Tab Box
After over ten years of lobbying, planning and construction, the JCPML building opened to the public on 20 February 1998. Library staff and the collections had moved in six months earlier.[1] Foundation JCPML staff comprised Vicki Williamson (Director), Kandy-Jane Henderson (Archivist), Lesley Carman-Brown (Public Programs Co-ordinator) and David Wylie (Archives Technician). They were later joined by long-term staff members Ros Marshall (Education Officer) and Lesley Wallace (Collection Development).
External to the Library, there had been a transition from the John Curtin Centre’s founders to a new regime. Vice Chancellor Maloney had left in 1997, to be replaced by Professor Lance Twomey. Responsibility for the John Curtin Centre and line management for the JCPML was transferred to Professor John Milton-Smith as Deputy Vice Chancellor, Curtin International.[2]
The University Librarian and JCPML Director, Vicki Williamson, reduced her involvement in the Library, with more and more operational responsibility being assumed by JCPML Archivist Kandy-Jane Henderson.[3] Williamson would resign in 2001, with her Deputy Sue White acting in the position for 18 months, until a new University Librarian Imogen Garner commenced in July 2003.[4]
Researching appropriate plans and fit out for the Library had taken up much of Kandy-Jane Henderson’s time during 1997/98. The Library’s premises included a Reading Room, furnished with input from prospective researchers and equipped with carefully selected technology for accessing the various media held by the Library. Special areas within the room were set up for accessing oral histories, microfilm and video tapes without disturbing others. Other facilities included a theatrette, seminar room, staff work areas and the all-important secure, climate-controlled archival stack with appropriate storage for the various kinds of material the JCPML would hold.[5] A bust of John Curtin by Peter Gelencser was installed in the foyer.[6]
While “a lovely place to work in and have people come to”, the Library was soon found to have some short-comings. The reading room was too big, since the success of the Library’s digitisation efforts meant researchers could access much of the collection remotely. The location of the Library’s major exhibition space on the same level as the Gallery but a floor above the Library was not ideal – visitors to the exhibition were cut off visually from the JCPML reading room and collection, there were some visitor control issues and the JCPML’s historical exhibitions did not gel well with the Gallery’s themes around contemporary art.[7]
Once in situ, activity proceeded in accordance with the JCPML 1997-2001 Strategic Plan[8] and operational plans developed annually by Library staff[9].
1998-2003 saw the Library and its staff win a number of awards, most notably the Curtin University Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence (in 2000) and the Australian Society of Archivists’ prestigious Mander Jones Award (in 2002).
Long-time supporter, Associate Professor in History and Politics David Black, was appointed JCPML Historical Consultant in 1998[10] while former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam continued as JCPML Patron. Whitlam was said to have filled the inspiring, visionary role for the Library which had been lost when Vice Chancellor Maloney left. Mr and Mrs Whitlam visited the Library almost every year and Kandy-Jane Henderson often dropped into Whitlam’s Sydney office when she was there.[11]
External to the Library, there had been a transition from the John Curtin Centre’s founders to a new regime. Vice Chancellor Maloney had left in 1997, to be replaced by Professor Lance Twomey. Responsibility for the John Curtin Centre and line management for the JCPML was transferred to Professor John Milton-Smith as Deputy Vice Chancellor, Curtin International.[2]
The University Librarian and JCPML Director, Vicki Williamson, reduced her involvement in the Library, with more and more operational responsibility being assumed by JCPML Archivist Kandy-Jane Henderson.[3] Williamson would resign in 2001, with her Deputy Sue White acting in the position for 18 months, until a new University Librarian Imogen Garner commenced in July 2003.[4]
Researching appropriate plans and fit out for the Library had taken up much of Kandy-Jane Henderson’s time during 1997/98. The Library’s premises included a Reading Room, furnished with input from prospective researchers and equipped with carefully selected technology for accessing the various media held by the Library. Special areas within the room were set up for accessing oral histories, microfilm and video tapes without disturbing others. Other facilities included a theatrette, seminar room, staff work areas and the all-important secure, climate-controlled archival stack with appropriate storage for the various kinds of material the JCPML would hold.[5] A bust of John Curtin by Peter Gelencser was installed in the foyer.[6]
While “a lovely place to work in and have people come to”, the Library was soon found to have some short-comings. The reading room was too big, since the success of the Library’s digitisation efforts meant researchers could access much of the collection remotely. The location of the Library’s major exhibition space on the same level as the Gallery but a floor above the Library was not ideal – visitors to the exhibition were cut off visually from the JCPML reading room and collection, there were some visitor control issues and the JCPML’s historical exhibitions did not gel well with the Gallery’s themes around contemporary art.[7]
Once in situ, activity proceeded in accordance with the JCPML 1997-2001 Strategic Plan[8] and operational plans developed annually by Library staff[9].
1998-2003 saw the Library and its staff win a number of awards, most notably the Curtin University Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence (in 2000) and the Australian Society of Archivists’ prestigious Mander Jones Award (in 2002).
Long-time supporter, Associate Professor in History and Politics David Black, was appointed JCPML Historical Consultant in 1998[10] while former Australian Prime Minister Gough Whitlam continued as JCPML Patron. Whitlam was said to have filled the inspiring, visionary role for the Library which had been lost when Vice Chancellor Maloney left. Mr and Mrs Whitlam visited the Library almost every year and Kandy-Jane Henderson often dropped into Whitlam’s Sydney office when she was there.[11]
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Site plan for the original proposed library and gallery
Floor Plan of Level 1 of JCPML building
When the JCPML moved into its new premises, its collection comprised largely physical material it had collected and catalogued over the past four years.
Early collection efforts naturally focussed on John Curtin’s life. But University Librarian Vicki Williamson had anticipated almost from the outset that at some point most of the existing material about John Curtin would have been largely collected. Fifty to a hundred years down the track John Curtin’s legacy “may not be enough to sustain this organisation. And so we thought long and hard about other themes that would be relevant, that would give us a life line to the future but also would tie us with the past”.[12] Additional collection foci selected were the office of prime ministership and the Australian-American alliance. These were included in Program Statements and collection policies as early as 1994, but seen as long-term goals, with little active collection taking place on them.[13]
Some significant acquisitions under the broader foci did occur however: a donation by Hazel Hawke (wife of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke) of her papers from her time at the Lodge[14]; 80 metres of records created by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Australian foreign policy 1937-1949; and records from Visiting Scholar John Edwards on economics in the Depression years and the post-war reconstruction planning of the Labor government.[15]
Consistent with “current best archival practice”, there was strict security in the reading rooms, with applications and readers’ passes required by those wishing to make use of the research facilities. The first passes were fittingly issued to John Curtin’s daughter and grandchildren during the JCPML public opening celebrations.[16]
But as had been intended from the outset, the emphasis was on electronic resources and access.
Initially using software from the US company ExCalibur Technologies, an Electronic Research Archive (ERA) was created in 1998. When it was launched in February 1999 it was the first such digital archive in Australia and an innovation on the international scene.[17] It provided access to 90% of the JCPML collection, not just to selected “jewels”: 5000 items in December 1998 growing to 15,000 items by 2003.[18] Initial use was restricted to the JCPML reading room but was made available via the internet in 1999. In a 2001 enhancement, “deep linking” to records in the National Archives of Australia was introduced whereby researchers could search for and view items in another institution although they had done their search in ERA.[19]
In 2003 the system was moved to a new platform, Digitool, through a partnership with ExLibris, the provider of the University Library’s new library management system. Although researchers had loved the original version of ERA, they loved this even more, with significantly reduced download times for images and easier access to audio and video files, and from 2004 the ability for the first time to put multiple records into a basket for saving or emailing as a set.[20]
To mark five years of public operation of the JCPML in 2003, a review was commissioned, to be undertaken by George Nichols, former Director-General of the National Archives of Australia. [21] Overall its findings were very positive.
Some indication of the type of research undertaken in this period utilising the JCPML’s collections and staff services was included in a 2005 article in the journal AARL.[22]
Early collection efforts naturally focussed on John Curtin’s life. But University Librarian Vicki Williamson had anticipated almost from the outset that at some point most of the existing material about John Curtin would have been largely collected. Fifty to a hundred years down the track John Curtin’s legacy “may not be enough to sustain this organisation. And so we thought long and hard about other themes that would be relevant, that would give us a life line to the future but also would tie us with the past”.[12] Additional collection foci selected were the office of prime ministership and the Australian-American alliance. These were included in Program Statements and collection policies as early as 1994, but seen as long-term goals, with little active collection taking place on them.[13]
Some significant acquisitions under the broader foci did occur however: a donation by Hazel Hawke (wife of former Prime Minister Bob Hawke) of her papers from her time at the Lodge[14]; 80 metres of records created by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on Australian foreign policy 1937-1949; and records from Visiting Scholar John Edwards on economics in the Depression years and the post-war reconstruction planning of the Labor government.[15]
Consistent with “current best archival practice”, there was strict security in the reading rooms, with applications and readers’ passes required by those wishing to make use of the research facilities. The first passes were fittingly issued to John Curtin’s daughter and grandchildren during the JCPML public opening celebrations.[16]
But as had been intended from the outset, the emphasis was on electronic resources and access.
Initially using software from the US company ExCalibur Technologies, an Electronic Research Archive (ERA) was created in 1998. When it was launched in February 1999 it was the first such digital archive in Australia and an innovation on the international scene.[17] It provided access to 90% of the JCPML collection, not just to selected “jewels”: 5000 items in December 1998 growing to 15,000 items by 2003.[18] Initial use was restricted to the JCPML reading room but was made available via the internet in 1999. In a 2001 enhancement, “deep linking” to records in the National Archives of Australia was introduced whereby researchers could search for and view items in another institution although they had done their search in ERA.[19]
In 2003 the system was moved to a new platform, Digitool, through a partnership with ExLibris, the provider of the University Library’s new library management system. Although researchers had loved the original version of ERA, they loved this even more, with significantly reduced download times for images and easier access to audio and video files, and from 2004 the ability for the first time to put multiple records into a basket for saving or emailing as a set.[20]
To mark five years of public operation of the JCPML in 2003, a review was commissioned, to be undertaken by George Nichols, former Director-General of the National Archives of Australia. [21] Overall its findings were very positive.
Some indication of the type of research undertaken in this period utilising the JCPML’s collections and staff services was included in a 2005 article in the journal AARL.[22]
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A view of the JCPML archival storage
Using computers in the Library Reading Room
The JCPML outreach program was in full swing within weeks of the opening of the Library’s new building. The JCPML Information Update newsletter, commenced during the construction phase, was important in bringing outreach and collection activities to the attention of members of the University and the community, while JCPML merchandise items made available for purchase provided outreach participants with lasting souvenirs of their visits.
Exhibition
The initial exhibition which the JCPML and the National Archives of Australia had jointly curated[23] was formally opened at the JCPML by well-known political journalist and columnist Michelle Grattan on 20 April 1998.[24] Entrance was free, with guided tours and film screenings available.[25]
Realising that to mount future exhibitions would be costly, it was decided to display major exhibitions for a minimum of two years and then make them available online.[26] The initial exhibition was replaced in 2000 with Shaping the Nation: John Curtin and Australia with the JCPML staff providing curatorial support. Building on the expertise gained, the JCPML staff themselves curated John Curtin’s legacy: Leading Australia from war to peace which ran from 2002-2004.[27]
The exhibitions were well attended attracting around 10,000 people per year.[28]
In addition, the JCPML hosted touring exhibitions from other institutions[29] and undertook a collaborative effort with the John Curtin Gallery to develop a special exhibition Without Classification combining material from the records of Hazel Hawke in the JCPML collection with examples of poster art in Australia.[30]
Realising that to mount future exhibitions would be costly, it was decided to display major exhibitions for a minimum of two years and then make them available online.[26] The initial exhibition was replaced in 2000 with Shaping the Nation: John Curtin and Australia with the JCPML staff providing curatorial support. Building on the expertise gained, the JCPML staff themselves curated John Curtin’s legacy: Leading Australia from war to peace which ran from 2002-2004.[27]
The exhibitions were well attended attracting around 10,000 people per year.[28]
In addition, the JCPML hosted touring exhibitions from other institutions[29] and undertook a collaborative effort with the John Curtin Gallery to develop a special exhibition Without Classification combining material from the records of Hazel Hawke in the JCPML collection with examples of poster art in Australia.[30]
Visiting scholar presentations and publications
The first Visiting Scholar lecture given after the opening of the JCPML was by Dr David Day, a senior research fellow from La Trobe University. His research focussed on 1915, a pivotal year in Curtin’s life.[31] Initial visiting scholars were selected by the JCPML from eminent historians and researchers working in the area.[32] In a departure, an up-and-coming researcher, James Curran, was selected for 2004.[33]
While the JCPML published the books which arose out of the research of Visiting Scholars Serle and Black[34], this was not done with subsequent Visiting Scholars' work.[35] Publishing required a marketing expertise which the JCPML did not have and publication with a non-recognised publisher like the JCPML did not enable academics to earn research points.[36]
While the JCPML published the books which arose out of the research of Visiting Scholars Serle and Black[34], this was not done with subsequent Visiting Scholars' work.[35] Publishing required a marketing expertise which the JCPML did not have and publication with a non-recognised publisher like the JCPML did not enable academics to earn research points.[36]
Anniversary lectures
The introduction of an annual John Curtin Anniversary Lecture followed the success of the inaugural Visiting Scholar lecture. It would be held each July on the anniversary of John Curtin’s death.[37] Future anniversary lecturers would not be visiting scholars – they were invited by the JCPML as speakers of potential public interest. Their choice of topic was up to them.[38]
The first such Anniversary Lecture was given by retired Prime Minister and the JCPML Patron Gough Whitlam. Like many others which followed, it was fully booked. For those unable to attend or who wanted to hear it again, the lecture was made available soon afterwards on the JCPML website.[39] In 2001 the then new technology of webcasting was used to broadcast the lecture by Kim Beazley.[40] Whitlam assisted in the selection of future lecturers and attended and introduced many lectures. Speakers during this period could hardly have been more high profile: Hazel Hawke, Natasha Stott-Despoja, Kim Beazley and Paul Keating.[41]
In a variation, in 2003 the JCPML opted to work in partnership with the Perth Theatre Company to develop a play Shadow of the Eagle, focussing on the historic first meeting between John Curtin and General Douglas MacArthur. The play was also performed in Kalgoorlie, Bunbury and the eastern states.[42]
The first such Anniversary Lecture was given by retired Prime Minister and the JCPML Patron Gough Whitlam. Like many others which followed, it was fully booked. For those unable to attend or who wanted to hear it again, the lecture was made available soon afterwards on the JCPML website.[39] In 2001 the then new technology of webcasting was used to broadcast the lecture by Kim Beazley.[40] Whitlam assisted in the selection of future lecturers and attended and introduced many lectures. Speakers during this period could hardly have been more high profile: Hazel Hawke, Natasha Stott-Despoja, Kim Beazley and Paul Keating.[41]
In a variation, in 2003 the JCPML opted to work in partnership with the Perth Theatre Company to develop a play Shadow of the Eagle, focussing on the historic first meeting between John Curtin and General Douglas MacArthur. The play was also performed in Kalgoorlie, Bunbury and the eastern states.[42]
Schools Program
The education program for schools started with a trial of programs for upper secondary school students in 1998, and really came to fruition in 1999.
Secondary schools were able to book one of three programs which included in-class teaching resources, a role-play game held at the JCPML, a tour of the exhibition and, for students in years 11 and 12, an introduction to the JCPML’s archival facilities and a hands-on introduction to the Electronic Research Archive.[43] The role-play was based on key documents from the collection, with senior students taking on the roles of Curtin, Churchill, MacArthur and their supporters.[44]
Late in 1999, a collection of nearly 200 items of source documents designed for use in schools was published[45] and a program for primary school students was launched.[46] To extend coverage of the program to regional schools, the JCPML’s Education Officer undertook school visits using online resources[47] and, with a grant from the Public Education Endowment Trust, developed a Treasure Box which was made available for sending to primary schools. The box contained lesson plans, games and activities, and all the resources a teacher would need, including letters, newspaper articles, photos, recordings of speeches, archival video footage and artefacts from the period.[48]
By 2000 so many educational resources were available online that an education webpage was added to the JCPML website.[49]
The relationship with individual schools was complemented by close collaboration with the History Teachers Association of WA and the hosting of judging and presentations for prizes in the National History Challenge.[50]
Secondary schools were able to book one of three programs which included in-class teaching resources, a role-play game held at the JCPML, a tour of the exhibition and, for students in years 11 and 12, an introduction to the JCPML’s archival facilities and a hands-on introduction to the Electronic Research Archive.[43] The role-play was based on key documents from the collection, with senior students taking on the roles of Curtin, Churchill, MacArthur and their supporters.[44]
Late in 1999, a collection of nearly 200 items of source documents designed for use in schools was published[45] and a program for primary school students was launched.[46] To extend coverage of the program to regional schools, the JCPML’s Education Officer undertook school visits using online resources[47] and, with a grant from the Public Education Endowment Trust, developed a Treasure Box which was made available for sending to primary schools. The box contained lesson plans, games and activities, and all the resources a teacher would need, including letters, newspaper articles, photos, recordings of speeches, archival video footage and artefacts from the period.[48]
By 2000 so many educational resources were available online that an education webpage was added to the JCPML website.[49]
The relationship with individual schools was complemented by close collaboration with the History Teachers Association of WA and the hosting of judging and presentations for prizes in the National History Challenge.[50]
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School students participate in JCPML role play
Cast members of play “Shadow of the Eagle”
Accordion
- JCPML Consultative Group, Quarterly Report to the Group for the 3rd Quarter, 1997, typescript, John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library, Perth, WA, JCPML corporate records file COM3/2.
- John Curtin Centre News, December 1997.
- Kandy-Jane Henderson, interview by Heather Campbell, 4 April 2011, transcript, John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library, Perth, WA, JCPML01295/1, 8-9.;
The JCPML Consultative Group, which had not met for some time, was officially discontinued in April 1998 but the new consultative process which had been foreshadowed was not implemented. - Susan Hart, Look Ever Forward: A History of Curtin University 1987-2012 (Perth, WA: Curtin University, 2014), 118.
- JCPML Information Update, 1, no.1; 2, no.1; and 2, no.2.
- JCPML Information Update, 2, no.3.
- Henderson, interview, 16.
- JCPML Strategic Plan 1997 incorporating an Information Plan, Planning Framework and Program Statement (unpublished internal Curtin University Library document), typescript, JCPML corporate records file STR3 v2.
- Henderson, interview, 8.
- JCPML Information Update, April 2003.
- Vicki Williamson, interview by Lesley Carman-Brown, 9-17 October 2001, transcript, John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library, Perth, WA, JCPML00676/1, 19.;
Henderson, interview, 23. - Williamson, interview, 15.
- JCPML Program Statements. (Perth, WA: Curtin University, 1994, 1997 and 2001).;
George Nichols, “Report on the John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library at Curtin University of Technology,” (unpublished internal Curtin University Library report, 2003), typescript, 20-21. - The “office of prime ministership” was re-defined in 2001 as including the contribution of their spouses and families, the provision under which the JCPML had in 1999 accepted Hazel Hawke’s papers.;
JCPML Program Statement, 2001.;
JCPML Information Update, August 1999. - Lesley Carman-Brown, Kandy-Jane Henderson, and Lesley Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library: Past and Future,” AARL 36, no. 1 (2005): 7.
- JCPML Information Update, April 1998.
- Gaby Haddow and Lesley Wallace, ”Politics, Literature, Folklore and Circumnavigating the World: The What, Why and How of Digital Collections at Curtin University Library” (paper presented at the Australian Library and Information Association Biennial Conference, Alice Springs, NT, 2-5 September 2008), 2.
- Nichols, “Report,” 13.;
JCPML Information Update, April 1999. - JCPML Information Update, April 2001.
- JCPML Information Update, April 2003 and December 2004.
- Nichols, “Report.”
- Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 7-8.
- John Curtin: A Man of Peace, A Time of War.
- JCPML Information Update, April 1998.
- JCPML Information Update, April 1998.
- Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 9.
- Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 9.;
JCPML Information Update, April 2002. - 12,000 people had visited the exhibition and the library by December 1998. JCPML Information Update, December 1998.; 21,000 people visited Shaping the Nation: John Curtin and Australia. JCPML Information Update, August 2002.; 10,000 visited John Curtin’s Legacy: Leading Australia from War to Peace in 2003. JCPML Information Update, April 2004.
- The first of these was Beginnings: Images of Occupied Japan from the MacArthur Memorial Library which was visited by 9000 people during its two-month display from October 1999. (Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 10.;
JCPML Information Update, December 1999. - JCPML Information Update, December 2002.
- JCPML Information Update, April 1998.
- Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 9.;
Henderson, interview, 13. - Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 9.
- Geoffrey Serle, For Australia and Labor (Perth, WA: John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library, 1998); David Black, Friendship is a Sheltering Tree’: John Curtin’s Letters 1907 to 1945 (Perth, WA: John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library, 2001).
- A full list of Visiting Scholars and their work is available at: https://jcpml.curtin.edu.au/about/visiting-scholars/
- Henderson, interview, 13.
- JCPML Information Update, 2, no.3.
- Henderson, interview, 14.
- JCPML Information Update, August 1998.
- JCPML Information Update, August 2001.
- ”[JCPML] events and lectures”, accessed 1 December 2019, https://jcpml.curtin.edu.au/about/events/
- JCPML Information Update, July 2003 and April 2004.
- JCPML Information Update, April 1999.
- Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 10.
- John Curtin and International Relations During World War II described in JCPML Information Update, December 1999.
- JCPML Information Update, December 1999.
- Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 10.
- JCPML Information Update, December 2000.
- JCPML Information Update, April 2000.
- Carman-Brown, Henderson and Wallace, “Australia’s First Prime Ministerial Library,” 11.