The project to record the history of the Paralympic movement in Australia has been underway since 2011.
Tony Naar has shared details of activities in the project in 2017. The project is supported by volunteers. Some of the year’s achievements were:
- The number of Wikipedia articles created through the project is nearing 1,000.
- These articles continue to be collectively viewed around 120,000 times every month.
- The Australian Paralympic Committee (APC) introduced the hashtag #APCOnThisDay to recognise anniversary dates in the history of the Paralympic movement in Australia, using material from the project.
- Donations and loans of photos, scrapbooks, uniform items and other materials were received from a number of Paralympians and past team officials, including Pauline English, Peter Pascoe, Julie and Eric Russell, Pauline Schreiber, Nick Dean, and others. These are being scanned, sorted and managed for use in the project.
- Twenty interns (from Macquarie University and University of Western Sydney) have worked on the project at various times during the year. They have: updated the Paralympian contact list; implemented a strategy to recruit people for the archives project; developed a strategy and resources to recruit student volunteers for the Wikipedia project; and created a Facebook group for the project.
- A new volunteer team of five has started work on organising the APC archive collection.
- The oral history project with the National Library of Australia reached 54 interviews. The project will continue in 2018.
- Ray Barrett was inducted into the Indigenous Paralympian honour board at the National Centre of Indigenous Excellence, thanks to detective work by Pat Ollerenshaw.
- An e-history website has been started and will bring together all the diverse material created through the history project.
- Project workshops were conducted in Brisbane, the Gold Coast, Sydney, Canberra and Perth.
- Students at the University of Queensland have worked on Wikipedia articles and the e-history website content.
I have followed these developments in 2017 with great interest. I am delighted that young people are actively engaged in the project and sharing their energy with a core group of volunteers who are nurtured and supported by Tony Naar.
Waking up 16 got you feeling like… #APCOnThisDay https://t.co/kgH57m7teA ?? pic.twitter.com/iKfn6Xo1m7
— AUS Paralympic Team (@AUSParalympics) August 9, 2017
Photo Credits
Ray Barrett (Australian Paralympic Committee, CC BY-SA 3.0)
Tiffany Thomas Kane (Twitter)
