CULTURAL HERITAGE GRANT PROJECT
This page will keep you informed of developments in the Cultural Heritage Grant Project. For an introduction to the project see: 2005.
Contents
2006 January
March
April
May
November
2005
November 2006
Second RSNSW Community Heritage Grant
We were delighted to be granted a second Community Heritage Grant to continue the significance assessment of the Society's collection. We secured one of 80 out of 260 applications for 2006.
On behalf of the Society I attended the Preservation and Collection Management Training Workshops in Canberra on 8-10 November, at the National Library, National Archives and National Museum, where we were introduced to the concepts and procedures necessary to conduct collection significance and conservation surveys. Topics also included preservation and conservation techniques and management issues for various materials, and there was a very interesting diversity of materials and challenges provided for discussion by the lively group of attendees who represented a remarkable collection of "grass roots" societies, museums, etc.
A handshake with the Hon. Rod Kemp, Minister for the Arts and Sport, at the Awards Ceremony, fine weather and interesting company rounded out an enjoyable few days in the nation's Capital.
Our successful bids for these grants could not have been possible without the generous and expert work done by our assessors Peter Tyler and David Branagan, and the unstinting efforts of our co-ordinator for the grants program, Robyn Stutchbury. Well done, all.
Chris van der Leeuw
May 2006
We are very pleased to report that our two consultants, Dr Peter Tyler and Dr David Branagan, have completed their work in time to submit our overall report to the Community Heritage Grant Scheme project manager in Canberra so that we can apply for another grant for 2006/7. This will enable us to continue this important work so that more of the Society's unique collection is able to be preserved and fully documented.
The Society's CHG Committee met again on 16 May and accepted the consultants' reports. It thanked them for their excellent work and considered some of the implications of their findings. It also drew up outlines of the responses required by the organisers for our final report. This is to be completed and submitted by our Project Manager Robyn Stutchbury and Vice-President John Hardie. They will also be responsible for submitting the application for the next grant.
The most important recommendation emerging from this project is that the Society needs to find a suitable permanent home for the collection so that it can be properly preserved and made available for general and scientific use. The Committee felt that this is of such significance that work needs to start immediately so that a suitable outcome can be achieved in two to three years.
The Committee will table all three reports at the next Council meeting and it has requested that the recommendations be considered as a matter of urgency. Once the reports have been accepted by Council they will be made available to members. Extracts from the reports will appear in subsequent Bulletins.
John Hardie
May 2006
April 2006
On 30 March the two CHG consultants engaged by the Society, Dr Peter Tyler and Dr David Branagan, as well as the Project leader, Robyn Stutchbury and myself examined a little less than half of the Royal Society collection held on behalf of the Society in the State Library of NSW in the Mitchell collection. We can confirm as a result of this visit that this material is of great significance to the Society and the community in general. We believe we have unearthed what can only be described as 'treasures' of the Society. These include such items as lantern slides of the founders of the Society and a magnificent array of what appear to be prestigious scientific medals. Also located were the early Minute Books of many of the Sections of the Society. Sections were discipline-based and were the forerunners of many of the professional Australian scientific societies, such as the Geological Society of Australia. They ranged through the traditional sciences to art, architecture and philosophy. A much more thorough and systematic study of this material is proposed as the subject of a further extension of this project.
The following afternoon the same group examined more of the Society's holdings, this time in warehouse storage in western Sydney. Once again the group made discoveries confirming that at least some of this material is of the same order of significance as that housed in the Society's rooms. At a meeting of the Project Working Group held just prior to the Society's AGM on 5 April, it was decided to include as much of this material as possible in the present study.
At this meeting it was also decided that a further grant would be sought for the period 2006/7 through the CHG scheme to enable this important work to continue. This means the current project must be completed and reported on by early June. We are on target to achieve this.
John Hardie
April 2006
March 2006
Since our last report great strides have been taken to progress this project. The Group has held two working bees at the Society's Rooms - a short preliminary one on 8 February and a full day on Saturday 11 February. The latter was a mammoth effort which saw all remaining material packed since the move from Macquarie University removed from boxes, a research office established and the majority of the archive collection registered on a database.
The work resulted in the establishment of more defined locations for the Society's collections at Darlington Road. Collections of the Society's Journal and Proceedings are now all located in the Council Room on the first floor. Recent runs of non-exchange journals are shelved in the office area on the ground floor, with recent issues of the journals of other Australian Royal Societies in the general meeting area behind it.
Also on the 11th, major inroads were made into the recording of the key bibliographic data for all books in our archive. This has since been completed, and in time for the consultant assessors, Dr Peter Tyler and Dr David Branagan, who started work on the project the following Wednesday.
Since then we have heard that the assessors are very excited about the collection and about what it means for NSW science. We are looking forward to their preliminary findings which will be revealed in subsequent Bulletins.
John Hardie
March 2006
January 2006
The Cultural Heritage working group has made considerable progress with the task of preparing the society's collection ready for the two historians, Dr Peter Tyler and Dr David Branagan, who have been appointed to tackle the assessment of the significance of books and other items that have been in storage for some years.
Peter Tyler believes that the significance assessment should include a comparative study of scientific development in other colonies and overseas - there was regular exchange of journals, for example. There is a need to redress the paucity of Australian history about New South Wales. It was after all, the original and most populous Colony/State at the time the 'Society' was founded.
Peter noted that Journal and Proceedings of the Royal Society of NSW was a prestigious journal, with eminent scientists anxious to have their work published in it, so there is considerable original scientific thinking contained in Society collections. Consequently, this should be preserved for its significance to the development of scientific thought in Australia.
David Branagan, who has a vast knowledge of the society's collection, is keen to sort the books into subject areas and agrees that we should appoint a reference group drawn from people renowned for their knowledge of scientific history. At this point we have invited Professor Frank Talbot, former director of the Australian Museum and Professor of Environmental Management at Macquarie University, Mr Ronald Strachan, former director of Taronga Zoo and Fellow of the Royal Zoological Society, and Professor Jak Kelly, our President to join the group. We hope to invite others so that we can cover all the sciences and early history of the society when we need to verify the significance of items recommended by our consultants. If any of our members believe that they have the knowledge to be able to help with this aspect of the project, please contact Robyn Stutchbury at the Society's Office or by email: rstutch@bigpond.net.au.
The working group comprises President Professor Jak Kelly; our Honorary Librarian, Christine van der Leeu; Vice-president, John Hardie; and Councillors Eveline Baker, Jim Franklin and Robyn Stutchbury who is Project Leader. The group has already completed the stacking of the books on shelves, with sorting and listing yet to be completed ready for the assessors who are due to start mid-February.
The Society is receiving very supportive encouragement for its project from the Cultural Heritage Management, who have advised us to attempt to finalise the project by June, rather than November, so that we can apply for further funding to help with the preservation of our collection. Working towards this goal is well in hand.
Robyn Stutchbury
30 January, 2006
November 2005
The Royal Society of NSW has been awarded a $6,050 Federal Community Heritage Grant to fund a Significance and Preservation Survey.
The grant was announced by the Federal Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator the Hon. Rod Kemp, at the National Library of Australia, Canberra, on Wednesday 9 November 2005.
A total of $377 865 was distributed to 76 groups from around Australia to assist in the identification and preservation of community owned but nationally significant heritage collections. In addition, Mr John Hardie, a Vice-president of the Society, attended a three-day intensive preservation and collection management workshop held at the National Library of Australia, the National Archives, the National Museum of Australia and the National Film and Sound Archives in Canberra.
John said the grant was important in supporting the effort to preserve the Royal Society's collection of scientific books, journals and historical documents at the grassroots.
"The grant provides the funds, and the workshop the expertise to help us protect our collection and make it accessible while it remains in the local context," he said.
"The grant will give us an opportunity to tap into professional expertise to guide us in the ongoing management and preservation of the collection, which is of great importance to scientific researchers and the community in general."
In announcing the awards Senator Kemp said, "This year sees the Community Heritage Grants program come of age with a stronger emphasis on training, the inclusion of artefacts, and the participation of the National Museum. The program's maturity and national significance as part of the government's Strengthening Australian Arts commitment is recognised with an near doubling of grant funding and the raising of the grant ceiling to $10 000."
2005 is the 12th anniversary of the program. In that time 426 projects throughout Australia have received more than $1.6 million in funding and extensive training opportunities. The grant money is used for collection assessments, preservation surveys, conservation treatments, preservation training, digitisation, and purchasing quality storage material or environmental monitoring equipment.
Jan Fullerton AO, Director-General National Library of Australia, said the Community Heritage Grants demonstrate the commitment of the National Library and all the partner institutions to preserving our heritage, particularly through training.
"It's about our national institutions coming together to share their expertise which is then taken back to communities throughout Australia. This skills transfer aims to have heritage collections remain in the community and available for the pleasure and research interests of future generations" she said.
The Community Heritage Grants Program is managed by the National Library of Australia. It is funded by the Australian Government through the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, the National Archives of Australia, the Australian Film Commission, the National Museum of Australia and the National Library of Australia.
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Vice-president of the Society, Mr John Hardie, receiving the award from Federal Minister for the Arts and Sport, Senator the Hon. Rod Kemp, at the National Library of Australia, Canberra. |