CONDUCTING SIGNIFICANCE ASSESSMENTS

Dr Roslyn Russell - Photograph courtesy: Dr Roslyn Russell

There will be something for everyone at the upcoming Conducting Significance Assessments Workshop, which is being held on 6 November 2014 at History House. This is an all-day workshop (10.00am – 3.30pm) and lunch is included in the $60.00 fee. It is being held in collaboration with the Professional Historians Association and the Australian Society of Archivists (NSW Branch).

We are most fortunate that historian and curator Dr Roslyn Russell who co-authored, with Kylie Winkworth, Significance 2.0: A guide to assessing the significance of collections (2009), the accepted methodology for significance assessment in Australia, will be presenting this workshop. Dr Russell has undertaken significance assessments of social history and visual arts collections and conducts workshops around Australia and overseas.

For historians and archivists wanting to develop new skills for their professional development this will be an opportunity to learn about significance assessment methodology and criteria and their applications in collection management. At the end of the day they will be ready to write a statement of significance for either a single object or an entire collection.

For the more experienced who have carried out significance assessments in the past, this will be an opportunity to hone your skills and contribute to the discussion.

If you are a member of an historical society planning to engage a consultant to undertake a Significance Assessment you will also find this workshop very helpful. You will receive lots of useful advice on the steps you will need to take in preparing for the assessment as well as the same guidance as the likely cost estimate and the format of the Significance Assessment report that you can expect to receive from the consultant.