Series identifierMON1378Series titleResearch and teaching papersSeries descriptionThis series is the paper-based portion of the archive of Dr Frank Upward, Australian archivist, educator and recordkeeping theorist, and founding member of Monash University’s recordkeeping teaching and research program. An extended biographical note can be found in Luciana Duranti and Patricia C Franks (eds), Encyclopedia of Archival Writers 1515 - 2015 (Rowman and Littlefield, 2019). See also Frank’s CVs in item 0130 of this series.
These records were transferred to Monash University Archives in January 2022, following Frank’s death in July 2021. Immediately prior to transfer, the records were held in commercial storage in Albert Park, Melbourne. Prior to Frank’s death most records were housed in various locations in his home, with three cartons in commercial storage. Executors of his estate relocated records from his home to Albert Park storage in late 2021 and facilitated the gifting of the archive to Monash University.
Monash University Archives has retained about 5.5 metres (29 boxes) of the original 21 metres transferred from Albert Park storage.
Appraisal decisions have aimed to:
- Document the development and delivery of Monash University’s recordkeeping education programs between 1989 and 2006 (in particular up to about 2001 when Frank’s involvement in teaching was most substantial).
- Retain records arising from Frank’s most notable intellectual contribution to recordkeeping theory and to the profession: records continuum theory and the records continuum model, including the development of his 2009 PhD thesis "Managing the Flicker: Continuum Concepts and the Formation of Archives".
- Retain records which may represent Frank’s most recent and unpublished thinking (i.e. post the 2018 e-book Recordkeeping Informatics for a Networked Age), although these have been difficult to identify.
- Selectively retain records of Frank’s pre-Monash career, including:
as an archivist in the Victorian Branch of the Commonwealth Archives Office, 1975-1982 and 1984-1985,
as a Freedom of Information Officer in the Victorian public sector at the time of the establishment of an FoI regime in Victoria in the mid-1980s
as a consultant with Archival Systems Consultants Pty Ltd, 1985-1989. Records of two of several consultancies undertaken by Frank have been retained: a review of Monash University’s Central Records Unit and a consultancy for the Victorian Department of Industry, Technology and Resources. These give insight into late 20th century Australian public sector records management practices and registry operations, at a time when both technological change and new information and regulatory frameworks were impacting the field. Records of other consultancies (listed in Frank’s CV) have been destroyed following consultation with Archival Systems Consultants Pty Ltd.
- Reduce extensive duplication within the archive, for example:
multiple unused copies of student handouts
multiple drafts of documents prepared for teaching or for publication where they contained no substantial changes from published or other versions
in most instances removing student assignments
corporate and institutional publications such as annual reports, published records standards and manuals etc and industry/vendor documents have generally not been retained unless other surrounding documents provided context and demonstrated a specific link to Frank’s work
most published text books and journals have not been retained.
When appraisal commenced in March 2022 it was unclear which records had been in commercial storage at the time of Frank’s death, which had been stored in cupboards at his home and which had been closest to hand in his home office or on his desk. Relationships between and within bundles and folders of documents were also unclear. The necessary packings and relocations from Frank’s home, to storage then to archives, and the acts of foldering and listing may impose a structure on his papers which he didn’t intend, and may have disputed. In some places Frank has bundled loose papers together with a note indicating multiple purposes or ideas to pursue further. For example "The book & 5033 - tackle conjointly" (5033 referring to a Monash University subject code). It is evident that Frank repeatedly rearranged and redrafted documents as his ideas evolved and as he searched for new ways to express them. This is particularly evident in records generated after completion of his PhD (2009).
An effort has been made to place together records that primarily derive from teaching Monash’s recordkeeping undergraduate and graduate courses. These were mostly found, and are listed, in bundles by subject number and name, and comprise items 0001-0057 (boxes 1-8). Team teaching was a feature of the recordkeeping program and therefore Frank’s archive also documents the research and teaching of many of Frank’s colleagues including Sue McKemmish, Barbara Reed, Livia Iacovino, Chris Hurley, Robert Hartland, Don Schauder, Joanne Evans, Leisa Gibbons, Gillian Oliver.
Note: items 1-57 (boxes 1-8) derive from recordkeeping courses taught by Frank and colleagues at Monash University between 1990 and approx. 2003. Items are listed by subject code and title. Some include extensive documentation of the subject and others contain only a few documents. Documents in each item may include course outlines and student handouts, bibliographies and reading notes, lecturers' and tutors' notes, assessment tasks and exam papers. Items 1 - 17 were part of the MA (Archives and Records) and the Graduate Diploma in Archives & Records Management; items 18-25 MA (Archives and Records); items 26-32 MA (Archives and Records) and Master of Information Management and Systems; items 33, 42-46 and 52-53 Master of Information Management & Systems; items 34-40 Bachelor of Information Management; item 41 Graduate Diploma in Information Management; items 47-51 Master of Information Management and items 54-57 Bachelor of Information Management and Systems.Date range1887 - 2021Series typePersonal PapersLinear metreage5.58Extent (boxes)31Format, size, conditionA4KeywordsFaculties & DepartmentsPersonal RecordsPublications
