From the Archives: Pacific Research Archives

The Pacific Research Archives (PRA) is one of three national collections held in the archives at the Australian National University (ANU). This paper describes the origins of and relationships among the three core archival collections: the Noel Butlin Archives Centre, the ANU University Archives and the Pacific Research Archives. The entire ANU Archives boasts over 20 kilometres of records, largely held in the ‘Acton Tunnel’, an underground car park redeveloped as a repository. Established in 2007, the Pacific Research Archives includes over 150 collections created by scholars, missionaries, colonial administrators, organisations and individuals who were working, or had interests, in the Pacific Islands in the politico-cultural regions of Melanesia, Polynesia and Micronesia. This paper traces the origins of the university’s role as a leader in Pacific studies, the context in which the Pacific Research Archives was created in 2007 and its current method of operation in a collaborative and digital world.