Temporary or 'temple'? Archives buildings and the image of archives in Australia

摘要

Archives have often been housed in temporary buildings in Australia. The classical Greco-Roman temple as building inspiration, favoured in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, was abandoned because of the pre-eminent need to solve storage problems. From the 1960s onwards, buildings were constructed to serve the public as well as to meet statutory requirements to preserve records. Public understanding of archives and their contribution to society has been steadily growing, and the association between building and service has developed. As archives increasingly become available in digital form, what is the future for archives buildings now that access to archives is becoming a matter of virtual rather than physical visits?