The ACT’s Archives is preparing to launch a public database of about 7,000 images later this month, which will all be related to the development of Canberra and the region.
Announcing ACT Memory in its April Find of the Month, ArchivesACT said it was planning a special event for the Canberra and Region Heritage Festival at which it will launch the new public database.
“(ACT Memory will) include descriptions from a collection of around 7,000 images related to the development of the Canberra region and capturing moments from past events and activities,” Archives said.
“Not much is known about the accumulation of these images or how they were used by the Agency or Agencies controlling them,” it said.
“They are, however, now held by ArchivesACT after being transferred from the Office of the Surveyor-General in 2014.”
ArchivesACT said a recent project to describe many of the prints, negatives and transparencies from the collection made it possible to upload the titles to allow researchers to search for images online.
It said a small selection of those images made up its April Find of the Month.
“We hope these will give researchers an idea of the diverse range of subjects included in the collection,” it said.
“It is just one series of records that will be featured when ArchivesACT’s public database is launched in April 2022 and made available on the ArchivesACT website.”
Archives said additional entries would be uploaded as more description work was done, which would also provide information about groups of records created by the ACT Government since self-government; on the Government bodies that have created records; and on descriptions of the types of work that those Government bodies performed.
“ACT Memory will primarily provide information about Government records, rather than copies of the records themselves,” the Archives said.
“We will, though, always be working to publish more and more of historical documents and photographs online.”
ArchivesACT’s photographic Find of the Month for April can be accessed at this PS News link.
