Australian Society of Archivists
1999 Conference

The Need for Archival Education and Professional Development

Delene Cuddihy
Member of the Education Subcommittee of the Queensland Branch

The Education Subcommittee was formed in 1997. At this time the federal Education Committee was not operating. However, a federal Committee has been formed recently and issued a Discussion Paper and we look forward to co-operating with this Committee.

But, back to 1997 and the formation of the Qld Education Sub-committee. It arose out of the publication of the National Records and Archives Competency Standards which listed the post-secondary courses in records and archives management across Australia.

It was glaringly obvious in this listing that there was a lack of educational and, consequently, professional development opportunities in Queensland compared to other areas/States of Australia.

In light of this realisation, of this yawning gap, in the profession, in the moment of indecision between the need for action and the comfort of inaction, we resolved on a course of activity.

Queensland branch members formed an Education Sub-committee with the aim of achieving several activities:

• Lobby for Education to have a high priority at this Conference - for it to be placed in a plenary session - we were successful in this
• Liaise with educational institutions in Queensland which included the TAFE Records Management Course at Southbank and the Faculty of Information Technology at Queensland University of Technology

The aim of this liaison was to facilitate dialogue and interaction between these two institutions

• In the short term, to achieve articulation or credit for the TAFE Course into the Information Technology undergraduate and postgraduate areas of QUT which would, in the long term, provide a career path through all the levels of the Competency Standards
• Ascertain what constituted the details of Distance Education courses available in recordkeeping in other states
• Liaise with the Recordkeeping Educator's Forum (REF) We received positive feedback and encouragement from them, in particular the chair of this year's Forum, Ann Pederson. QUT Information Technology Faculty member Mike Middleton agreed to host the REF in Brisbane and there were resultant opportunities for collaboration.

The REF Open Session articulated some of the issues that the Education Sub-committee had been struggling with and pointed the way for further collaboration and strategies.

The first realisation was that Queensland was a microcosm of the future of the profession in that the profession existed here in a state of restraint.

Some of the features of this restraint include

• Minimal local recordkeeping courses, apart from the TAFE Course and distance education courses
• Minimal collaboration with allied professions
• Need to travel interstate and intrastate for professional development
• Need to enter profession via allied professions e.g. librarianship
• Need for fieldwork placements and costs involved
• Need for larger institutions to devote time and resources for professional supervision, mentoring, etc and the reliance on the benevolence of Queensland institutions in this regard
• Need to undertake distance education courses and their accompanying unique features such as
  • Isolation - geographically - Queensland is a large, decentralised State, growing rapidly, soon to be the 2nd largest state in Australia
  • Isolation - academically - there is no academic/theoretical base for the profession in Queensland and therefore discussion about legislation, etc is limited
  • High cost of technology to keep up to date and access course materials
  • Need for personal motivation
  • Vulnerability of University distance education programs and research programs to being cut by economic rationalism

To counter these risks, we believe that a strong professional body is needed to:

• Promote recordkeeping as a disciple and an essential business enabling function
• Provide a clear, distinct intellectual and professional identity across a variety of practioneers, from public to private, from large institution to lone arranger
• Undertake public advocacy and encouragement, issuing statements of principles and ethics, underpinned by a commitment to sharing, collaboration and "interdisciplinarity" and even, trust
• Recognise and encourage professional education and training programs
• Give a strategy for the future.

In Queensland we badly need a strategy for the future. Some of the areas we see it working towards would be

• The eventual merging of the RMAA and the ASA and other related recordkeeping disciplines, and sooner rather than later
• Definitions and policies on Associate and Professional membership and a defined continuing professional development path and an accreditation process, but one which steers clear of "elitism" and takes into account areas of special needs such as Northern and regional areas of Australia
• A strategy to ensure that University programs survive economic rationalism and building recordkeeping into related disciplines such as accountancy, information systems, business, law, public administration
• Galvanising leading institutions, professional associations and professionals of the need for involvement in supporting professional educational and training programs, and in turn, they will become galvanised by a strong academic base

In summary, we believe that the needs and challenges facing the profession in Queensland can be addressed by concentrating on strengthening the educational and professional development aspects of the profession, for all members, for all regions.

Could this be a blueprint for the wider profession in Australia?