Posted on behalf of Pat Jackson
Dear Colleagues
The Aus-Archivist's list-serv and its past, present and future is generating
some excitement in archival and recordkeeping circles. After having looked
at what our members are writing, from speaking to individuals and reading
about social media and the changing face of organisations in a Web 2.0
world, I feel it is timely to let you know what has happened to the
Aus-Archivists list-serv, what the Ning is about and where to next for the
Aus-Archivists list-serv.
Background:
The Aus-archivists list-serv was being managed by a service provider with
whom the Australian Society of Archivists (ASA) no longer has a
relationship. In transferring over the information assets from the service
provider to the ASA National Office it was soon established that the
list-serv was operating on an archaic, unstable system that the ASA's new
server did not recognise. Hence the demise of the Aus-archivists list-serv.
Fortunately the content of the list-serv still exists, albeit in an
apparently unwieldy format that is not easily searched and does require some
work to put to rights for permanent storage and for placement on the ASA
website.
Why the Ning?
The ASA National Office and ASA Council were planning to introduce our
members to the Ning, ArchivesLive! in a planned and methodical way, a gentle
introduction to a new way for archivists to communicate with each other.
Those plans were upset with the Aus-Archivists list-serv going belly-up in
late October; hence we sped up the introduction of the Ning ArchivesLive! in
order to get a more dynamic communication medium out to our members quickly.
The take-up of ArchivesLive! is very promising and it is providing many of
our members and friends with a more out-going and outward looking forum for
archival discussions and interests. It is the early stages of development
yet and we are taking on board people's suggestions about where to post
discussions and so on. Questions about the privacy of personal information
on ArchivesLive! were also raised and we are working towards providing you
with answers to these questions as well.
As part of the Governance Review, our members stated that they wanted the
ASA to use more social media for communication and have a place where they
could interact with each other in a dynamic, real time experience. A place
where they could share stories, network, learn about the work that others do
and feel part of an archival community that was accepting of archivists from
all walks of life. Comments were also made that the Aus-Archivists list-serv
was the domain of a small section of our membership base, a section that had
wonderful thoughts and ideas but perhaps did not realise that the tone that
they adopted in writing was perceived as being bullying and intimidating.
Hence the presence of ArchivesLive! What is happening on ArchivesLive! is
exactly my vision of what archivists and recordkeepers should be doing to
foster their connections with each other, people are learning a great deal
about what it is to be an archivist and are feeling connected with each
other, not overwhelmed by theory but feeling part of a greater whole. It is
a place for information sharing about archives and archival work with
networking capacity. It's not a dating site for archivists.
Why doesn't the ASA Council or the ASA National Office give us a new
list-serv and manage it themselves?
Commentary is now cranking up for and against the Ning /List-serv. This is a
very good thing as it means people are interested in how they are
communicated with and how they communicate. We have people excited that they
are freed up from the tyranny of their in-box to others who prefer to have a
numbers of list-servs deposited into one work email account. There are those
who prefer a venue where they can post a long, considered discussion and
others who prefer their discussions to be succinct, pithy and to the point.
For those who do not know the ASA Council consists of volunteers, most who
are in full time employment. Our National Office consists of two full-time
equivalent employees whose duties not only include servicing our members,
answering direct enquiries, mailing out publications, talking to members and
so on but will also include the odd IT emergency. Both our National Office
and the ASA Council are stretched to capacity. Managing a new version of the
list-serv, while supposedly a small thing, adds to all the other tasks that
a small office has to perform. If you have never worked in a small office I
am afraid that you will not understand that an extra small task can have a
serious flow-on effect on the working of an office.
The Governance Review also identified that ASA Council needs to encourage
Branches and Special Interest Groups to participate and show leadership in
projects rather than attempting to do everything ourselves. Hence, on behalf
of the ASA Council, I have asked the Electronic Records Special Interest
Group (ERSIG) to consider whether they are interested in the following
projects:
1) Working on the archives of the Aus-Archivists list-serv which consists of
5.7 gigabytes of data
2) Proposal for a new Aus-Archivists list-serv
Projects such as these are a practical extension of ASA membership. For too
long the ASA Council has attempted to do everything by itself, to be all
things to all people. I am looking forward with interest to ERSIG's response
which of course will be communicated with each and every one of you through
a direct email into your inbox, on the ASA website and a cross posting from
ArchivesLive!
What if I want to go on the ArchivesLive! but my work won't let me?
Many CAARA personnel are already signed up to ArchivesLive! and I will be
contacting CAARA heads this week to talk to them about encouraging other
staff to use ArchivesLive! For those that do not work in CAARA institutions
we will come up with a type of fact sheet for you to use in discussing what
ArchivesLive! is for the archival profession. This we hope you can use in
discussions with your employers and IT people. You may discover that they
have already dealt with similar professional networking sites from outside
the archives and recordkeeping sectors.
I hope this sheds some light on what has been going on with the list-serv
and why there is this thing called ArchivesLive!
Cheers
Pat Jackson
Australian Society of Archivists Inc.
Archives Matter!
[log in to unmask]
T +61 7 3221 4887
T 1800 622 251
F +61 7 3221 6885
M 0450 781 007
E [log in to unmask]
W www.archivists.org.au
NING: www.archiveslive.ning.com
Twitter: www.twitter.com/ausarchivists
Kind regards
Jackie
Jackie Bettington
Vice President
Australian Society of Archivists Inc.
www.archivists.org.au
0432 150 446
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