The Identified Record

Today we discuss about the significance of records and archives in context to the historical society of Australia, both local and national.

I think keeping archives and records is a necessary requirement for the social relations as well as establishing important events in the history especially ones that have social and political reference. We have identified a record in the National Archives of Australia in the form of a letter (Appendix) written from the Queen’s office to the governor general of Australia which we will evaluate based on the historical relevance of the document (Evershed, 2020). Considering individuals and administration have political viewpoints that plays an important role in terms of establishing the deep love for knowledge, I think it is my archives that supports the knowledge development. The integration of archives and records reflects the way a society can be represented and the way the members of the society can understand the journey of the creation of an event (Luker, 2017). For me, it is very important for historical events and interaction being recorded and captured in archives for the future generation to be aware of. My purpose of making this speech is to establish effective implementation of recordkeeping contributing to the society development and the way it is used to guide the members of the society.

The record that we have identified and it has been sourced from the National Archives of Australia is a letter which is the part of a series of letters reflecting the exchange between Buckingham Palace and Governor-General Sir John Kerr. The letter is a part of the periodic confidential reports to the queen from the governor general of Australia. This letter is the initiation of the interaction between the governor general of Australia and Her Majesty, the Queen about the inefficiency prime minister, Edward Gough Whitlam and about the failure of obtaining supply preceding the election (McKemmish, 2017). I think the letter reflects the management of political relations between the Queen and the Governor General who was the representative of the Queen in Australia. As a record, it not only provides a better understanding on the way the British were influencing the politics in Australia but also gives an idea about it in the future due to its records being kept in the archives (Gilliland, 2017). According to Records and Information Management Professionals Australia, it is necessary to maintain archives because it regulates compliance and it minimizes the litigation risks. Keeping records relatable to audio-visual representation, documents, interactions and formal announcement means safeguarding useful and important information over a long period of time leading to cutting costs, saving effort and time (Hoyle et al., 2019). Based on the Information and Records Management Society representation, it can be stated that the management of archives reflects the building blocks of a society especially in this digital world where there is a risk of losing soft copies of documents.

The Significance of Recordkeeping

Application and reflection of knowledge and significance of archives management is discussed in relevance to the chosen letter which talks about better management skills and decision making of the governor general especially in terms of handling the prime-minister and his action. It was the aftermath of these interactions between the queen and the governor general that led to the sacking of the prime-minister Whitlam who not cooperating with him by resigning from his position after failing to obtain supply for the general election (Gibbons & Douglas, 2020). I would like to advocate for the maintaining of records and archives because without these, we in today’s world as well the future generation would not be able to effective learning about the major historical developments. Professional acting in part of records and archive maintenance reflects the need to understand the creation of the archives and their impact on individuals, an integral member of the society (Evans et al., 2015).

Records in context of this letter can be defined as a political interaction that was heavily influential in terms of providing information on developing strategies and tactics that will contribute to the manipulation of the prime minister. I assert that the significance of recordkeeping and its history in relevance to the letter can be discussed especially with the governor general reports which helped them as well to integrate important information guiding his decision making. The recordkeeping theories that can be used to evaluate the significance of recordkeeping and the positive impact it has on collection of records and keeping archives (Evans, McKemmish & Rolan, 2017). The archives principles are discussed in relevance to the selected record of letter are as follows:

• The life cycle of any type of professional records must be maintained because it helps in guiding the future generation for decision making and treatment of social and political relevance
• The evidence and its sanctity contribute to the effectiveness of archival perspective especially when we are trying to maintain the political reflection and its provenance playing an important role
• The original order, provenance and respect des fonds are the necessary requirements based on which records and archives must be treated by us as well as the government (Chilcott, 2019).
• I have always felt that the hierarchy of records and their description contributes to the maintenance of the past and significant decisions in the past that shaped our society.

The legislation and standards can be discussed in terms of maintaining archives can be stated in relevance to the selected record in the form of the letter because it contributes to better understanding of the events and actions of the officials. The principles are as follows:

• Improving storage in terms of original order which might not be sustainable or exist for a long period of time thus, archiving the document has contributed to the understanding of the role played by governor-general.
• Taking control in terms of establishing the foundation of the archives reflecting the significance of the factors especially in relevance to the values of these political documents such an exchange of letters.
• Archives and record keeping according to me are for supporting safe keeping reflecting the collection of letters between the two concerned parties and their integration with the foundation of the historical and political decision making.

When illustrating the different context of the letter in my opinion is, the record can be evaluated with the perception of recordkeeping and its contextual relevance that has led to its position being strong in archive. Effective implementation of understanding the sanctity of the evidence informs of the way the events have originality and their activities has a serious impact on the local, national and international decision making (Shepherd & Yeo, 2003 p.27). The process of archiving according to me is reflective of the organic nature of records and the letters that contributes to the way the Governor general and the Queen interacting (Biber, 2017).

Archives Principles in Relevance to Selected Record

The historical facts that we have learned from the selected record can be discussed as in terms of the hierarchy of power showing that the governor general was under the rule of the queen. It was the integration and effective approach of the governor general in terms of taking decision that led to the way prime minister was treated during the 1975 crisis. The sacking of the prime minister was an aftermath of the exchange of letters reflecting the significance of the British government on the Australian political and administration decision making. The archives lead to the way individuals are guided in terms of the past events and activities reflecting the caretaker government (Luker, 2017) The different roles of the record are discussed in relevance to the way opposition towards the prime minister’s actions was an influence of the letters. This particular letter is the one received from the queen to governor general reflecting the influence of constitution and political reflection of decision making towards the prime minister. The term “may raise” in the letter is the way it can be reflective of decision making by the event integration of the political reflection and the point of view is established (Appendix).

The society members are influenced by the archives and the way records are kept to effectively understand the significance of the record and its integration to archival record informing the constitutional rights and use of through interaction. There are times when archives management effectively contributes to the security of the sensitive information and documents (Yeo, 2018 p.9). It will require a lot of security credentials to enter into archive storage while in the digital age, is easier for individuals to access sensitive data. For example, an engineer at Tesla was accused of stealing trade secrets in the form of 26000 sensitive files while working for the organization in his first week (Shalvey, 2021). Archives management is implemented and evaluated in reflection to the abandonment of decision making and responsibilities informing of the way appropriation bills is represented through letter I can inform that the journey of the records from creation is evaluated in relevance to their position in the archives, especially discussing about the one chosen record reflective of the way the British impact on Australian government. Accessing and using of the records reflects that we all need information and clarity in terms of State Premier impact and identification and sourcing of the record can be reflected in terms of it being a publicly available archival record (Duranti, 1989 p.3).

Historical Facts Learned from Selected Record

The ability to locate, critically synthesizing, applying the key national, international and local records reflects the way archives helps in development of records in relation to description. The effective implementation of government and its constitution towards regulating the way committees thus, I feel that description of records and information reflects the significance of archives. Maintaining the same reflects the effectiveness of the committee and the way administration documents recorded will help in providing us with a better understanding of information and reflection (Cumming, 2010). Administrative understanding is developed in us through the archives and records therefore, they must be managed effectively informing the description of the actions taken during the events. The public sector undertaking is something that is learnt from the effective archival principles informing the preservation of information and records making it relevant to the description of corporation and the decision making of the people involved in the letters (McKemmish, 2017).

Generation and evaluation of complex idea that is present in the records and maintaining the hierarchy in the form of their actions and its integration. The preservation of public records according to the Public Records Act, 1993 reflecting the administration and its impacts in terms of documenting the past decision making. It has the impact on the social, national and international aspects of the nation as well as the global sphere. Effective implementation of authentic, reliable and integral information is observed from the archive and record keeping is observed by synthesizing the national, local and international records. It informs that preserving documents through archives and record keeping reflecting the significance of past documentation and significance on national decision making (Findlay, 2013 p.7). I think we must decide on the storage environment of the archives and record reflecting the determination of preservation of important documents. The standard preservation of the documents informing of the specific institution integrating the way archives play an important social life. The way individuals and the society are influenced through archives maintenance and record keeping leading to testing and research. The particular institution reflects that the criteria of saving documents that determine effective understanding of research and the archives provide a positive support from research values. The authenticity and the integrity of these documents play an important role in preserving the history of individuals and the administration contributing to the effective role of records protection (Shepherd & Yeo, 2003 p.173).

When locating the archives management, I have observed that it is necessary to learn about historical information and its relevance to the workplace situations and standards. Applying the standards, the claim can be made according to the object of Public Records Act 1993 informs of identification, management and explanation of archives. It is important for us to take effective implementation and track development in the past thus, historically significant changes can be implemented. The archives informing the way recording of past events has been taken leading to implementation of social and political policies (Yeo, 2018 p.9). The archive management contributes to the development of the social interactions and people are more aware of the events that took place in the past. It contributes to the effective implementation of academic and professional development in our actions thus, making a better understanding of life and its actions.

References

Biber, K. (2017). The archival turn in law: The papers of Lindy Chamberlain in the National Library of Australia. Sydney Law Review, The, 39(3), 277-301. https://search.informit.org/doi/abs/10.3316/INFORMIT.183620689785023

Chilcott, A. (2019). Towards protocols for describing racially offensive language in UK public archives. Archival Science, 19(4), 359-376. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10502-019-09314-y

Cumming, K. (2010). Ways of seeing: contextualising the continuum. Records Management Journal.

Duranti, L. (1989). The Odyssey Of Records Managers Part I: From The Dawn Of Ci. Information Management, 23(3), 3. https://search.proquest.com/openview/9847e3aae6fc048e00357a2ff0b110ea/1?pq-origsite=gscholar&cbl=47365

Evans, J., McKemmish, S., & Rolan, G. (2017). Critical approaches to archiving and recordkeeping in the continuum. Journal of Critical Library and Information Studies, 1(2). https://research.monash.edu/files/279256030/62582424_oa.pdf

Evans, J., McKemmish, S., Daniels, E., & McCarthy, G. (2015). Self-determination and archival autonomy: advocating activism. Archival Science, 15(4), 337-368. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10502-015-9244-6

Evershed, N. (2020). Update your browser to use Google Drive, Docs, Sheets, Sites, Slides, and Forms – Google Drive Help. Drive.google.com. Retrieved 28 March 2022, from https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1hUHwml4hBkXiUWBbeQOWhBF2CJZKWlNq.

Findlay, C. (2013). People, records and power: what archives can learn from WikiLeaks. Archives and Manuscripts, 41(1), 7-22. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01576895.2013.779926

Gibbons, L., & Douglas, J. (2020). Markers of professional identity: records management jobs advertisements in Australia. Records Management Journal. https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/RMJ-03-2020-0007/full/html

Gilliland, A. J. (2017). Archival and recordkeeping traditions in the multiverse and their importance for researching situations and situating research. GILLILAND, Anne J.; MCKEMMISH, Sue; LAU, Andrew, J.(Ed.). Research in the archival multiverse. Clayton, Victoria: Monash University Publishing. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/31429/628143.pdf?sequence=1#page=40

Hoyle, V., Shepherd, E., Flinn, A., & Lomas, E. (2019). Child social-care recording and the information rights of care-experienced people: A recordkeeping perspective. The British Journal of Social Work, 49(7), 1856-1874. https://academic.oup.com/bjsw/article-abstract/49/7/1856/5253793

https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/09565691011036224/full/html

Luker, T. (2017). Decolonising archives: Indigenous challenges to record keeping in ‘reconciling’settler colonial states. Australian Feminist Studies, 32(91-92), 108-125. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/08164649.2017.1357011

McKemmish, S. (2017). Recordkeeping in the Continuum. Archival Multiverse. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/31429/628143.pdf?sequence=1#page=131

McKemmish, S. (2017). Recordkeeping in the Continuum. Archival Multiverse. https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.12657/31429/628143.pdf?sequence=1#page=131

Shalvey, K. (2021). Tesla has accused an engineer of downloading about 26,000 sensitive files in his first week. Business Insider Australia. Retrieved 29 March 2022, from https://www.businessinsider.com.au/elon-musks-tesla-suing-an-ex-worker-who-it-says-downloaded-trade-secrets-2021-1?r=US&IR=T.

Shepherd, E., & Yeo, G. (2003). Managing records: a handbook of principles and practice. Facet publishing. https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=BdMqDgAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PR1&dq=Shepherd,+E.,+%26+Yeo,+G.+(2003).+Managing+records:+A+handbook+of+principles+and+practice.+&ots=Lr4GRlir-Y&sig=tp6x-m4h0JdWS3KE6qWW2npqi5Y

Yeo, G. (2018). Records, information and data: exploring the role of record-keeping in an information culture (p. 9). London: Facet Publishing.