Dr Graeme Johanson

Professor Lynette Russell

Professor Sue McKemmish

Professor Don Schauder

Ms Justine Heazlewood

Public Record Office of Victoria (PROV)
Australian Society of Archivists, Indigenous Issues Special Interest Group (ASA IISIG)
Koorie Heritage Trust (KHT)
Victorian Koorie Records Taskforce (VKRT)

Mrs Diane Singh
Ms Jen Sullivan

Ms Shannon Faulkhead

Australian Indigenous Cultural Network

In community informatics Dr Graeme Johanson has undertaken many original research projects, using techniques that require skilful combination of user needs analysis, survey, social network analysis, and case studies. He is Director of the Centre for Community Networking Research (www.ccnr.net). Many different types of communities have co-operated with him to achieve shared research outcomes. All of these projects involved critical implementation of a range of information and communications technologies. His experience of the management of research projects of all sizes is extensive.

Dr Johanson also has recognised expertise in the history of publishing cultural artefacts. His recent monograph, on British books published for communities of readers in the colonies between 1843-1975, has been very favourably reviewed internationally, one reviewer in a top-tier journal commenting that the book was ‘an extremely welcome, key contribution to the international history of the book'. It is an unprecedented study for Australia.

Productive partnerships with industry are a strength of his research. In Victoria, he has liaised in providing strategic policy advice to the Department for Victorian Communities, an umbrella ministry which promotes use of ICTs across the whole of the state government. He has advised VICNET (Australia's leading community Internet Service Provider and knowledge aggregator) on policy development, and benefited from funds from VICLINK, the peak association for public libraries in Victoria which supports our research. At a federal level, he has managed several projects with Community Connectivity, Community Access, Department for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, most recently a nation-wide consultation by the Roundtable for Australian Civil Society to create input to the World Summit on the Information Society (Geneva 2003, Tunis 2005).

Since 2003 the Centre for Community Networking Research has belonged to CIRN, the Community Informatics Research Network, which brings together leading researchers internationally, to publish research, to network, to organise conferences, and to evaluate community projects. International collaboration is a basic objective of CCNR, and it has organised and sponsored three international conferences, and nine visits by international professors. More information on the Centre's work can be found at: www.ccnr.net.

Professor Lynette Russell

Professor Russell is Director of the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies (CAIS) at Monash University, and Director of Monash’s Aboriginal programs. Her research specialty is Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies, in particular, popular and academic representations with an emphasis on museums and popular media.

Professor Russell completed her Doctorate in 1996, entitled (Re)Presented Pasts: Constructions of Past and Present Australian Aboriginalities. Savage Imaginings, published in 2001, is a book based largely on this PhD research. Prof. Russell has also published 3 other books, either as sole author or editor, and numerous other works. In 2003, she was invited to be Convenor for the Archaeology, Museums and National Identity session at the World Archaeological Congress 5 held in Washington DC. Another appearance pertinent to the Trust & Technology project is the March Keynote address to the Australian Oral History Association in 2001.

Professor Russell is currently involved in a number of other research projects on topics such as gender, ethnicity and the construction of pathology. She is also involved in PhD supervision. Professor Russell is active in the public arena with numerous radio and television interviews on issues relevant to Indigenous people and history, and has written extensively for the general public, in newspapers and magazines.

For further information, please see Prof. Russell's homepage.

Professor McKemmish is Director of the Monash Enterprise Information Research Group (EIRG) and also the Records Continuum Research Group (RCRG). She is also currently Head of the School of Information Management and Systems (SIMS). Her relevant archival research has focused on developing archival description and metadata standards for managing and accessing quality information and archival resources online. She has also made a major contribution to the development of records continuum theory which provides the conceptual frame of reference for Australian recordkeeping metadata and archival description and access research.

The Australian Recordkeeping Metadata Schema (RKMS) Version 1.0 was developed by Professor McKemmish and her team in collaboration with the archives and records community in 1998-99, and has been adopted as the basis for an Australian National Standard. Furthermore, it informs the work of the ISO committee which is developing an international recordkeeping metadata standard. Prof. McKemmish is an expert adviser to this committee. She was made a Laureate of the Australian Society of Archivists in 1996.

The outcomes of Professor McKemmish’s metadata research have been published in leading journals. She is also integrally involved in the 1999-2006 InterPARES Project, funded by Canadian Social Science and History Research Council. This project is critically concerned with issues relating to preservation of and access to authentic records in digital form. Prof. McKemmish also holds a number of advisory roles to government bodies. She is currently supervising 4 PhD theses.

For further information, please see Prof. McKemmish's homepage.

Professor Schauder is Co-Chair of the Information and Telecommunication Needs Research Group (ITNR), and Chair of the Centre for Community Networking Research (CCNR), both at Monash University. He is also Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Information Technology, at Monash. His teaching and research are focused on the development of information communities, products and services, and knowledge management environments that meet the needs of individuals, organisations and society.

Professor Schauder has long-term achievements in information and knowledge policy development, and pioneering work in e-publishing in Australia. Further research interests encompass societal knowledge production and use and a concern with ‘digital divides’ in society, for example, information access for people with disabilities.

Professor Schauder was a consultant on the Transfer of Knowledge to the International Olympic Committee in 2001. He was part recipient of the Robert Williamson Award in 1996 to INFORMIT Electronic Publishing - co-founded by him in 1989 - in recognition of outstanding work in CD-ROM publishing in Australia. He has also been invited to present at conferences and do research in several European nations.

Prof. Schauder was a practising Library Director from 1968 to 1996.

For further information, please see the ITNR Website.

Ms Heazlewood is Director of the Public Record Office of Victoria. She has researched in the area of long-term preservation of digital materials as part of her leadership of the Victoria Electronic Records Strategy (VERS) team since 1998. VERS is one of the leading initiatives in digital preservation worldwide, and as a project manager and subsequently chief researcher and manager, Ms Heazlewood has contributed to global understandings of the challenges and solutions for the long term management of electronic records, by synthesising theoretical and technical understandings with industry-focused, implementable strategies. She regularly gives presentations on VERS research and development both in Australia and overseas, to inform industry and professionals about the Strategy.

Ms Heazlewood is a member of the Standards Australia committee on Records Management (IT-21) which was a notable contributor to the new International Standard on Records Management (AS ISO 15489). She has been the Secretary of the Australian Society of Archivists Electronic Records Special Interest Group since 2000 and a member of the group since 1998. In addition to many refereed publications, Ms Heazlewood has prepared numerous reports, publications and presentations for the Victorian Government, professional organisations and other industry bodies on the subject of electronic records and long-term digital preservation.

Mrs Singh has been appointed as the Research Fellow for this project. Her role is that of a Cultural Liaison Officer, providing advice on how to perform culturally sensitive research. She will also arrange the focus groups and individual interviews with Indigenous Communities throughout Victoria.

Ms Sullivan is a Research Associate with the Information and Telecommunication Needs Research Group (ITNR), and works closely with Dr Williamson. Until 2002, she managed the Department of Information Systems at the University of Melbourne. Since moving to Monash, she has been enjoying the work and atmosphere of a part-time Research Associate. She is interested in user needs, and is particularly enjoying involvement in the writing aspect of the research process.

Ms Faulkhead brings a wealth of experience to the project as she was Director of the Koorie Heritage Trust until recently. As the project's PhD candidate, Ms Faulkhead will be integrally involved in the research. She will be trained in leading edge research methodologies which span the whole of the project. She will be supervised jointly by Professors Russell and Schauder and will interact with the investigators and researchers in all other components of research.

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