University of Melbourne Archives

The 60th anniversary of the foundation of the University of Melbourne Archives is marked on 29 June, the date of appointment of the inaugural University Archivist, Frank Strahan.The establishment of the Archives was driven by University of Melbourne academics in both history and commerce who believed in the preservation of the state’s documentary past in order to facilitate research. This research imperative was accompanied by the need to properly house the University’s own records.

With this online exhibition the University of Melbourne Archives (UMA) highlights some key items in our Australian Red Cross Collection and joins with the rest of the globe in marking 8 May as World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day.

Take some time and explore our collections through jigsaws! There are many puzzles to choose from. All the images have been selected from the university’s vast Archives and Special Collections.

The Baillieu Library Reading Room on Level 3 which facilitates physical access to our Archives and Special Collections on request will not be available from Tuesday 24 of March until further notice.

A big congratulations to our team, led by Sophie Garrett, who received a commendation at the 2019 Australian Society of Archivists Mander Jones Awards.

The Reading Room will be closed on Friday 27 September for the AFL Grand Final holiday.Regular opening hours will resume on Monday 30 September. To order material for use on Monday 30 September please lodge the request by midday Thursday 26 September. Information on ordering and accessing material can be found on the Reading Room website.

Maree Ireland's speech at the launch of the Geoff Bell Archive is a beautifully moving account of the contribution made by Geoff to the disability rights movement and the importance of his archive.

Congratulations to Lachlan Glanville and Fiona Ross of the University of Melbourne Archives, whose articles in The Conversation have been recognised by the presenting of Mander Jones Awards by the Australian Society of Archivists. These awards recognise writing about archives for a general audience or an audience that is rarely exposed to archival thinking. Both articles highlight the many human interactions and range of emotions which are reflected in records. They also give an insight into what it is like to work with very personal records and suggest many ways in which they might be valued by researchers.

Each year, students from the graduate course Digital Humanities MULT900056 work through the process of digitising UMA material, including selection, metadata creation, digitisation and publication.