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“Nothing could be saved” when the Folk Research Center (FRC) housing the most extensive collection of St Lucia’s cultural artefacts and history became engulfed in fire. |
The cause of the blaze is under investigation. Read more about the fire and about the history and work of the Folk Research Center.
Thanks to Nicolette Hall, one of our IDNA researchers, for alerting us!
David Fricker is an energetic individual, with a great sense of humor, who is very enthusiastic about archives. He is the current President of the ICA, but my colleague, Kate Eminhizer, and I first met him as the Director-General of the National Archives of Australia (NAA) at the FAN Meeting preceding the ALA-ICA 2017 Conference. Director-General David Fricker’s understanding of the fundamentals of data, information, knowledge, records and archiving is breath-taking and his vision of the archival community working together to improve access to records (especially digitally) across boundaries is one of the reasons that he supports FAN. Although Director-General Fricker was very busy (he was also a Key Note Speaker for the Conference) he willingly sat down with us after the Emerging Professionals Luncheon the first day of the ALA-ICA Conference, November 27, 2017.
Director-General Fricker earned his BA in Computing Studies, and began his career in the Australian Customs Services, holding several important positions before leaving to found his own consultancy business. In 2002, he joined the Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) as CIO and was appointed to the position of Deputy Director-General in 2007. Given this background in computer science, I was curious how he ended up in archives. He explained that it was a natural outgrowth of working with computers and data. Data leads to information. Information leads to knowledge. Knowledge comes from organizing and analyzing information and data.
The processes of selecting, preserving and making accessible records that are vital to the archival process ensure that accurate and reliable information is preserved – not only for the society, but for the individual. The way archives are viewed needs to change. The immediacy of access to digital records is a game-changer for the archival community. There needs to be a conscious effort to move beyond preservation and limited access to reaching out to the community and becoming advocates on their behalf, thus showing the value of archives.
Director-General Fricker’s strengths in digital records management led to his appointment as Director-General of the NAA in 2012. In 2014, he was elected to the position of President of the ICA. At NAA, Director-General Fricker has worked to further electronic access to records. One of the most recent projects is a database of World War I service records (coinciding with the 100th anniversary of the end of the war). The database is designed to enable the public to upload information about the subjects of the records; and contribute their own material about the men and women that served during the first World War. This type of “crowd sourcing” provides the opportunity for the public to establish a personal relationship with the records, and in so doing keeps the memory of those individuals in the records alive and relevant to contemporary society. David pointed out that no matter which country you are in, the archive will always have something relating to any one individual, even if indirectly; and this differentiates Archives from other memory institutions. The more the public understands the personal connection they have to the records, the higher the demand will be to make those records available.
My final question to Director-General David Fricker was to ask for advice for those beginning their career in archives. He said that their ambition should include the democratization of information. Not only should archival records be authoritative and dependable, but they should also be available to anyone anywhere.
From the International Council on Archives website:
“The ICA believes that effective records and archives management is an essential precondition for good governance, the rule of law, administrative transparency, the preservation of mankind’s collective memory, and access to information by citizens.”
On June 9, 2018, member of the archival community are being encouraged to show that our profession is fun, inclusive, varied and that our expertise is helpful to everyone. iSchool students and alumni can once again take part in this international event! Last year 3 students presented lessons learned from their experiences working on the International Directory of National Archives. This year, we want to highlight your thoughts on the value of national archives. If you’re interested in writing a blog post, participating in a webinar, or have other ideas, contact Dr. Pat Franks at patricia.franks@sjsu.edu We’ll begin planning our event(s) in April.
A video highlighting some of last year’s events can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=1&v=XGx6UIs3WGs And scroll down our IDNA blog to find out how we celebrated International Archives Day last year.
International Directory of National Archives 