FRIDAY NOVEMBER 1 – ERIN REARDON – Royal Agricultural & Horticultural Society Archives – Walking into 85 years of History (and wondering what to do with it)
In May of 2022, a job was advertised for the role of museum and archives coordinator at the Royal Agricultural and Horticultural Society of South Australia (RA&HS). Erin did not have a background in agriculture, and his only connection to the RA&HS was as a Show-goer. His information management career to that point had been focused squarely on libraries. He did, however, have a love of history and historical collections. He applied for the job with hope, but not a great deal of confidence, and was surprised when offered the role.
When Erin began at the RA&HS Archives, he quickly discovered he had the autonomy and expectation to decide the direction of the archives, a simultaneously exciting and daunting prospect. This talk will discuss the collection, the history it represents, and finding the right help to future-proof it and make it accessible.
About the Speaker: Erin Reardon in a previous life, was a cinema projectionist before embarking on a career in information management and working in university and public libraries, before diving into archiving. Outside of work, Erin plays and watches sport, plays a variety of musical instruments out of public view, and collects vinyl records and books about music history.
