This photograph shows what looks to be a newly established garden on Blayney railway station.
Could the train engine, features of the platform or maybe even the uniform of the station attendant give us some clues as to the date of this photo?
Can you date this photograph?
We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If you know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.
A bird’s eye view of Cowra in the Central West of NSW.
Can you date this photograph?
We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If you know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.
As summer draws to an end, a beach scene showing the Oceans baths at Forster.
Can you date this photograph?
We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If you know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.
Now here’s something you don’t see down at the Quay these days!
Sheep housed in temporary pens aboard a cargo ship at No.4 wharf, Circular Quay (NSW).
Can you date this photograph?
We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If you know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.
Strike a pose, there’s nothing to it. In the image conscious 21st Century photographs shape the world. How has the development of the visual changed, informed and shaped society? How do historians use art and photography to inform their research? Who were the original mad men of the advertising industry? Long before the Kardashians, the rich and famous manipulated their images and throughout time people from all backgrounds and cultures have created their view of the world through visual representations. History Week 2013 will bring the past into view through the frame of images.
All members of the History Council of NSW are entitled to host an event during History Week. History Week events will be published on the website from August to September. The History Council of NSW also runs a statewide publicity campaign and event hosts receive an event host kit with advice on promoting their event and templates.
There are three ways to participate in History Week 2013:
Put on an exhibition, host a lecture or seminar, run a walking tour or throw a theme inspired party.
Once again in 2013 the History Council of NSW, in partnership with the Royal Australian Historical Society, is offering member organisations in regional and suburban NSW the opportunity to receive speakers during History Week.
As part of History Week 2013 the HCNSW is seeking talented historians to travel to community and local government organisations in regional and suburban NSW to deliver exciting and thought provoking talks.
Visit the History Council website for more information.
Sharing the love with links.
It’s been a big year for the UK government’s open data agenda. Chris Yiu reviews what’s been achieved and asks what needs to
happen next.
Archives Outside contributor and Conservator Jill Gurney and Powerhouse Museum Conservator James Elwing both have work on display in this exhibition. Definitely worth taking a look!
WHEN: Between Monday 13 August andSunday 28 October from 09.00 to 05.00
WHERE:
State Library of NSW Shop, Macquarie Street Sydney Sydney 2000
Contact: 02 9273 1611
Opening Hours: Monay to Friday 9am to 5pm Weekends 11am to 5pm
Other Services: Air conditioned, Disabled access, Food outlet, Public toiletsCOST:Free
MORE INFO:Anne Eagar 02 94810110
eagarl1@0-tusnet.com.au
An interview with the Director of Web and New Media Strategy at the Smithsonian Institution
We say that the web, technology, the Internet, are important, but too often, an impartial observer would logically conclude that we can and should be doing more. We say in our Smithsonian web and new media strategy that “some re-balancing of resources and priorities will be required.”
…the first in a series of posts designed to give our readers a bit of a guided tour around the Dictionary, and to help readers get more out of the site. There’s a lot more in there than you may think.
Internal Street Views, a trip to Egypt and votes for women
…our first ever pin from inside the White House, of a reception in honor of Martin Luther King, Jr. Here are some more famous visitors, Princess Diana and John Travolta, dancing in the main entrance hall of the White House…
Here are some links from Wikipedia to get you started.
The Simothsonian has found some helpful tips for those playing games in the ‘old days’. And indeed
Are video games making us violent? Is all that screen time playing Angry Birds bad for us? Are we becoming lazy and inferior beings? Concerns about how we spend our leisure time are so 21st century, but an 1889 catalogue of Milton Bradley’s finest toys and games reveals the anxiety is rooted in history.
And for the ladies
The new corset with elastic material promises to maintain “the dainty waist of the poets” without contributing to the “perishing of the muscles that support the frame.”
Read more helpful tips for game playing
Album of Dungog Postcards by George Kelly Photographer Dungog (c1905-1915), with correspondence on verso of postcards from Edie Kelly (Dungog) – daughter of the photographer George Kelly to Miss Gertie Alder (Hamilton) 1908-1914. Originally in possession of Mr Brian Alder, and given to Mr Ian Clucas, and deposited by him with the University of Newcastle’s Archives on the 15th August 2011.
Check out this digitised collection
NB Quite a few pics here for the rail buffs.
Last but definitely not least the full papers and abstracts from The International Council of Archives Congress – 2012. A tresure trove of insight and inspiration.
There’s been the occasional hint of warmer weather of late.
Let’s encourage it by looking at a summer scene of swimmers at Cronulla beach!
Can you date this photograph?
We have many other undated photographs in Photo Investigator and on our Flickr account. If know the dates or any other interesting facts about these images please let us know.
Tomorrow is June 9 and a very special day. It’s International Archives Day! To mark the occasion we have collaborated with our Future Proof sisters to create a joint list of why we think archives are awesome. Check out Future Proof’s Recordkeeping is Awesome post. Here are our five:
How could we not use this? It’s our 50 year anniversary slogan. Archives educate; they are the primary source – the ‘raw materials’ – of history. They are evidence of people, places and events in the past and can educate those of today.
And, of course, without a record of the past, Bill and Ted would have continued to believe that Caesar was just a salad dressing, dude.
Past, Present, Future by crises_crs, on Flickr
…of just about everything. They document social (in)justice, crime, built structures, illness, social change, citizens rights and at the most fundamental level they document us. The good, the bad and the ugly.
On a more trivial note, in Star Wars IV A New Hope – aka Star Wars original version – without those crucial archives (they call them “plans”) of the Death Star carried by R2D2, then Luke Skywalker would never have been able to fire the single shot that blew it up, leaving Darth Vader spinning through space in a tiny little ship getting very, very dizzy.
“It’s not impossible. I used to bullseye womp rats in my T-16 back home.” says Luke, following the military briefing on the plans.
Norfolk History Detectives 2: visiting the Act Room by UK Parliament, on Flickr
Archives document the decisions a government makes, how they make decisions and how those decisions are implemented. They are the cornerstone of accountable government and allow scrutiny from the public they govern.
Without Archives there would be no X-Files. Just stop for a moment and imagine a world in which Mulder and Scully didn’t truly exist…oh, yes…a very scary place.
detective by olarte.ollie, on Flickr
Archives document our lives: births, deaths, marriages, illnesses, misadventures, buildings, voices and images. Their breadth and importance is endless.
“It’s all about the information” [Sneakers 1992]
(N.B. If your reaction to this quote was “…what the?” all we can say in reply is do not stop, do not pass go, go straight home and watch this movie. Sydney Poitier, Robert Redford, River Phoenix, Mary McDonnell, Dan Aykroyd, Ben Kingsley and did we mention River Phoenix? Plus, it’s all about data encryption, appalling Russian accents and code breaking. In what other movie do the protagonists throw a party, get drunk and hack into the national power grid? Seriously, why haven’t you seen this already?)
Telling our stories to the National Academy of Engineering by opensourceway, on Flickr
Archives can show how an environment changes over time. Its soil, vegetation, climate and structures. As an example: Remember our montage to the construction of the Sydney Harbour Bridge? That one series of photos documents the dramatic changes in that area of Sydney – from land where houses once stood and railway tracks being laid to the two sides of the bridge meeting in the centre and the official opening ceremony and celebrations. Alongside these photos, archival plans, drawings and correspondence show how the northern and southern shores of Sydney linked up.
Climate change: Russian art contest by UNDP Europe and CIS, on Flickr
As Jack Hall says in The Day After Tomorrow, “Mankind survived the last ice age. We’re certainly capable of surviving this one. All depends on whether or not we’re able to learn from our mistakes?” <– Archives.
Check out the Top 5 at Future Proof. And make sure to add your own reasons why archives are awesome in the comments.
Happy International Archives Day! Hug an archivist if you see one (but ask first, just in case).
Some interesting links we have found on-line…war, ball gowns, social media and boxes. What does this have to do with Archives? Read on to find out.
