AIATSIS AUDIOVISUAL ARCHIVE

Collections Management Policy Manual

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6.0 Documentation Policy

Original documentation supplied by depositors and third parties will be preserved, as per Section 7.5 of this manual. 

All accessioned material is scheduled for research and further documentation to increase its value and accessibility.  The types of documentation created by staff are outlined below.  Staff documentation is also preserved as per Section 7.5 of this manual. 

Information pertaining to the documentation of works of art and artefacts is available on application from the Curator, Works of Art and Artefacts, or the Director of the Audiovisual Archive.

6.1 Registration documentation

All audiovisual materials received by the Audiovisual Archive are recorded on a registration database, which includes the following information:

• depositor’s name;
• date received;
• description of material, including its content and condition;
• format and quantity of material;
• storage location;
• grant number, if applicable; 
• documentation received;
• staff assessment and recommendation;
• Director’s decision;
• collection names assigned to accessioned material;
• forms received;
• reason for rejection;
• details of return of rejected material, including date and means of return;
• details of depositor’s copies, including date sent; and 
• miscellaneous notes.

Paper documentation associated with registration, including all correspondence, the Authority to Dispose of Audiovisual Materials and the Offer of Audiovisual Material – Registration Form, are stored alphabetically by the depositor's name in the Documentation Vault.  

6.2 Conditions of access

Paper documentation detailing conditions of access, such as the Transfer of Materials Agreement, Deposit of Materials Agreement or the AIATSIS Grantee Research Materials and Results Form, are filed alphabetically by depositor’s name in the Documentation Vault.  A scanned copy is stored on a network-attached drive.  Due to the complex nature of many of the forms, conditions of access are categorised as either ‘open access’, ‘conditions apply’ or ‘restricted’ for the purpose of cataloguing.  These terms are defined below.  Further information must be obtained directly from the form.  

Published recordings (audio, film and video) are no longer allocated conditions of access.  Instead, a note is made on the catalogue record to indicate who the publisher is, who the distributor is, and that AIATSIS holds viewing/listening copies only.  Requests for copies of published materials that are still in copyright, should be addressed to the publisher, or a copy purchased from the authorised distributor.

 
Material can be listened to, viewed and copied. 

Please note that AIATSIS will not supply materials for publication, including open access materials, without the consent of the appropriate Indigenous individual, family, community, or communities (see section 8.3).

Material can be listened to, or viewed on the AIATSIS premises, but clearance must be obtained before copies will be created. 

Clearance must be obtained before material can be listened to, viewed or copied.  Restricted material is classified as:

• restricted – ceremonial; or
• restricted - gender specific; or
• restricted - personal material; or
• restricted - work in progress; or
• a combination of the above.

6.2.4 Other conditions of access

If a collection is generally open but contains some restricted material, the catalogue record will indicate that it is ‘open access’ and the access field will be duplicated and the wording ‘some restricted material’ and the category of restriction added.

If a depositor is not aware that some material may be sensitive and they have deposited the material under 'open access', the restricted wording will be used with an explanatory note in the staff documentation field.

If material is open for one or more Indigenous clients only, the catalogue record should indicate that is 'conditions apply' or ‘restricted’ but the staff documentation field should say ‘open to relevant Indigenous people’.

If there is a temporary restriction on material, or appropriate conditions of access have not been established, the catalogue record should indicate that the material is 'restricted - work in progress'.  The date of expiry of temporary restrictions will be noted on the catalogue where possible.

6.3 Audio documentation

All accessioned audio materials are allocated a collection name and this name is initially recorded on a collection card.  The collection card also contains registration information. Best practice indicates that a hard copy register be maintained, as a safety measure in the event of electronic data failure. 

Audio materials which have been archived, that is, copied to preservation media, are recorded in the preservation register.  The preservation register records:

• the collection (accession) name;
• the original field recording number, provided by the depositor;
• the quality of the original recording;
• the speed or format of the original recording;
• the duration of the recording;
• technical comments;
• the newly allocated archive number (of the preservation and access copies); and
• the name of the technician responsible.

The preservation register is stored in both electronic form and hard copy.

A collection-level catalogue record represents a group of recordings deposited together by a single person or collaborative group.  Collection-level catalogue records are created for all accessioned audio materials.  These records appear on the AIATSIS on-line catalogue, Mura, and are therefore accessible to the general public via the World Wide Web.  Collection-level catalogue records are created in accordance with the document Sound Collection Cataloguing Guidelines.

Non-public catalogue records are created by Audio Archiving Services staff for each item in a collection which has been archived digitally.  These catalogue records are known as interim item-level records.  They are based on documentation received with the item and some information contained in the content of the recording.  They are created in accordance with the document Interim Audio Item-level Record Guidelines.  Interim item-level records are not available on the public catalogue but can be searched by Access Unit staff.

An audition sheet is a text summary of the contents and quality of a recording, with pertinent timing points noted in minutes and seconds.  It is not a full transcript.  Audition sheets are created in accordance with the document Auditioning Guidelines for Sound Recordings.

Audio finding aids bring together information that is held in diverse locations, including audition sheets, public and non-public catalogue records, preservation registers, and deposit forms, into a central source of information for clients.  they describe the content and accessibility of sound collections, including timing points for segments featuring specific speakers, languages and places.  Client versions of audio finding aids are available as PDF documents and can be accessed via the AIATSIS online catalogue, Mura.  They can also be accessed via a search page on the AIATSIS Web site.

6.4 Photographic documentation

All accessioned photographic material is allocated a collection name, so that a group of related items deposited by an individual or organisation may be catalogued as a single entity.  Collection names are created at the time of accessioning and are recorded on photographic collection cards.  These cards also record the corresponding accession numbers, collector’s name, access details and the date accessioned.

Best practice indicates that a hard copy register be maintained as a safety measure in the event of electronic data failure. Therefore details for all accessioned photographic collections are recorded in a register. Details include a description of the format and content of the materials lodged, date and place taken, the accession numbers assigned to the collection and the date accessioned.

A collection-level catalogue record represents a group of photographs deposited by a single person or collaborative group.  Collection-level catalogue records are created for all accessioned photographic materials.  These records appear on the AIATSIS on-line catalogue, Mura, and are therefore accessible to the general public via the World Wide Web.  Collection-level catalogue records are created in accordance with the document Photographic Collection Cataloguing Guidelines.

Following the digitisation of a photographic collection, low resolution versions of the individual images are loaded into the Perfect Pictures database. Once the accompanying caption information has been entered, detailing the date and place taken and a description of the content, the images are then accessible to clients using computer terminals located in the AIATSIS Library and Audiovisual Archive Access Unit.

Further, following input, a caption list is then generated and attached to the corresponding collection-level record using the electronic access field in the Mura on-line catalogue. This enables internal and external clients to access descriptions of individual images within a collection. Copies of these caption lists are also held in the Audiovisual Access Unit.

These descriptions are also made available on the Mura catalogue as item-level records accessible by Access Unit staff undertaking listings or reports for AIATSIS clients.

6.5 Film and video documentation

Accessioned video material is entered onto an accession register, which lists the date of accessioning, the acquisition source, the title, the format, the newly allocated accession number, and notes.

Accessioned film material is first entered onto an accession list, which records the title and the newly allocated accession number.  Further information pertaining to individual film components is recorded on film data sheets, which are organised alphabetically by title and maintained by the Senior Film and Video Technician.   The following information is recorded about each film component:

• archival type (preservation, duplicate, master or other);
• can size;
• component number;
• colour and sound attributes;
• technical information (e.g. type of print);
• length (in feet);
• core size;
• conservation needs;
• notes; and
• AD testing results.

Unpublished moving image material is allocated a collection name, so that a group of related items deposited by an individual or organisation may be catalogued as a single entity.  Collection names are not allocated to published titles.  Collection names are created at the time of accessioning and are recorded on film/video collection cards.  These cards also record the corresponding accession numbers, collector’s name, number of items, formats, field recording numbers and date and place of recording (or a range of dates and places).

A catalogue record represents a single published title and all its components, or, a group of unpublished recordings deposited as a collection by a single person or collaborative group.  Catalogue records are created for all accessioned film/video materials.  These records appear on the AIATSIS on-line catalogue, Mura, and are accessible to the general public via the World Wide Web.  Film/video catalogue records are created in accordance with the document Film and Video Cataloguing Guidelines.

An audition sheet is a text summary of the contents and quality of a video or release print film, with pertinent timing points noted in minutes and seconds.  The information from the audition sheet is used to update the item’s catalogue record and as an access tool.  It is not a full transcript.  Audition sheets are created in accordance with the document Auditioning Guidelines for Films and Videos.

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