Sponsored by the Australian Society of Archivists, the Caulfield School of IT and COSI, the Centre for Organisational and Social Informatics
TIME: 3.30-6.30pm, Wednesday 9 July 2008
VENUE: Clayfield Room, Building A Caulfield Campus, Monash University. Off-street user pays parking is available in the multi-storey carpark on campus and accessible via Sir John Monash Drive and Princes Avenue.
RSVP: By 4 July Christina Branton, or tel 9903 2704.
Chair: Professor Eric Ketelaar
Presenter: Ineke Deserno
The economic globalization process and the rapid development of information technology has facilitated business making worldwide and spurred a growing number of companies to internationalize their operations and invest beyond their home country borders. The impact of multinational companies on society has grown as these agents of globalization reach into the life of domestic societies.
The records and archives of multinationals are of great historical and social value. They play an essential role in the formation of business evidence and corporate memory. At the same time however they are part of the collective memory of our time and provide essential information on the public effects of multinationals and our current culture and society. They have a role in shaping individual, group and society's identity.
As much of the power exercised in society is no longer concentrated in the government, scholars argue for a public right of access to the records and archives of multinational companies. Largely due to external pressure from stakeholders and representatives from society, multinational companies have are issuing reports on their impacts on the environment and society at large. In addition, some multinationals have opened up their archives to the public. From a review of the websites of multinationals, it appears that in particular the companies that have been in negative publicity because of events that happened in the past - for example environmental scandals or the use of forced labor in second world war - have increased their reporting program and opened up their archives to the public to re-establish trust and confidence in the multinational´s operations.
The proposed session will explore the value of international business records and archives for society; the role records and archives play in supporting transparency and accountability of multinational companies; will look at activities undertaken by multinationals and will explore initiatives of records and archival institutions to improve access to corporate collections.
Ineke Deserno is an archives and records management professional. She holds a masters degree of the Radboud University in the Netherlands, followed by post graduate education at the School for Information Management in the Hague, Netherlands. She also completed a post graduate certificate in records management at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada. She has over 15 years of professional experience in international organizations. Up to November 2005 she was the Head Records and Archives at the World Health Organization (WHO) in Geneva, Switzerland. Previous positions included Project Manager for the implementation of an electronic document management system at the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in Lausanne, Switzerland and Electronic Records Archivist at the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), Geneva, Switzerland. She is currently undertaking a PhD study at the Monash University, Melbourne, Australia. Her research focuses on information Management and Corporate Transparency: the nexus between records management, corporate social reporting and disclosure of information. Ineke is an active member of the International Council on Archives and ARMA International.
ASA Margaret Jennings Award for the Most Outstanding Graduate of the Archives and Records Program at Monash 2007
Award Recipient: Rebecca French, graduate of the Master of Information Management and Systems course
Presenter: Helen Mclaughlin, Convenor of the Victorian, Branch of the Australian Society of Archivists
Vice-Chancellor's Commendation for Research Excellence
Award Recipient: Dr Joanne Evans
Presenter: Professor Ron Weber, Dean Faculty of Information Technology
Rebecca French worked as a psychologist and case manager in Tasmania and Melbourne, specialising in developmental psychology and disability, until an increasing interest in information management lead her to take a “life change” decision, and enrol in the Masters of Information Management and Systems at Monash University Faculty of IT. Rebecca completed the MIMS course in June 2007, graduating with specialisations in Records Management, Archives, Knowledge Management and Librarianship. Since this time, she has worked as a Research Assistant on Knowledge Management, Information Management and Technology focussed projects within the Faculty of IT, as well as an editorial and teaching work. Rebecca has also worked as a records and information management consultant with non-profit community organisations. She is the current Conference Secretary for the 2008 Australian Conference for Knowledge Management and Intelligent Decision Support (ACKMIDS 2008). Rebecca was the recipient of the 2007 VALA Student Award for the most outstanding student in Librarianship and Information Systems at Monash University. She continues to have an interest in the information management challenges facing the non-profit and community sector, and hopes to complete further research and work in this area.
Joanne Evans was awarded the APA(I) scholarship attached to the ARC Linkage Clever Recordkeeping Metadata Project in August 2003 and graduated in October 2007 following the successful examination of her doctoral thesis. She is currently undertaking further metadata research as part of the Smart Information Portals (SIP) Project at the Centre for Organisational and Social Informatics at Monash University, while on secondment from the eScholarship Research Centre (ESRC) at the University of Melbourne. Prior to the establishment of the ESRC in January 2007, she was responsible for the design, development and deployment of archival information systems at the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, at the University of Melbourne. Joanne’s PhD, Building Capacities for Sustainable Recordkeeping Metadata Interoperability, explores how interoperability can be designed and built into recordkeeping technologies to meet the metadata challenges of digital and networked environments in capturing and maintaining evidence of actions impacting on the authenticity, integrity and reliability of electronic records as they move through time and space.