The City of Sydney’s CAMPAS (City Archives Management and Public Access System) initiative continues to garner attention as it gains yet more accolades.
The project recently received a Gold GOV Design Award for “Expanded Service or Application”. This award is reserved for “true innovation that exceeds expectations and fills a previously unmet need […] with updates and developments that truly enhance the user experience”.
The project was also Highly Commended in the “Innovative Leadership” category at the NSW Local Government Excellence Awards on 26 May 2022.
The City of Sydney’s CAMPAS project aimed to replace 13 different systems being used to manage the City’s Archives. Many of the systems were not accessible to the public and some were no longer supported, threatening the accessibility of the City’s archival information.
The City selected Recollect as its new platform, taking full advantage of Recollect’s suite of archives management tools, and working with the Recollect team to enhance functionality and implement a user-centred design approach. Together they configured the interface and migrated over one million records, creating a single, user-friendly system: the Archives & History Resources catalogue. The catalogue has been embraced by the existing user community and has attracted many more users.
The user-centred design methodology involved initial phases of workshops to identify existing and potential user groups and what their needs might be. User groups were defined including staff, the media, historians, family history researchers, architects, heritage architects, developers, and members of the public. Every decision was made with a user lens.
– DRIVENxDESIGN Award Programs
The recent awards continue to shine a light on the importance of a positive user experience, sound archival structures, digital preservation to combat obsolescence, and the value that can be derived by engaging communities with archives and special collections.
The City has previously won the Australian Society of Archivists – Mander Jones Award, Category 3 for “Best finding aid to an archival collection held by an Australian Institution or about Australia”, and was one of 6 finalists in the World Smart City Award 2021 for “User-centred design for access to digital Archives and History”.
About Recollect
Recollect is a New Zealand based company that supplies a comprehensive cloud-based software as a service solution that ensures collections are easily accessible and with a unique focus on discovery tools that help inspire community engagement and storytelling to more than 80 organisations around the world.
