Stateline has a good interview (and transcript) with various staff of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies [thanks Sarah!]. It’s about the audio visual archive and you can hear snippets of recordings, and also hear about the problems with machinery going obsolescent..and the importance of metadata…
AIATSIS (misspelled ‘IATSIS’ alas in the transcript) actually has a fantastic print/manuscript collection as well. We’re lucky in Australia that nearly 50 years ago, some far-sighted enthusiasts got the Government to set up AIATSIS (then AIAS) and pay for the archiving and dissemination of materials related to Australian Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders.
Follow2 thoughts on “Why archive – Interview with AIATSIS collection staff”
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Wonderful story and wonderful archives that AIATSIS have. I’ve certainly benefited greatly from it, especially this year getting 51-year-old recordings and transcripts of Marra that I’ve taken back to the NT with me. As well as great research material, it’s great to be a part of its repatriation (and distribution.. but ssshhhh… don’t tell AIATSIS that I’ve been burning CDs for family members of the people on the recordings!)
The story of (separately) finding the film and audio tapes of the interview with Ben Murray is a nice one, but it is not correct that his life is “completely undocumented” — Luise Hercus, Phillip Jones and I wrote about Ben’s life history in 1988 (published in Aboriginal History) and are currently working on a book-length biography that will include photos, maps, stories in Diyari and Arabana-Wangkangurru with translations, and supporting historical documents. It’s a shame that AIATSIS misrepresents the facts in this case.