Research and Practice – A Conversation

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37683/asa.v52.11029

Abstract

Since the mid-twentieth century, Australia has been widely recognised for innovative approaches to the practice and theory of archives and records, from the Australian Series System to the Records Continuum Model and beyond. But the relationship between archival work, records management, and contemporary theory and research is not always clear, nor is it unproblematic. Mike Jones and Rachel Tropea invited a group of colleagues to explore these ideas as part of a recorded conversation.

Author Biographies

Mike Jones, University of Tasmania

Dr Mike Jones is an archivist, historian, and collections consultant with more than 15 years of experience working with the GLAM sector (galleries, libraries, archives, and museums) on digital, archival, and public history projects. Mike’s interdisciplinary research explores the history of archives and museums, and the ways in which collections-based knowledge is documented, managed, exhibited, and preserved, with a particular interest in the potential of contemporary technologies to support this work. He is currently a Postdoctoral Fellow – Indigenous and Colonial Histories (University of Tasmania), and inaugural Convenor of the Australian Society of Archivists’ Research and Education Special Interest Group (REDSIG). Mike is the author of Artefacts, Archives, and Documentation in the Relational Museum (Routledge, 2022).

Rachel Tropea, RMIT University

Rachel Tropea is the Archivist and Senior Coordinator at RMIT University Archives. Prior to this, she was a research archivist at the University of Melbourne. Most of Rachel’s experience has been in the ‘action research’ space, working on nationwide projects involving the community, practitioners, and researchers. This includes the Who Am I? and Find & Connect projects with people who grew up in out-of-home care in their quest to find out about their childhood, and, on another project, with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to repatriate ancestral remains from museums, collecting institutions (including universities) and private collections, back to their community of origin.

Rose Barrowcliffe, Macquarie University

Dr Rose Barrowcliffe is a Butchulla postdoctoral research fellow at the Department of Indigenous Studies and the Centre for Global Indigenous Futures. Rose’s research examines the representation of Indigenous peoples in archives at both an organisational level and a record level. Rose is the inaugural First Nations Archives Advisor to the QSA and is an active member of the IAC.

Annie Cameron, Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre

Annie Cameron has worked with Aboriginal communities in the Pilbara region of Western Australia since 2014. She has extensive experience in language documentation, description and language revitalisation and maintenance. Annie completed her graduate diploma in archives and records management at Curtin in 2020 followed by a brief stint in public recordkeeping. Annie works closely with Pilbara Aboriginal community members to support the development of local linguistic and archival practices. She is currently the Senior Linguist at Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre. Annie’s PhD at Charles Darwin University is investigating how an Aboriginal language centre archive supports community language activities.

Elliot Freeman, La Trobe University

Elliot Freeman is an archival researcher and practitioner in Naarm/Melbourne. In the final stages of her doctorate at Monash University, Elliot’s research explores queer/ing reparative description in institutional archives. She presently works as an archivist at La Trobe University and has a particular interest in making archival collections, skillsets, and experiences accessible for students. Elliot is a committee member of both the AQuA and the Australian Society of Archivists’ Victorian Branch.

James Lowry

Dr James Lowry is an Associate Professor and current Chair of the Graduate School of Library and Information Studies, Queens College, CUNY. James is the Ellen Libretto and Adam Conrad Endowed Chair in Information Studies and the founder and director of the Archival Technologies Lab. He is an Honorary Research Fellow at University College London and the University of Liverpool, where he was co-director of the Centre for Archive Studies, following a career in record-keeping in Australia, Europe, Africa and the Caribbean. His recent publications include Disputed Archival Heritage, an edited collection published by Routledge in 2022 and, with Riley Linebaugh, the award-winning article ‘The Archival Colour Line: Race, Records and Post-Colonial Custody’. His writing has been translated into French, Spanish and Portuguese. James is the convenor of Archival Discourses, an international research network that fosters critical enquiry into the intellectual history of archives, and he is co-editor of the Routledge Studies in Archives book series.

Duncan Loxton, University of Technology Sydney

Duncan Loxton is an archivist involved in scholarly communication and managing research data. Duncan works for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA) at the University of Technology Sydney Library where he strives to support the individual and collective rights of researchers, community groups and institutions to control the circumstances in which their knowledge is shared and applied. Duncan has previously worked at the Australian Museum, and State Archives and Records NSW.

Eva Samaras, University of Melbourne

Dr Evanthia (Eva) Samaras is a practitioner-researcher specialising in information management, archiving, digital preservation and media production. She presently works in the Information Governance Services group at the University of Melbourne and previously held positions at the National Archives of Australia, PROV and the Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Eva completed her PhD in 2021 at the University of Technology Sydney. Her research examines records and archiving practices in the global film and television visual effects industry.

Published
2024-11-29
How to Cite
Jones M., Tropea R., Barrowcliffe R., Cameron A., Freeman E., Lowry J., Loxton D. and Samaras E. (2024) “Research and Practice – A Conversation”, Archives & Manuscripts, 52(1), pp. 13-28. doi: 10.37683/asa.v52.11029.
Issue
Vol 52 (2024)
Section
Interview

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