Shifting Sands – Changing Tides

Shifting Sands – Changing Tides is the theme for the next ASA National Conference to be hosted at The Stamford Grand, Glenelg, Adelaide, South Australia in October 2011.
The recent past has seen shifts and changes in the management of archives in Australia and internationally. The 2011 ASA conference will focus on how archives and archivists have managed and weathered these changes within environments that move like waves on the sand. In a world of two steps forward and one step back how do WE manage the challenge of permanency in the constantly shifting sands? How can WE turn the tides to our advantage?
The conference theme is prompted by recent changes in archives including:

• moves towards combining archives with libraries
• spending increasing proportions of budgets on digitising holdings
• an increased focus on what can be destroyed rather than what is to be preserved
• a growing emphasis on the blending of archives and records management into ‘recordkeeping’ with former ‘archival’ institutions becoming ‘records’ bodies.

The location of Glenelg will offer conference delegates a venue with long sandy beaches, great coastline views, plenty of indoor and outdoor dining options, a vibrant shopping precinct and a wide range of entertainment venues and accommodation to choose from. There are museums, memorials and walking trails that highlight Glenelg’s history as the site where the colony of South Australia was first proclaimed in 1836 and in 2011 South Australia will also be celebrating its 175th Anniversary.
To get the most out of the location and to take advantage of Adelaide’s glorious spring weather, the conference will be held in late October from the 20th to the 22nd along with events for SIGs and CPD opportunities on the days leading up to the AGM and conference program.
The South Australian conference committee invites you to participate in the 2011 conference in Adelaide to be professionally recharged and inspired, as well as taking time to stand still, relax and unwind with friends and colleagues on the Glenelg foreshore amid the changing tides.
Jenni Jeremy and Sue Coppin
Conference Co-Convenors

Call for Papers

“Shifting Sands – Changing Tides”

The recent past has seen shifts and changes in the management of archives in Australia and internationally. There have been movements towards combining or conjoining archives with libraries, spending an increasing proportion of budgets on digitising holdings, focussing more on what can be destroyed rather than what is to be preserved, and emphasising the blending of archives and records management into ‘recordkeeping’ with former ‘archival’ institutions becoming ‘records’ bodies. These are examples of the more obvious movements which, in themselves, provoke other changes.
The 2011 ASA Program Committee is seeking proposals that identify and describe the shifts and changes their authors have experienced and observed, together with a discussion of the effects they have had, including collateral effects, and implications that are yet to be realised. Are these movements temporary aberrations or are they long-term changes that influence the future principles and practices of the archival profession?
Proposals are invited from across the spectrum of archival practice and may include such topics as:

‘Promotion/Advocacy’

• Making archives mainstream
• Survival of archives - who are the foes?
• How to maximise Web 2.0 for your Archive?
• Learn how to lobby and win
• Designing websites for small archives
• What is the ‘up side’ to Facebook and Twitter for Archives?
• Small Archives please stand up

‘Governance’

• Whither or wither the ASA?
• Where should the archival function be located within the community it serves?
• What strategies are best for archives - should money and space dominate archival planning?

‘Recordkeeping’

• Is the archival threshold dead?
• Has the ‘records continuum’ helped?

‘The Archival Profession'

• Has recordkeeping destroyed archival science?
• Is specialisation to be encouraged, too costly, or dead?
• Update on macro-appraisal.

'Digitisation'

• Can science fiction help us prepare better for the digital age we are in?
• Is digitisation a sloppy excuse for archival management?
• Is access to physical archives an anachronism?

‘Legislation’

• What effects are changing privacy and intellectual-property rights having on access or acquisition?
• What are the implications of the ‘Right to Information”?

‘Education’

• Is there a case for replacing archival/library/museology/ict studies with one”heritage”, or one “archive”, or one “recordkeeping” stream?
• How relevant is Keeping Archives in most archival contexts?
• Is 19th & 20th centuries’ Australian palaeography a relevant study for today’s student of archival science?
• How does the “archives” graduate find a job in archives?

‘Sustainability’

• What is the environmental impact of recordkeeping?
• Does a digital archive necessarily have a smaller carbon footprint?
• Is it possible to build ecologically responsible repositories?
• Can our profession afford to be environmentally sustainable?

Submitting a Proposal

The 2011 Conference Program Committee invites contributions, of either a practical and/or theoretical nature, in a variety of formats including:

• Traditional session: formal presentation of papers; approximately 20 minutes per speaker, with questions to follow as time allows.
• Panel discussion: abbreviated presentation of papers; approximately 10-15 minutes per speaker, with discussion to follow.
• Roundtable: brief 5-7 minute presentations with open discussion
• Focused Debate on a specific topic: brief presentations with open discussion & debate to follow
• Poster session: information is summarized using texts and images, and mounted on poster board

Submitting your session proposal in electronic form to: petercrush@adelaide.on.net
The deadline for submission of proposals is: 31 January 2011
Please direct all enquires to:
Peter Crush
Chair, ASA 2011 Program Committee
Phone: (08) 8340 1348 Mobile: 0412 545 171
email petercrush@adelaide.on.net
FUENTE: http://www.archivists.org.au/conferenceinfo