Community Archive Collection Development Guideline

1. Purpose

This Guideline supports the Collection Development Policy. It provides a framework for the selection, acquisition and preservation of unpublished materials for Libraries Tasmania Community Archive Collection as part of its State Library function.

2.1 Collection description

Libraries Tasmania, in its State Library role, has responsibility ‘to provide for the custody of State and other records’ under the Archives Act 1983.

Under this Act the collection is referred to as the ‘Community Archive Collection’.

The Community Archive Collection comprises of a wide range of contemporary and historical materials from across our communities in many formats that document the story of Tasmania.

The collection is comprised of personal, family and corporate unpublished records.

The collection includes material created or accumulated about or by Tasmanians.

Records come from individual Tasmanians and organisations such as community groups, churches, businesses and companies, political parties, trade and professional associations and sporting bodies.

2.2 Formats

The Community Archive Collection comprises items in both digital and physical formats such as:

Architectural plans
Audio recordings
Diaries
Films
Letters
Maps
Minutes of meetings
Photographs
Reminiscences
Videos

2.3 Collection digitisation

Libraries Tasmania has an ongoing proactive digitisation program which makes digital surrogates of vulnerable and/or high use records for preservation and access.

Digital copies of material are made in-house or commissioned from external bodies according to available resources and technical capacity.

3. Selection and acquisition

Libraries Tasmania collects high quality items in existing and emerging formats.

Materials for the Community Archive Collection are mainly acquired through individual Tasmanians and organisations such as community groups, churches, businesses and companies, political parties, trade and professional associations and sporting bodies. Local press resources are closely monitored in order to identify potential records or collections at risk.

Materials for the Community Archive Collection can also be acquired through the following processes:

Donation
Bequest
Commercial and private purchases
Auction houses
Booksellers – second-hand and antiquarian
Cultural gifts program

3.1 Selection principles

Materials for the Community Archive Collection are assessed against the following:

Provide evidence of activities, including unique information about Tasmania and its people, covering the political, social, cultural, religious, economic, and natural history.
Will detail significant events in Tasmania as well as reflect the day to day lives of Tasmanians over time to comprehensively document the Tasmanian past at all levels.
Will include records of individuals and organisations who have gained wide recognition or influence within the Tasmanian community and/or whose records provide significant insight into the nature and development of this community.
Material with no Tasmanian content but with significant Tasmanian provenance, i.e. Association with a significant individual or institution, may be accepted on a case by case basis.
Decision-making and appraisal is supported by investigating provenance, context of collection creation, fit with existing collection material, collecting themes and condition of the material.

3.2 Donations

The ongoing development of the Community Archive Collection relies heavily on donor-initiated offers through donations or bequests.

Potential donors are encouraged to complete an online collection offers form so that the material on offer can be assessed.

Accepted donations are managed by individual Deposit Agreements to establish conditions under which material can be accessed.

Libraries Tasmania reserves the right to reject any donation if it does not further our objectives.

Items may also not be accepted due to inappropriateness to our collection, condition or the amount of storage space required.

3.3 Cultural gifts program

The Cultural Gifts Program offers tax incentives to encourage people to donate cultural items to public art galleries, museums, libraries and archives in Australia.

Donations of large collections, or items of major significance, are encouraged under the Cultural Gifts program.

4. Exceptions and exclusions

The following exceptions and exclusions apply to the Community Archive Collection:

Copies of original material where the originals remain in private hands will not be accepted. Acceptance of such copies can result in difficulties in the management of reproduction and copyright over time.
Active records required for ongoing operations of an organisation are not accepted.
Copies of unpublished records held in other libraries and archives in Australia and overseas are not accepted.
Realia (objects and material from everyday life) is not collected or accepted unless it forms an intrinsic part of a documentary collection or where the object itself might be considered a record.

Libraries Tasmania engages in cooperative collecting, that considers the collection acquisition policies of other collecting institutions and recognises the need to maintain the integrity of collections. If a proposed collection does not fall within the scope of the collection policy, an alternative collecting institution may be suggested.

Libraries Tasmania reserves the right to accept or reject any donation if it does not further our objectives.

5. Disposal

Libraries Tasmania may dispose of withdrawn library items and unwanted donations by any combination of the following methods:

Resale via book sales or direct to booksellers
Transfer to non-profit organisations for re-use by the community
Transfer to charities for resale in their retail outlets
Use in community outreach
Offer to other libraries or institutions

Where items have been identified as having no alternative use, environmentally sustainable practices such as recycling will be used for disposal.

6. Definitions

Appraisal

Systematically applying criteria for the identification of records having permanent value as Tasmanian community archives.

Digitisation

Converting hard-copy or non-digital records into digital format. It can involve taking digital photographs of original records or scanning (imaging) records.

Format

The physical or digital makeup of an item. Formats may include books, serials, maps, pictures, microform, computer file, DVD and CD.

Item

Any title, regardless of format.

Materials

Any works or items.

Realia

Objects, such as coins, items, or natural specimens, that are included in a collection primarily composed of documentary materials, as in a library.

Resources

Library resources can be in many formats, physical or digital, including books, databases, maps, microform and newspapers, and are used for accessing and sharing information.

Provenance

The relationships between records and the organisations or individuals that created, accumulated and/or maintained and used those records in the conduct of personal or corporate activity.

Works

A ‘work’ may be a monograph, pamphlet, newspaper, map or ephemera. It may refer to a single book or resource or it may be used to describe the total output of an individual for example ‘the works of Richard Flanagan’.