ALIA Library and Information Week 2024 -Thoughts on Discovering Democracy: Collections of political and cultural ephemera in Australia

By Louise Warren

Liz Bradtke (ALIA) hosted the chat.

The presenters were:

• Connor Macarthy, Director of Philanthropy (National Library of Australia)
• Kathryn Dan (Australian National University who manages Noel Butlin Archive, Pacific Archive, National Aids Archive, and Trades Union Archive)
• Dr Nathan Hobby, Specialist Collections Librarian/Archivist, Curtin University.

The second last day of Library and Information Week specifically focused on collections housed in cultural locations that I was curious to learn about.

The conversation covered political collections, items that informed the democratic process, the process of collecting items digitisation; and what the future of democracy might entail.

Connor Macarthy, Director of Philanthropy at the National Library of Australia, mentioned that he had helped raise 10 million dollars to benefit the digitisation process at The National Library of Australia – a significant achievement to me, given the breadth of the collection at the Australian level.

Conor further spoke about why digitising democratic information was crucial, highlighting that many Australians do not fully grasp the rich and innovative history that unfolded at the beginning of the 20th century.

During a visit to Adelaide, I learned that South Australians were pioneers in voting and public communication, which was an enlightening experience for me.  

Connor expressed concerns about a global issue—public dissatisfaction with the democratic process incorporating democratic ephemera from the collection in the conversation on democracy of demonstrations of citizen participation.

The election collection illustrates changes over the years, reflecting the diverse materials from political parties and governments.

Kathryn Dan shared a story that in 1946, the Australian National University set the goal of being a research archive and organisation that communicates the national mission supporting public discourse, further sharing that the university collection housed raw, unfiltered, and unbiased, with numerous archives connecting to other state and private collections.

I was unaware of the policy documents detailing how government information should be appropriately handled and stored.

Featured emphera included past strikes, marches, protests, and campaigns.

Access challenges can arise from the collection containing text or handwritten materials that are difficult to interpret.

Students and the broader community can access The Australian National University collection in person and online.

Dr Nathan Hobby talked about Curtin University and the renaming of the University in 1987 to be after former Australian Prime Minister John Curtin, who had held a seat in Western Australia.

Curtin University created the first prime ministerial library in Australia, with a collection that holds items donated by the community.

Emphera from the collection of democracy demonstrations included flyers with topics on conscription, fundraising, and changing times.

Liz Bradtke asked the panel two questions.

What is not considered ephemera in collections?

What sort of things would not include and why?

Kathryn explained that most of the Australian National University collection was not ephemera, considering that, pamphlets, badges, posters, banners, t-shirts, caps, organizational information, and financial management documents as temporary items.

There is a risk of important ephemera being discarded.

Nathan added that most of the collection is not ephemera; Curtin University collects anything related to John Curtin’s time and activities, often leading to new insights into John Curtin. Connor mentioned while he is not primarily an archivist, the National Library’s stance is to collect all types of ephemera, including; performing arts materials, tickets and posters, which are temporary. The National Library of Australia collection contains a variety of unusual items.

Liz asked about copyright law. How does copyright law impact cultural institutions? Connor mentioned that he often communicates with political parties to seek permission before collecting information. Katherine pointed out the complexity of copyright law, highlighting challenges such as identifying publishers and rights holders. Nathan noted that a significant portion of copyright regulations do not apply. Part of his job involves locating the descendants of content creators to obtain permission. Nathan was asked about copyright requests being refused.

Nathan explained that some copyright request refusals were from individuals who did not hold copyright over certain materials and issues with a subscribing database.

Liz had received a question from the audience about the quality ephemera of material not being created on the best quality material, such as poor-quality paper.

How do you balance conservation preservation and digitisation of collections in the context of collections viewed as more important?

What was the context of fundraising to digitise?

Connor emphasised that much ephemera is fragile, and donors providing information are eager to see it preserved. Kathryn highlighted digitisation as a preservation mechanism, explaining that the high cost of digitisation requires careful assessment of materials based on research value, usage, and fragility. Nathan agreed with Katherine’s assessment, stating that preservation efforts are crucial.

Liz asked about digitisation and the unthinkable loss of digital and physical items.

What are the social and democratic consequences of losing information?

Kathern mentioned it would be a vast loss as their organisation works hard to collect the story of Australia. Connor said to guard against the unthinkable loss of history. Nathan noted that the main issue we are fighting against is a society that is forgetting, we are in the process of remembering. If we lose the patient work of archivists, we lose the story of society, and in its place would be untruths.

Liz received a question from the audience.

Can you suggest a good database for a community group to collate and cross-reference their archives?

Nathan said that a program called Collections WA is in Western Australia, an online database for grassroots groups; another program was Victorian Collections in Victoria based on Collections WA.

Kathryn mentioned that Excel spreadsheet workbooks worked well for collection management.

I learned the ways archives continue to store data vital to Australian history so the public can learn about the past and engage with it.