Comma

Abstract

At the 17th Congress of the International Council on Archives in Brisbane, David Fricker, the Director-General of the National Archives of Australia, spoke to the Congress theme of sustainability. In particular, his paper considered the business model of a national archive, and what reforms archives should be looking at as they operate in the digital age. This paper focuses on the basic elements of an archive's business: the records, custody, preservation, access and the legislative framework that enables all of its activities. Fricker argues that these concepts need to be re-thought as archives define their business models for a digital world. He discusses some of the ways the National Archives of Australia is responding to the challenges of the digital age. In a crowded information marketplace, he suggests that the role of archives in providing the complete, authentic record will remain crucially important.