Post by NZBC on Jul 29, 2008 23:12:52 GMT 12
www.nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/2002/burn.html
Melting Pot or Monoculture: Archives and Cultural Diversity in Australia
August 2002
A paper presented by Margy Burn, Assistant Director-General, Australian Collections & Reader Services, National Library of Australia, at the Australian Society of Archivists Annual Conference 2002- Past Caring? What Does Society Expect of Archivists? .
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Australia is often hailed as one of the world’s most successful examples of multiculturalism. The most recent Census data (1) reveals over 200 different ancestries reported (with Italian, German, Chinese and Greek in the top eight); 22% of the population born overseas (11.2% born in Europe, 5% born in Asia and 1% born in the middle east or north Africa). Italian is the most popular language other than English spoken at home, followed by Greek, Cantonese, Arabic and Vietnamese
Yet where are the archives of multicultural Australia to be found? A search of the repositories included in RAAM (2) lists four concerned with cultural diversity: The Estonian Archives in Sydney; the Archive of Australian Judaica at Sydney University; the Jewish Museum of Australia in Melbourne; the Australian Jewish Historical Society Archives in Sydney. The ASA directory (3) lists an additional four: the Australian Jewish Historical Society in Victoria, the Bendigo Chinese Museum, the Cornish Guild of Heralds in Queensland and the Elda Vaccari Collection of Multicultural Studies at Victoria University of Technology.
Melting Pot or Monoculture: Archives and Cultural Diversity in Australia
August 2002
A paper presented by Margy Burn, Assistant Director-General, Australian Collections & Reader Services, National Library of Australia, at the Australian Society of Archivists Annual Conference 2002- Past Caring? What Does Society Expect of Archivists? .
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Australia is often hailed as one of the world’s most successful examples of multiculturalism. The most recent Census data (1) reveals over 200 different ancestries reported (with Italian, German, Chinese and Greek in the top eight); 22% of the population born overseas (11.2% born in Europe, 5% born in Asia and 1% born in the middle east or north Africa). Italian is the most popular language other than English spoken at home, followed by Greek, Cantonese, Arabic and Vietnamese
Yet where are the archives of multicultural Australia to be found? A search of the repositories included in RAAM (2) lists four concerned with cultural diversity: The Estonian Archives in Sydney; the Archive of Australian Judaica at Sydney University; the Jewish Museum of Australia in Melbourne; the Australian Jewish Historical Society Archives in Sydney. The ASA directory (3) lists an additional four: the Australian Jewish Historical Society in Victoria, the Bendigo Chinese Museum, the Cornish Guild of Heralds in Queensland and the Elda Vaccari Collection of Multicultural Studies at Victoria University of Technology.