Collection Development Policy

SCOPE
The principle aim of the Society is to promote historical studies relating to the history of Lebanese settlement in Australia.

The objectives for which the Society was established and which are outlined in the Society’s constitution and relate to the collection of material are:

(a) To encourage and assist in the development of repositories of archives
on the history of Lebanese migration to and settlement in Australia,
(b) To encourage and assist in the maintenance of the records and other
documentary evidence of this history,
(c) To promote the study of, and scholarship in, the history of Lebanese
migration to Australia,
(d) To promote the study of and publicize the contributions of the Lebanese
community to Australian society.
(e)To encourage and assist in the development of repositories of archives
on the history of Lebanese migration to and settlement in Australia,

SUBJECTS
The Society will collect material relating to the history of Lebanese settlement in Australia. This material may also relate to the way in which Australians in general have interacted with Lebanon, or the Lebanese in general have interacted with Australia.

The society may also collect material, especially published material, of a non-historical nature where this material helps to deepen the understanding of the study of the Society’s objectives, such as:

a. Religious studies especially those relating to Churches and Mosques which have a significance for the Lebanese in Australia
b. Works by prominent Australian Lebanese.
c. Lebanese Cooking (especially as it relates to Australia)
d. Art and literature
e. Biographical works
f. Sociological works

FORMATS
The Society may collect:

a. Photographs
b. Published works including, books, printed reports, periodical articles and audio-visual material relating to the Lebanese in Australia. The Society does not necessarily collect the newsletters, journals or annual reports of other Lebanese centred organizations, but encourages these organizations to lodge copies of their published material with public collecting institutions (such as State Libraries and the libraries of peak historical organizations).
c. Press clippings relating to the Lebanese in Australia, with special emphasis on items of historical interest.
d. Ephemera, especially where it relates to Lebanese owned businesses, institutions and places of worship.
e. Small realia items that demonstrate the history of Lebanese settlement in Australia.

It is important that the Society collects its own published material and sets an example to other Lebanese community organizations to preserve their own organizational history.

DOCUMENTATION

Accession Register
The Librarian shall maintain a register to describe and number items donated to or purchased for the collection.

Catalog
Published works should be described on the Library Catalog maintained as an Excel spreadsheet. Brief records should include Author, Title, Publisher, Place of Publication and Year of Publication. These should be classed using a simply Dewey Decimal System. The Library may maintain indexes, brief records or other finding aids as he or she main feel is necessary.

Ownership Stamps & Labels
Ownership stamps should be applied to the packaging of the original of newspaper clippings and then applied to the copy as far away as possible from the image so as to allow further photocopying without the ownership details appearing on the photocopy (useful for when creating displays).

Labels and identification stamps should never be directly applied to photographic or ephemera material. Identification should be on the packaging.

Monographs, books and AV items should have the Society’s ownership stamp and label applied to the flyleaf page, or similar.

Loan Records
The Librarian shall maintain a register of material lent to any institutions or individuals.

LOANS & ACCESS POLICY

Loans of Materials
Generally, materials collected by the Society are not for loan to individuals or other institutions.

The Librarian may from time to time allow researchers to consult parts of the collection under supervision and with such restrictions he/she may feel is needed to preserve the condition of materials (especially for fragile materials), or can provide copies at cost to a researcher. Where an item is considered too fragile to photocopy, photographic or scanned copies may be provided. The Society should be re-imbursed for any reasonable costs involved.

The Librarian may provide digital copies of images or other material by email to researchers, provided this does not breach copyright, and that the Society is re-imbursed for any reasonable costs involved.

The Society, with the permission of the Board, may from time to time lend material to public institutions for use in exhibitions or displays provided that:

a. The material is handled and displayed under secure Museum conditions that will not damage or erode material.
b. Copyright of the material remains with Society or original donor.
c. The material is properly accessioned into the temporary stock of the institution and detailed receipts provide to the Society.

Where an institution is not able to provide Museum standard accommodation of material for displays, facsimile copies of materials may be provided to that institution for use in a display provided the copying does not damaged material.

Material Conservation Policy


INTRODUCTION
Even though the Society does not have a professionally equipped archive, there are some simple procedures that must be followed which will dramatically prolong the life and usefulness of documents, photographs, ephemera and other materials it has collected.

The major contributors to the damage of material are:

• Damp and Moisture
• Insect Pests
• Light, especially sunlight
• Dust and particle matter
• Damage by handling and abrasive action
• Acids contained within the fabric of documents or supporting frames or other structures

Damp and Moisture
Documents should be stored in dry areas, which are secure against plumbing failures or rainwater entry, and raised above floors.

Dampness will dramatically increase the rate of deterioration of paper-based materials, cause emulsions on photographs to run, and encourage the growth of mould and insect infestations.

Insect Pests
Cockroaches, rodents, silverfish, mould and other organisms will consume paper and badly stain documents. Papers should be stored in clean, dust free areas away from food preparation or storage areas, and away from storage areas for cloth or clothes.

Documents and their storage should be inspected regularly for signs of insects and moulds. Storage cupboards can be lightly treated with mild fumigants or insect repellants. The documents themselves or their storage boxes should not be directly treated with repellants as this will stain and damage documents.

Light
Ideally documents and photographs should be stored in the dark. Light, especially sunlight, will dramatically increase the rate of deterioration due to the acids held in paper products. The lower the quality of the paper, the faster the rate of deterioration. A newspaper, for instance, left in the sun for just a day will yellow and begin to deteriorate.

Dust and Particle Matter
Dusty conditions will increase the likelihood of insect infestation, cause friction damage to paper products, promote the deterioration of paper with high acid content, and stain documents.

Documents should be stored in containers with lids to keep out dust, then in closed cupboards or cabinets. Dusty documents can be lightly dusted with a fine paintbrush prior to filing.

Damage by Handling
Handling documents increases the risk of damage due to tearing, wear or theft. When working with documents, it is a good practice to use pencils rather than pens to minimize the chance of ink damage. Handling needs to be done under clean, dust-free conditions and away from direct sunlight or food preparation areas.

White, clean, lint free cotton gloves should be used at all times when handling original materials.

Documents that need to be handled often can be photocopied and the photocopy used as the reference source.

Paper Acids
Ideally paper should be Ph negative, that is, to have a balance between alkaline or acid content that is slightly alkaline. Most papers, however, tend to contain acids that will eventually weaken and yellow their fibres so that they will eventually fall apart. The poorer the quality of the paper, the more likely they will contain acid and therefore deteriorate. Newspapers especially contain high acid levels and tend to deteriorate the fastest.

Older papers will show evidence of acid damage: small yellow blotches usually up to the size of a five-cent piece known as “foxing”.

Glues and boards used to bind books and affix items to other paper also tend to be acidic and will increase the rate of deterioration.

The deterioration due to acid content can be delayed by storing papers in dark, dry conditions.

Newspaper clippings (especially those glued to other pieces of paper) should have a photocopy made on good quality paper. Even though photocopying paper also has some acid content, it will last much longer than newsprint.

The migration of acids from the boards, or covers, can be prevented by placing sheets of PVA plastics between the boards and the body of the book.

STORAGE
Materials should be stored and used in clean work environment.

Documents should be stored in PVA plastic containers with lids to keep out dust. Archive boxes are also suitable and those acquired from reputable suppliers tend to have reasonable acid levels. The interior of boxes can be lined with PVA plastic to stop the acid migrating from containers to documents.

Metal pins, staples and fasteners or rubber bands should be removed from documents prior to storage and if needed replaced with plastic paper clips. Metal will tend to rust or corrode and damage documents.

Storage boxes should then be stored in closed cupboards or cabinets. Wooden cabinets are ideal because they tend to corrode less and survive longer in fires. However, it is important to ensure that acids in the woods or paint finishes are stable and do not migrate through containers to documents. As an added precaution, the shelves on which boxes sit can be lined with a PVA material. Material must be stored up off floors.

Do not use PVC plastics (they are the softer form of plastic. PVA has a more brittle appearance but has a much longer archival life), because in time the PVC will corrode and release oils that damage documents. Adhesive photo albums with PVC are very poor storage. Modern PVA ‘slip-in’ albums are better storage.

Sheets of PVA are available from plastic wholesalers, though tend to be expensive and arranging material with PVA is time consuming and requires a certain amount of skill. Marbig brand PVA document sleeves are a handy and cheap method of storing A4 sized documents.

Large bundles of papers should not be stored in one box or on top of each other. The weight of many documents will damage papers and increase the likelihood of damage during handling. Storage boxes should not be stacked upon each other, but stored on individual shelves.

Constant changes to temperature and humidity will increase the deterioration of documents. This can be minimized by storage in PVA or cardboard containers, which can then stored in a closed cupboard. The mass of the storage material will provide a buffer against temperature and humidity changes.

Newspaper cuttings
Because newsprint tends to deteriorate relatively quickly, at least two photocopies should be made of each cutting as they are accessioned. The original and first copy should be kept at part of the permanent collection and the second or subsequent copies used as reference copies.

Photographs
Ideally, two copies should be maintained of each photograph with the second copy only used as a reference copy. However, this is expensive and may be out of reach of the Society’s resources.

The photographic collection should be electronically scanned with copies stored on multiple back up discs. Newly acquired hardcopy photographs should be scanned and stored with existing digital copies.

REPAIRS
Removing acids from papers is a very expensive and skilled process and beyond the resources of this Society. Holders of archival material need to accept that papers have acids that will eventually destroy them and therefore need to adopt strategies to minimize the damage, or copy material onto more stable formats such as photocopying, electronic scanning or microfilming.

Documents should be dusted with a fine paintbrush to remove dust.

Lampshade cleaners (small pads containing pulverized India rubber) can be used to gently clean non-essential documents. The cleaning and repair of essential documents might be best left to experts.

Do not use sticky-tape or other adhesives to repair documents. The glues will very quickly damage papers. Sticky tape can be gently removed from documents using cotton pads and eucalyptus oil, though a skilled technician generally best undertakes this.

Do not laminate important documents. This form of storage is irreversible and the glues and plastics used in the process will eventually destroy the document.

Irreplaceable photographs or documents should not be framed and hung in display except under the most stringent gallery conditions. It is better to frame and hang copies and store the originals under the best archival conditions available.

Archival repair-tape can be purchased to join torn parts of documents and then can be removed without damaging paper. However using it is a slow process and requires some skill.

Do not use metal pins, clips or staples to hold documents together. Plastic coated clips should be used if necessary.

Conclusion
To prolong the life of documents in family archives, you should:

• Keep them dry.
• Keep them away from insect pests or dust.
• Store them in a dark, cool place with as little humidity and temperature variation as possible.
• Do not use PVC, sticky-tape or other acidic or oily materials or metallic clips or pins.
• Minimize handling.


Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.

Accession Form


Accession Number:

Title:

Date of Receipt:

Quantity of Material:

Description of Contents:

Date Range:

Condition:

Creator of records:

Previous Custodian;

Donor:

Notes:

CHECKLIST
1. Acknowledgement to Donor
2. Copyright Forms
3. Material cleaned
4. Ownership stamps
5. Material arranged in collection


Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.

P. O. Box 712 Coogee NSW 2034 – email: [email protected]

AGREEMENT FOR DEPOSIT OF HISTORICAL MATERIALS


Deposit of papers and other historical material of

____________________________________________________________________________________________

to the Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.

NAME OF DEPOSITOR:

NAME OF AFFILIATED ORGANISATION:

ADDRESS:

1, (name) ___________________________________________________________________________________

of __________________________________________________________________________________________
(Address or organizations)

do hereby deposit the material specified below with the Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc and its future successor organizations. Being the sole owner of the material, I deposit this material (and any additions which I may make to it) unencumbered to the Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc. and do declare that I made the deposit of my own free will and without influence. Legal ownership of the material shall pass to the Australian Lebanese Historical Society upon delivery of the materials.

The following prescribed deposit conditions and restrictions (if any) apply to the deposited material:

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

_____________________________________________________________________________________________

Any copyrights such as I may possess in this material I also assign to the Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.

A schedule of material deposited including the number and types of boxes or items is attached:
(Attach a list of material to be deposited)

Signature of Depositor: _________________________________________ Date: ____________________

The deposit of papers and/or other historical material is accepted on behalf of the Australian Lebanese Historical Society.

Signature of the President (or representative) of Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.:

_______________________________________________________________ Date: _______________________


Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.

P. O. Box 712 Coogee NSW 2034 email: [email protected]
AGREEMENT FOR USE MATERIALS ON LOAN FROM ALHS Inc.,

Loan of papers, photographs or other materials to

__________________________________________________________________________________________
from the collection of the Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.

NAME OF BORROWER:

NAME OF ANY AFFILIATED ORGANISATION:

1, ____________________________________________________________________________________

of _____________________________________________________________________________________
(Address)

Title of Work/s:

(Attach additional page/s if not sufficient room here dated and numbered sequentially. No of additional pages……………..

Publication Name OR Exhibition Site: _________________________________________________________________________

Author, Artist or Presenter(s): ______________________________________________________________________________

Materials to be returned or disposed of by:
_______________________________________________________________________________________________
I. COPYRIGHT Agreement: Copyright to the Work/s and to any supplemental files integral to the Work which are submitted with it for publication or display (such as an extended proof, a PowerPoint outline, electronic media, or appendices that may exceed a printed page limit), effective as of the date of this agreement, remains with the Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc. (“The Society”)
2. All rights and permissions the Society has not granted are reserved to the Society, including all other proprietary
rights such as publication, reproduction, patent or trademark rights.
3. Reuse any portion of the Work/s without the express written permission of the Society (including in any future works written or edited by the loanee) is not permitted.
4. Creation of a “Major Revision” of the work/s or use on the loanee’s home page or other Internet sites is not permitted without the express written permission of the Society.

Signature of BORROWER: _________________________________________ Date: ____________________

Signature of the President of Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.:

_____________________________________________________________ Date: _______________________

Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.

P.O. 712 Coogee NSW 2034 – [email protected] — ABN 61 412 108 216 — www.app-alhs.thatwebsiteisme.com
Oral History Interviewer’s Release Form

I (name of interviewer)………………………………………………………………………………………………. of (address) …………………………………………………………………………………………………………..
agree that all recordings, films or transcripts and any other materials gathered or created during my involvement in The Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.’s oral history recording of (name of interviewee) …………………………………………………………………….. shall become the property of The Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc. and that I assign all copyright and publication rights to The Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.
Name of Interviewer:
Signed: …………………………………………………………………. Date: ________________________________
Name of Witness:
Signed: …………………………………………………………………. Date:_________________________________


Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.

P.O. 712 Coogee NSW 2034 – [email protected] — ABN 61 412 108 216 — www.app-alhs.thatwebsiteisme.com
Oral History Interviewee’s Release Form


I (name of interviewee)…………………………………………………………………. of (address) …………………………………………………………………. give permission to (name of interviewer) ………………………………………………………………….working with The Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc. to record an interview which is to be held/was held on : (interview date) ………………………………………………………………. at …………………………………………………………
1. I agree that the following conditions will apply to the use of the recordings and transcripts and any other material arising from the above-mentioned interview:
(a) The interview may be transcribed.
(b) The transcripts can be edited.
(c) Transcripts, tape and digital recordings and other material may be indexed.
2. I will be given the opportunity to review and correct where necessary the transcript prior to its finalisation. A copy of the interview will be provided to facilitate the review.
3. On completion of work on the interview, I will be given a final copy of the interview and a final copy of the transcript. No changes are to be made to either recording or the transcript after this time.
4. I assign all rights in the recording/s, transcript and other matter deriving from the interview to The Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc.
5. The Australian Lebanese Historical Society Inc. will allow bona fide researchers including (name of interviewer) ……………………………………………………………… access to the materials described in clause number 4.
6. In any adaptation, broadcast, publication, public performance or any other forms of reproduction of whole or parts of the recording/s or transcript, my name is/is not to be acknowledged as the interviewee.
(Add any further conditions)
Name of Interviewee:
Signed:…………………………………………………………………………………………… Date:
Name of Witness:
Signed: ………………………………………………………………………………………….. Date:
Name of Interviewee’s parent or guardian (where applicable):
Signed: ………………………………………………………………………………………….. Date:

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