National+Archives

By Kirra Lehmann

Queen Victoria Terrace Parkes ACT 2600 Tel: (02) 6212 3600 Email: archives@naa.gov.au National Archives of Australia website Bookings Officer: (02) 6212 3691 Bookings Email: schoolbookings@naa.gov.au (Bookings are essential for all school groups- up to 60 students at once) Virtual Reading Room (Vrroom) (Easy access to archives for teachers and students) Exhibition galleries open 9am - 5pm daily (except Christmas Day and Good Friday)   Free entry, but there is a small cost for facilitated programs, which take roughly an hour __T __ The National Archives keeps valuable (mainly text-based) records of the Australian Government and makes them available to the public for people to use. The documents relate to Australian history and the building and growth of the Australian nation. It is predominantly an archive about people, bringing together diverse stories from varied perspectives. Unfortunately, I found during my excursion that most stories on display in the gallery were from the traditional white male perspective, however there was one display about Italian immigrant experiences during the Snowy Mountain Scheme. The gallery itself is dimly lit, with black and white photographic displays lining the walls as well as displaying some historic objects behind glass. It isn't very visually stimulating for school children, which is why a guided tour is recommended to bring the displays to life. Towards the back of the building, near the reading room, there were some interesting factsheets available, which may be useful with older students, such as: 4. What are archives? 2. Addresses of other archival institutions 227. Immigration records 38. Passenger records held in Canberra 66. Migrant selection documents held in Canberra 217. The Jewish experience in Australia 124. Child migration to Australia The Education Officer provided me with an Information Kit, with various brochures, none of which outlined any specific school programs. This information was more readily available on the National Archives and Virtual Reading Room websites. //**[|NAA Online Resources] **//: Vrroom – easy access to archival records for teachers and students Mapping our Anzacs – find a World War I service record, add a note or photograph, create a tribute – and see the education kit Australia's Prime Ministers – Fast Facts, Meet a PM, Who's Who and how to find archival records Documenting a Democracy – our nation's birth certificates, their history and significance Uncommon Lives – a biographical series //**Resources related to exhibitions:**//  Shell-shocked – education kit – Part 1 (PDF 5mb) and Part 2 – using Mapping our Anzacs (PDF 1mb)   [|Federation Gallery] – teachers notes and an activity relating to the permanent display of our nation's birth certificates, part of //Memory of a Nation//   It's a Dog's Life! – activity sheets, document studies and a game about animals in the Public Service **//What is Vrroom?//** -an ever-growing set of records from the [|National Archives collection], for anyone learning to use [|archival records] -a tool for 20th-century Australian History, Civics & Citizenship and more – see [|curriculum connections] -rich in learning content developed in partnership with the Curriculum Corporation through The Learning Federation