Significance 2.0: a guide to assessing the significance of collections
Roslyn Russell, Kylie Winkworth
© Commonwealth of Australia, 2010
ISBN 97 80977544363 (pbk)
Endnotes
1 The first edition (entitled Significance: a guide to assessing the significance of cultural heritage objects and collections was published in 2001 by a predecessor body, the Heritage Collections Council. For more information about the development of significance in Australia, please see Part 2 'How significance evolved'. The Collections Council was established by the state, territory, and federal governments of Australia (via the Cultural Ministers Council) to represent all collection types.
2 Constitution of the Collections Council of Australia Ltd, revised 21 November 2006, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/corporate+documents.aspx?DMXModule=544&EntryId=807&Command=Core_Download
3 Examples of other types of collecting organisation are keeping places, knowledge centres, resource centres, historical societies, herbaria, scientific data sites, historic sites.
4 Collections Council of Australia, SWOT analysis of Significance 1, toward the development of Significance 2, Collections Council of Australia, 2008, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/Portals/0/SWOT%20analysis%20of%20Significance%20(2001)_PUBLIC.pdf
5 Thanks to Mr Adrian Cunningham of the National Archives of Australia for proposing these guiding statements. They are documented in Mr Cunningham's comment on K Anderson, 'The archives industry perspectives on significance as a collections management tool', a paper presented to the Significance 2.0 Workshop, Collections Council of Australia, 2008, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/articles.aspx?articleType=ArticleView&articleId=79
6 Illustrated case studies that focus on the significance criteria have been omitted, but will remain accessible via the text of the first edition, published online by the Collections Australia Network, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/sector_info_item/5
7 As at April 2009 these supplementary resources are still in development. Visit http://significance.collectionscouncil.com.au for updates.
Note from the Department, September 2010: At the time of the Collections Council of Australia’s closure in April 2010, the supplementary resources proposed to be developed to complement Significance 2.0 remained limited to those available on the resources page.
8 Currently, these resources are available at the Collections Australia Network: http://www.collectionsaustralia.net
9 For a fuller listing of the differences between the first and second editions of Significance please visit: http://significance.collectionscouncil.com.au
Note from the Department, September 2010: The differences between the first and second editions of Significance are explained in the Significance 2.0 Preface and Part 1.
10 A recent set of Australian guidelines for sustainability policy and practice in museums and galleries demonstrates how collecting organisations can contribute to cultural, social, environmental and economic sustainability by adhering to a number of general sustainability principles: Museums Australia, Museums and sustainability: guidelines for policy and practice in museums and galleries, Museums Australia, Canberra, 2003, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.museumsaustralia.org.au/dbdoc/sustainability.pdf
11 Heritage Collections Council, National conservation and preservation policy and strategy: Australia's heritage collections, Commonwealth of Australia on behalf of the Heritage Collections Council, Canberra, 1998, p. 36.
12 VM Bullock & M Birtley, 'Will collections vanish in the urge to converge? Observations on "convergent evolution" in the collections sector', paper presented to Archives: Discovery and Exploration, the Australian Society of Archivists conference, Perth, 6–9 August 2008, viewed 6 May 2009, http://www.archivists.org.au/conference-papers
13 See K Anderson, 'The archives industry perspectives on significance as a collections management tool' and M Burn, 'Significance and libraries', papers presented to the Significance 2.0 workshop, Collections Council of Australia, 2008, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/fifth+announcement+2+july+2008.aspx
14 M Walker & P Marquis-Kyle, The illustrated Burra Charter: good practice for heritage places, Australia ICOMOS Inc., Burwood, 2004.
15 For more information on the HCC and the evolution of significance, see I Cook, 'A background to significance: some key milestones in the significance story', paper presented to the Significance 2.0 workshop, Collections Council of Australia, 2008, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.collectionscouncil.com.au/articles.aspx?articleType=ArticleView&articleId=82
16 The first Objective reads (in part), 'To develop criteria for determining significance and identifying items and collections of significance'. See Heritage Collections Council, National conservation and preservation policy and strategy, Australia's heritage collections p. 14.
17 See Collections Australia Network, http://www.collectionsaustralia.net
18 Network Creative Services, Ironoutlaw website, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.ironoutlaw.com/index.html
19 The State Library of Victoria has a digital copy of the Jerilderie letter on its website, as well as a transcript: E (Ned) Kelly, Jerilderie Letter 1879, Australian Manuscripts Collection, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/collections/treasures/jerilderie_letter/jerilderieletter1.html
20 Victorian Heritage Database, 'Glenrowan heritage precinct: statement of significance', Heritage Victoria, viewed 15 March 2009, http://vhd.heritage.vic.gov.au/places/result_detail/4073?print=true
21 The Kelly papers are inscribed on the UNESCO Australian Memory of the World Register for significant documentary heritage.
22The Story of the Kelly Gang film was inscribed on the international UNESCO Memory of the World Register in 2007.
23 K Winkworth, 'Trading patterns: skin rugs and cross-cultural craft traditions in the work of Beth Hatton', in B Hatton, Selection: textiles by Beth Hatton, Canberra Museum and Gallery, Canberra, 2003, p. 7.
24 Ibid.
25 S Irvine, 'Michael McWilliams, pranksters, players and performers', Bett Gallery Hobart, 2007, viewed 9 March 2009, http://www.bettgallery.com.au/artists/mcwiliams/pranksters/essay.htm
26 D Owen, Tasmanian tiger: the tragic tale of how the world lost its most mysterious predator, Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, 2003, p. ix.
27 Ms Anna Gray, in an email to the Project Manager on 13 May 2008, advised on behalf of the Council of Australian Art Museum Directors that, 'Art museums make judgements based on aesthetic significance, in designated collection areas, and to predetermined levels of comprehensiveness'.
28 National Archives of Australia, Keep it for the future! How to set up small community archives, National Archives of Australia, Belconnen, ACT, 2007, p. 20.
29 R Atwood, Stealing history: tomb raiders, smugglers, and the looting of the ancient world, St Martin's Griffin, New York, 2004, p. 201.
30 C Howarth, Gods, ghosts and men: Pacific arts from the National Gallery of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, Parkes, ACT, 2008, pp. 5, 11.
31 See for example, National Gallery of Victoria, Provenance research project, National Gallery of Victoria, (n.d.), viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/provenance or Art Gallery of New South Wales, Provenance, Art Gallery of New South Wales (n.d.), viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/collection/provenance
32 R Sloggett, 'Making “The domes of St Mark's” ', AICCM Bulletin, vol. 29, 2005, p. 47.
33 ibid., p. 56.
34 Figure adapted from a slide developed for a presentation by Ian Cook titled 'All artefacts are not created equal' at the 60th Anniversary Meeting of the Canadian Museums Association, March 2007, Ottawa. The idea arose from a discussion with Kylie Winkworth prior to the meeting in Ottawa.
35 Try the Collections Australia Network at http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/collections or the websites of large collecting organisations with online catalogues such as the Powerhouse Museum at http://www.powerhousemuseum.com/collection/database
36 Illustrated examples of the criteria were included in the first edition of this publication. The publication is available on the Collections Australia Network, viewed 23 March 2009, http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/sector_info_item/5
37See the work of Museums Australia in this area. Museums Australia, Continuous cultures, ongoing responsibilities: principles and guidelines for Australian museums working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage, Museums Australia, Canberra, 2005, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.museumsaustralia.org.au/userfiles/file/Policies/ccor_final_feb_05.pdf
38 This point is recognised in the Protection of Movable Cultural Heritage Act 1986, which in Part II, Division 1, s. 7 (1), p. 5 defines Australia's movable cultural heritage objects as 'objects that are of importance to Australia, or to a particular part of Australia…'.
39 A number of states and territories now register items and collections on their state heritage registers. Generally these nominations use the state heritage criteria which has evolved for places, rather than the criteria in Significance 2.0, although the research and assessment process is similar. Listing on state heritage registers has many benefits and may provide access to grant funds for conservation and interpretation.
40 This case study and statement of significance was compiled with the assistance of Wally Caruana, Senior Curator of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art at the National Gallery of Australia at the time The Aboriginal Memorial came into the Gallery's collection.
41 Pioneer Women's Hut, National Quilt Register, Collections Australia Network, Sydney (n.d.), viewed 31 March 2009, http://www.collectionsaustralia.net/nqr
42 Australian National Maritime Museum, Australian Register of Historic Vessels, Australian National Maritime Museum, Sydney (n.d.), viewed 31 March 2009, http://www.anmm.gov.au/arhv
43 Migration Heritage Centre – New South Wales, Belongings Register, Migration Heritage Centre – New South Wales, Sydney (n.d.), viewed 31 March 2009, http://www.belongings.com.au
44 Citations for all the Australian inscriptions can be found on the UNESCO website:http://www.unesco.org/webworld
45 National Library of Australia, Guide to the Papers of Edward Koiki Mabo, viewed 4 May 2009, http://www.nla.gov.au/ms/findaids/ms8822/overview.html
46 D Mellor, 'Koiki (Eddie) Mabo, Bay scene (with telegraph pole) 1970', in W Caruana ed.), Likan'mirri - connections: the AIATSIS collection of art, an exhibition at the ANU Drill Hall Gallery 20 February–28 March 2004, Australian National University Institute for Indigenous Australia, Canberra, 2004, p. 18.
47 Australian Society of Archivists, Statement on Appraisal, Australian Society of Archivists, 2007, viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.archivists.org.au/files/Position_Papers/Appraisalstatementfinal2007.doc
48 Australian Society of Archivists, website viewed 15 March 2009, http://www.archivists.org.au
49 Heritage Collections Council, National conservation and preservation policy and strategy: Australia's heritage collections, Commonwealth of Australia on behalf of the Heritage Collections Council, Canberra, 1998, p. 36
50 International Council of Museums, ICOM Statutes, Article 3, para 1, International Council of Museums, Paris, 2007, viewed 11 March 2009, http://icom.museum/definition.html
51 World Commission on Environment and Development, Report of the World Commission on Environment and Development: Our common future, World Commission on Environment and Development, 1987, viewed 22 March 2009, http://www.un-documents.net/wced-ocf.htm
52 J Hawkes, The fourth pillar of sustainability: culture's essential role in public planning, Common Ground Publishing and Cultural Development Network, Melbourne, 2001
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