Australian Archives to receive UN prize for preserving heritage

The United Nations cultural agency has designated National Archives of Australia (NAA) as this year's winner of an award that recognizes significant contributions to the preservation and accessibility of documentary heritage.

According to the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), the National Archives has become a world leader in many areas notably that of digital preservation.

“It consistently shares its professional know-how with experts and interested members of the public through extensive publications. Furthermore, the NAA shares the fruit of its own research and development by making available open source tools for digital preservation to the global preservation community,” the agency stated in a news release announcing the 2011 UNESCO/Jikji Memory of the World Prize.

Established in 1960, the National Archives has also demonstrated innovation in its collaborative work on the preservation of documents written in iron gall ink – an ink that includes iron salts and which has been in use in Europe for many centuries.

The NAA has announced it will use the $30,000 Prize, which is funded by the Republic of Korea, to fund a paid work experience placement for a student of conservation, as an investment in the future of documentary heritage preservation.

The Prize, given every two years, will be awarded at a ceremony in Cheongju City, Republic of Korea, on 2 September.