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ORIGINS
CHART
is the product of a few people's abiding interest in keeping the documentary
record of East Timor's path from Portuguese colony to independent country.
During East Timor's historic turning point year of 1999, Pat Walsh presented a
paper, For the record: The case
for a national archival centre in East Timor, which proposed the
urgent identification and preservation of materials in Australia and argued
that archival testimony of the East Timorese struggle for independence should
be returned to the people of East Timor as their rightful property.
A
year later, John Waddingham circulated his
East Timor: Thoughts on document
collections in Australia which sought to show that some material in
Australian collections on Timor were as much a record of the history of
Australian involvement in the Timor issue as they were about East Timorese
history.
In late 2000, following some detailed email exchanges
(now part of CHART's archive!), the CHART project was born with the production
of a foundation document.
WHY 'CHART' ?
We
call the project a 'clearing house' because we want to emphasise our desire
NOT to collect peoples materials. We offer advice and assistance on how to
care for collections and offer options on where the materials can be deposited
for long-term preservation.
It
is also a 'clearing house' for different ideas on how to do these things and
we invite contributions from any interested party.
Some
say wryly that it also offers a worthy path to 'clear our houses' of the
burden of years of accumulated paper.
'CHART', as a word, conveys the idea of a map or navigation guide to East
Timor collections and their content wherever they are. We hope this guide will
assist interested researchers and especially East Timorese archivists seeking
to access and build collections of their own history and memory
PROGRAM
CHART is an evolving project. Its primary aims are to:
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Identify material holders in Australia and encourage and assist them to
preserve and document the content of their collections.
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Identify the location and scope of materials already held in Australian
repositories.
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Develop and maintain a central database of the location and content of the
dispersed collection of Timor materials in Australia and make this information
available on the Internet through a CHART Web site.
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Inform material holders of possible long-term options for housing their
collections.
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Invite those retaining their collections indefinitely to consider making them
available for public listing and research.
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Monitor archival developments in East Timor and identify materials in
Australia which may be of particular interest to archive projects in East
Timor.
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Identify Australian repositories interested in housing collections of East
Timor materials.
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Identify 'key' and rare documents of the Timor story and promote their
preservation through photographic or electronic imaging projects.
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Provide a central point for discussion on different options to ensure the
long-term survival of the records and access to them.
STRUCTURE
Our
formal structure is still under construction. Our aim is for small working
groups in each Australian state to implement the CHART program. If this
interests you,
contact us.
PEOPLE
John Waddingham, co-founder of the Melbourne-based Timor Information Service
(1975-1984) and now qualified archivist in Perth is the interim coordinator of the
project.
Pat
Walsh, well-known long time human rights officer for the Australian Council
for Overseas Aid and now in Dili as special adviser to East Timor's Commission
for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation is a prime mover in ensuring a 'keeping of
the record'.
George Preston, one-time chairperson of Melbourne's Australia East Timor
Association and now director of Prometheus Information in Canberra combines his
long-standing Timor interest with information technologies expertise.
Colin Oriti of Webbing It! in Sydney did the initial website design work and
provides ongoing guidance and advice.
Neal Barrett / Video Education Australasia awarded $10,000 for East Timor
archival initiatives. Some will be used for CHART's work.
Other people who have contributed to early CHART discussion and work
include Dan Midalia (archivist, Perth), Ana Noronha (East Timor Human Rights
Centre), Jane Ellen (archivist, Melbourne University Archives), Melbourne
Timor-philes Rod Harris, Guat-kin Chew, Christine Carolan, Ian Bell, Sue
Gordon & Helen Vaughan.
WORK IN
PROGRESS
Ongoing or completed work consistent with CHART's aims includes:
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Continuing internet searching for Timor collections in repositories.
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Contact with known and potential Timor material holders.
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Assistance with collection storage, sorting and description for Gordon
McIntosh, ACFOA, Australia East Timor Association (Melbourne), Friends of East
Timor (Perth).
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Sorting, documenting and lodging Radio Maubere (1976-78) audiotapes with
ScreenSound Australia and arranging for East Timorese involvement in a pilot
project to log the content of the tapes.
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Examination and listing of East Timor files of the late Herb Feith before his
papers went to the National Library.
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Examination and detailed listing of Timor collections in Melbourne University
Archives and the National Library.
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Assistance to East Timor's Commission for Reception, Truth and Reconciliation
to identify 1975 civil war source material in Australia.
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Assistance to ScreenSound Australia to correctly identify and catalogue rare
1975 civil war material in its collection.
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