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| image courtesy of State records NSW |
A quick little tweet I spotted this morning grabbed my attention so forcefully it spurred me into immediate action...
I dashed over to the Stop the cuts to State Records NSW funding Petition | GoPetition filled in my details, added a rather pertinent comment, and became signer #276.
I tweeted the thing that had got me started, shared the petition on my facebook page, then found myself dashing over here to blog about it.
Obviously I feel quite strongly about this...
State Records NSW is the NSW Government's archives and records management authority. All the available historical records pertaining to NSW (and by default Australia) first settlement is archived by this agency.
Over time a large portion of these records have been copied onto microform and made available through NSW Public Libraries. More recently a digitisation project has sought to make them readily available to the broader public. For copies of those records not digitised or available at a Public Library a Reading Room at The Rocks, Sydney was available during normal business hours for access. The bulk of material has been stored off-site in the Western Sydney Records Centre, which can also be accessed by the public. Bookings are essential. The Government has recently announced a cut-back in funds, as a result the Reading Room at The Rocks will be closed from 1st July 2012.
To quote from the petition...
State Records is one of NSW's key cultural institutions and an invaluable research facility for any historian's investigations into aspects of the functioning of the state, from colonial and convict history, through all the permeations of the state's role in people's lives.
While the history Council acknowledges the challenges faced by State Government to be fiscally responsible, the budget cuts imposed on State records NSW has a severe impact on the accessibility of records and services.
The cuts will downgrade the archives, undermining its position as a key cultural insitution, limiting access for key user groups, and hampering the organisation's role to inform and support state government, especially in its ongoing role in the state's Digital Archives as well as guiding digitisation of records across NSW government.
And that it why I signed this position.
State Records NSW is the holder of NSW's (and by therefore Australia's) document and image history, from our earliest beginnings to our present day.
This is our history, our heritage, our culture, our identity. This is our future. Value it, do not ignore it.
