National Archives of Australia - Annual reports

Records and Information ManagementProfessionals AustralasiaFormerly known as the Records ManagementAssociation of Australasia, Records and InformationManagement Professionals Australasia (RIMPA)is the key body supporting the records andinformation management profession in Australia.In September 2010, a RIMPA convention –Inforum 2010 – was held on the Gold Coast, withthe theme ‘Information continuity: safeguardingbusiness and community identity’. MargaretChalker, Assistant Director-General, GovernmentInformation Management, Barbara Berce,Director, Policy and Strategic Projects, and DetlevLueth, Assistant Director, National PreservationCoordination, attended the convention, whichfocused on information continuity for the businessand government sectors, individuals, families,community-based organisations, and Indigenousand minority communities.Margaret Chalker chaired a workshop exploringthe requirements needed in business systemsto support information management. BarbaraBerce also presented a paper addressing theeconomic and efficiency benefits of working in adigital environment.RIMPA participated in a number of events aspart of Information Awareness Month in May2011, the theme of which was ‘Informationoverload: finding the tree in the digital forest’.A lunchtime seminar held in Canberra drew a fullhouse, with guest speaker Hans Hofman (SeniorAdvisor, Recordkeeping at the Nationaal Archief,Netherlands) offering a European perspective ondigital initiatives.International Council onArchivesThe International Council on Archives promotespreservation, development and use of the world’sarchival heritage. Its membership includes national,regional and local archives, and professionalassociations of archivists from 198 countries.The Archives is a member of, and activelyparticipates in, the Council.International Council on ArchivesCongress 2012The International Council on Archives Congressis the major international conference onarchives and is held every four years. The nextCongress in 2012 will be hosted by the Archivesin Brisbane. In preparation for the Congress,the Archives’ Director-General serves asVice-President Congress, and Archives staffmember Margaret Kenna serves as DeputySecretary-General Congress.Margaret Kenna, as Project Director for theCongress, coordinates and reports on the workof the various Congress committees and acts aslocal liaison with key partners and stakeholders.A memorandum of understanding betweenthe Archives and the International Council onArchives was signed in March 2011. It defineskey organising, managing and presentationresponsibilities for each signatory. Following atender process, the MCI Group was contractedas the professional conference organiser, and theBrisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre willbe the venue.Pacific Regional BranchThe Pacific Regional Branch of the InternationalCouncil on Archives (PARBICA) is one of 13branches of the Council. PARBICA comprisesgovernment and non-government archivalinstitutions and associations from the PacificIslands, Hawaii and Australasia. The Archives playsan active leadership role in PARBICA, and providesadministrative support to an Archives staff memberwho manages PARBICA’s website and serves asTreasurer on its part-time governing bureau.Recordkeeping for Good Governance ToolkitIn partnership with PARBICA, and with financialsupport from AusAID, the Archives continued tomanage the Recordkeeping for Good Governanceproject. Recent work focused on the developmentof Stage 5 products, which include tools andguidelines to help Pacific Island governmentsmanage their digital records. AusAID fundingenabled workshops to be held in the CookIslands and Tonga to promote and developStage 5 of the Toolkit.114 Annual Reports 2010–11