Author: Emma Haddy

2023 was yet another busy year of travel for History Trust staff as we ventured out of Adelaide to visit some of our MaC members and other regional museums.

In January we visited the Riverland to check in with Loxton Historical Village following their near miss with flood water in late 2022. Loxton had so many boxes to unpack after their temporary re-location, and the team used the opportunity to re-imagine some of their displays and storage options. We were also glad to support the Village as they marked their 50 year milestone in July.

With funding from SAFECOM, the History Trust and Artlab were able to deliver Disaster Resilience Training and assistance with four MaC member groups. St John’s Museum at Brighton was first cab off the ranks in March, followed by The Hahndorf Academy in April.

In June we headed to the Mill Cottage Museum in Port Lincoln to facilitate training with volunteers from Port Lincoln History Group and Axel Stenross Maritime Museum. The fourth and final workshop was held at Clare National Trust in July/August.

  

It was again wonderful to see so many regional museums participating in the History Festival. However, we were pleased to attend a few of 2023’s offerings. Brinkworth History Group arranged a visit to see the Brinkworth RSL collection, while Peterborough History Group launched their project to commemorate the historic Parnaroo Hall.

 

In the latter part of 2023, we worked closely with Melrose Museum as they organised some display change overs. Moonta Branch National Trust of South Australia also gave us insight into their object biographies project, activation of the Miner’s Cottage space, and an exciting 3D printing history project done in conjunction with local schools and Maker’s Empire…

 

… new MaC member Mannum History Group launched their photographic display about the 2022 floods…

… and we were also excited to see that Hollywood has left its mark in Cambrai! Cambrai Museum acquired a fibreglass rock used in the making of Mortal Kombat, which was partly filmed in the area.

November was an especially busy month as we headed to Whyalla Maritime Museum, Mount Laura Homestead Museum, Port Pirie RSL Museum, Crystal Brook Museum, and Kimba & Gawler Ranges Historical Society Museum. Mount Lara Homestead Museum, Whyalla, is also home to some of the Telstra Collection that used to be located in Electra House on King William St Adelaide.

We also spent some time with prospective new MaC members, Crystal Brook History Group.

Of course, no trip to Kimba and the South East is complete without a stop at The Big Galah, which has recently been repainted and looking as vibrant as ever.

What a busy year it was! Thank you to all the museums and groups that welcomed us in 2023. History Trust staff look forward to working with more of our MaC members and members of the wider SA History Network in 2024!

John Hannay from the Henley and Grange Historical Society shares here what he and other volunteers have been working on. After participating in the 2022 Digitising Collections SA training online the Henley and Grange Historical Society have borrowed the loan equipment purchased as part of the DPC funded pilot project. John shares some of the results below. 

After a pause of several years Henley and Grange Historical Society volunteers are working to complete categorisation of our extensive history collection of some 3000 items. We are updating our system of cataloguing which involves creating a paper record and a database entry for each item with digital additions.

Photographic, computer and lighting equipment loaned by the History Trust has enabled us to make a start on generating digital images of the objects and larger items, not previously accessed or viewed.

Once our volunteers had mastered the technology a ‘production line approach’ worked best. This requires several volunteers, a camera operator, another recording, and another preparing objects, re-cataloguing and labelling them afterwards.

This digitisation works with our updated Henley and Grange Historical Society website which we hope will provide easier access to our collection for our members as well as the wider community.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts John! We look forward to seeing more of the Henley and Grange Historical Society digitisation work. 

We are thrilled that one of our Museums and Collections (MaC) members from South Australia’s diverse network of museums and historical groups were announced as winners of the Visitor Services Information Award at the Tourism Industry Council South Australia (TiCSA) awards night on Thursday, 3 November!

The History Trust is proud to work with Ardrossan Museum and Visitor Information Centre, plus more than 60 other MaC members, 300+ community museums and historical societies across the state. Since the 1980s we have awarded Ardrossan Museum a total of $73,710 in History Trust grants to conserve and display their collections and showcase their history. In fact, it is one of our priorities to help care for South Australia’s distributed historical collections. Community museums are essential to bring history to both young and old and deliver great visitor and tourism experiences in our regions.

Well done to Ardrossan Museum and Visitor Information Centre on their TiCSA award!

You can read more about the Museum and plan your visit over on their page.

The History Trust of South Australia is excited to be working on a new digitisation project!

Department of Premier and Cabinet, Arts South Australia has provided funding to develop training, resources, and a community of practice for digitisation of collections across South Australia. With support from a Digital Access Consultative Group (DACG) made up of collaborative collecting organisations, Digitising Collections SA is a short-term project that aims to help increase the knowledge, capacity and understanding of the digitisation process, and provide long-term resources for any individual or organisation embarking on their digitisation journey.

What’s happening in SA

We’ve conducted a survey to establish existing digitisation practice and needs across the SA History Networks collecting organisations.

We received 39 responses from a wide variety of collections and we are already planning some digitisation training and resources based on the outcomes.

Thank you to all the organisations who have participated. If you missed the deadline and would still like to contribute, please contact us. Your information will still be valuable even after the closing of the survey.

Our analysis is not yet complete but here are a few initial findings we thought you might like to see.

Reasons for digitising

The main reasons reported for wanting to digitise a collection are preservation, ease of access and collection management, and better opportunities for research. 73% of respondents have already begun actively digitising their collections.

Challenges

The biggest obstacle to digitisation is insufficient time of staff or volunteers followed by lack of knowledge, and/or lack of resources.

The majority of responding organisations do not have a budget for digitisation and digitisation is undertaken by one person in the organisation.

90% of surveyed organisations do not have a long term storage solution for the preservation of their digital collections and are currently using external hard drives or USB thumb drives to store and back up their image collections.

What can we do?

The top three areas in which organisations would like more support were in:

• preparing processes and procedures that adhere to digitisation standards
• selecting items for digitisation or documenting digitisation strategy
• digital collection storage and management.

Watch this space, we’ll be sharing more findings from the survey, and letting you know how we plan to use this information to provide more support.

Competition Winners

We can also announce the winners of the two $250 Diamonds Camera gift cards. Congratulations Orroroo Historical Society & Port Milang Historic Railway Museum!

Meet the team

Eleanor Adams

Hi I’m Eleanor. I have been working in collecting organisations for the last ten years. My focus has been on digitisation, most recently overseeing the Aboriginal Material Cultures volunteer digitisation project at the South Australian Museum.

I currently split my time between the History Trust of SA and Artlab Australia where I work as the photographer. I also spend some of my time working in school archives, and I also teach at Flinders University. My particular areas of interest are anthropology and archaeology collections, as well as history, art, medical and science collections. I look forward to supporting you on your digitisiation projects!

 

Erin Bridges

Hello! I’m Erin, originally from the Yorke Peninsula, and so far really enjoying my time at the History Trust of South Australia! I am currently studying my Masters in Museum Studies & Cultural Heritage with Deakin University, a library officer at Tea Tree Gully Library and volunteering at The David Roche Foundation whenever I get the chance. I also have more than ten years experience in photography and editing, which means I love helping to digitise.

Thanks for all the warm welcomes I’ve received so far, I’m excited to see where this project goes!

 

 

 

Catherine Manning

Some of you may have met me already – I’ve been working at the History Trust for (almost) 20 years now! First as a curator at the Migration Museum, then in Online Programs, and now as Digital Curator.

I’ve worked with the Community History team in the past to run workshops on digitisation, digital access for collections, and digital storytelling. I’m really excited about the opportunities this project offers to create better resources for our collecting community, and build on the skills already out there in the SA History Networks to work towards digitising and sharing even more of our collections.

We know it can be tough keeping body and soul together in small collecting organisations and history groups. Knowing where to look for grants and funding is half the battle, so we’ve put a few together here to get you started.

AMaGA CHART grants

$3000 up for grabs

This is another reminder that the one-off federal Cultural, Heritage and Arts Regional Tourism (CHART) grants have just become available.  Your organisation may be eligible for up to $3000. Check the details below regarding eligibility and how to apply.  But don’t delay: the round will close on or before 29 April 2022 once the funding allocation has been expended.

The Culture, Heritage and Arts Regional Tourism (CHART) program is a $3 million Australian Government program that aims to support community cultural, heritage and arts organisations in regional Australia as they recover from the impacts of COVID-19. A wide range of projects are eligible for funding including signage and equipment.

The Australian Museums and Galleries Association (AMaGA) is administering the CHART program on behalf of the Australian Government.

Visit the website to view the guidelines, FAQ and scenario examples and to test your eligibility. We have regional coordinators ready to take your enquiries.

SA’s regional coordinator:

Justin Croft

M: 0488 732 766 or E: jcroft@amagavic.org.au

You can find more information and apply on the AMaGA website.

Historical Society of South Australia Grant Scheme

The Historical Society of South Australia is pleased to announce resumption of its Grants Scheme in 2022 for research, publication or promotion of South Australian history.

Closing date for applications: Monday 28 March 2022.

Successful applicants will be announced at the lecture meeting during the annual History Festival on Friday 6 May and all applicants will receive notification by Monday 15 May 2022. Payment of the monies awarded in grants will happen in June 2022.

Applications should be addressed to:

The Convenor, HSSA Annual Grants Scheme

PO Box 519, Kent Town SA 5071

Contact Dr Bridget Jolly, Secretary, Historical Society of South Australia

Email: brimar@esc.net.au

Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/HistoricalSocietySA

More information and application details on the Historical Society of South Australia website.

Small tourism grants now available

Two additional grant programs are now available to support tourism operators to activate nature-based and heritage-based tourism initiatives: the Nature-based Tourism Small Grants Program and the Heritage Tourism Grants Program.Many operators may be eligible for both grant programs – and can choose to apply for both grants or only one.

These grants are only available for a limited time – applications close on 2pm, Friday 3 December 2021.

More on the National Parks and Wildlife Service, South Australia, website.

History Trust Grant Funds

We hope by now you’re all familiar with the South Australian History Fund and the Museums and Collections (MaC) grants offered through the History Trust of South Australia.

The History Trust is seeking feedback on these two grant funds, and we’re keen to hear from you whether or not you have ever come across or applied for one of our grants.

The survey will take just 5-10 mins to complete. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Closing date: Tuesday 30 November 2021

Some of you may have already received an email about this survey, and we really appreciate those who have already completed it. The information you provide will help us support you and your organisations in more meaningful ways in the future.

Complete the survey online now.

Back in April we shared a few thoughts about working with museums and collections from home. While here in South Australia we’ve been able to get out and about a bit more under current COVIDSafe conditions there are still plenty of great opportunities to get online and up-skill, or just learn more on topics of interest. We thought we’d do a quick round up here while we work on a few things ourselves (more on that another time).

Oral History Australia SA/NT are always a great resource, and they have an online ‘How to do an oral history interview’ workshop coming up. Bookings close 5pm Monday 24 August so get in quick for this one!

The Australian Copyright Council are running Webinars in September. If you’re confused about copyright the Copyright Fundamentals workshops are a great place to start, and if you need more there are focus workshops for museum and gallery professionals, library and archive professionals, educators and administrators in educational institutions.

The Marsden Szwarcbord Foundation have a YouTube series called ‘Make History at Home’, a free ‘how to do your own history’ series presented by historians Susan Marsden and Sandra Kearney. They say:

Through the Covid-19 lockdown, we’ve posted videos, photos and advice, so you can use the time at home to arrange your records and photos, and share your own histories.

Session one below for an introduction.

Of course there’s always something to see, hear and more on the History Trust website as well, and we’ll be talking to you soon about what else we might offer there!

How is your organisation adjusting to the new world of isolation?

Managing collections ‘behind closed doors’ presents new challenges for engaging your communities. Are you looking for ways to innovate, keep collections visible and share local histories over the next few months? Now is a great time to bump up your social media and/or website activity, share short videos of highlights from your collections, set up a Facebook page or reinvigorate one that has been on the back-burner.

We thought we’d share a quick round up of ideas and initiatives to inspire you. We’d love to see your contributions too!

Training opportunities

If you can’t get into your organisation to continue your usual work, there are some great opportunities for upskilling online.

• Marketing skills with the SA Tourism Commission
• Focus on digitisation of collections with AMaGA, the peak body for Museums and Galleries in Australia
• Discover new online skills using the myriad resources on the website Be Connected.
• Free online courses at Adelaide X by the University of Adelaide.

South Australians stay home

There are some great initiatives already online that you can enjoy at home.

• Take a short tour through the Army Museum of South Australia.
• View a range of videos from the SA Aviation Museum showing engine runs, community events and activities.
• Explore the collections at the Gawler Old Telegraph Station Museum.

Keep connected with people around South Australia through Social Media

• The Peterborough History Group chose an historic image from their collection as a way to assure their Facebook followers of their intention to stay connected.
• City of Port Adelaide Enfield Libraries are sharing #WindBackWednesday on Facebook. A great way to share historic images.
• You can check out local and worldwide museums in the thread #MuseumAtHome on Twitter.
• The South Australian Maritime Museum are sharing their ideas for Family Fun Day on Mondays through Instagram.

Hahndorf Walking Tours have come up with a neat idea – sensory boxes home delivered with historical storytelling over Skype. Check out the short promo video here.

Contemporary collecting

The FAHS (Federation of Australian Historical Societies) is promoting history organisations contributing to collecting materials relating to the current pandemic. They suggest collecting hard copy items, and/or form a digital archive for future reference and research. FAHS also recommend groups add digital material to A Journal of the Plague Year: an Archive of COVID-19, which is a collaboration between universities worldwide, including the University of Melbourne.

Still missing your local museums?

You can see thousands of images from museums and collections throughout our state and the people who work with them on the South Australian History Network Flickr page. https://www.flickr.com/photos/communityhistorysa/albums

Of course we’d also love you to stay in touch with us at the History Trust of South Australia.

Let us know what we’ve missed!