THE Port Macquarie Museum is using International Archives Day, June 9, to highlight the importance of records and archives.
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Archives reveal much about our lives, our history and our heritage.
Archives of local community groups and businesses can inform us about the people, places and events of our past.
The Port Macquarie Museum is a local archives repository and holds the archives of several important community groups including the Port Macquarie Surf Club, Port Macquarie Red Cross and Friends of Kooloonbung Creek Nature Reserve, and several personal archives including those of Annabella Boswell, local developer Roger Dulhunty and former local politician Rob Oakeshott.
Sadly, the archives of many past community groups and leading citizens have been lost forever.
"What records to keep and where to keep them can be a challenging issue for many community groups and small businesses" says Port Macquarie Historical Society President and the Society's honorary archivist Clive Smith.
"We can advise groups about their records and are happy to talk about taking local records into our archives. Many community groups, particularly those without their own premises, move their archives from place to place, including personal garages and sheds. It is inevitable that those records become misplaced, lost and often destroyed because no one knows what they are, or think they are no longer relevant."
Clive Smith is a professional archivist who has worked with large archive repositories across Australia and overseas.
Records and archives are documents created, received and maintained as evidence and information by an organisation or person.
Archival records are those preserved because of their legal or enduring historical value or significance and constitute a major cultural heritage and information resource.
"We have an obligation to future generations to ensure that we are protecting and collecting our local documentary heritage. Port Macquarie Museum holds a number of unique, extraordinary and rare documents in its collection and it is our role to ensure we continue to collect and make such materials accessible to the public."
Most of the Port Macquarie Museum's exhibits include a combination of objects, photographs and archival documents from its extensive and significant collections.
The Port Macquarie Museum is located at 22 Clarence Street, Port Macquarie, within Port Macquarie's cultural heritage precinct.
Mr Smith welcomes enquiries from local organisations, businesses and individuals about archives and can be contacted on 6583 1108.