archives & Manuscripts, 51(1), pp. 7-14. doi: 10.37683/asa.v51.10949.
Issue
Vol 51 No 1 (2023): Documenting Australian Society Redux
Section
Article

Copyright (c) 2023 Adrian Cunningham

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