About the records

Administrative Information

In mid 1990, the R. E. Ross Trust made a grant of $20,000 to the Australian Science Archives Project, or ASAP (now the eScholarship Research Centre) to enable work to begin on the processing of the records of Dewar Wilson Goode which consisted of over 50 archives boxes. The records transferred were listed and a draft guide to the collection completed.

The listing of the records comprising the Dewar Wilson Goode Collection was originally created using the word processing software Word Perfect 5.1. With the assistance of Tim Sherratt, ASAP Canberra, a series of macros was developed to transfer the data into the "ASAP ADS" database. Since then the database has undergone updates, and further documentation has been added, to arrive at its current status as an HDMS, or Heritage Documentation Management System.

The records in this collection were reordered by Dewar Goode a number of times over the course of his life. In this time he moved between alphabetical and chronological systems. This collection was processed by various archivists over a span of years from 1990 to 2008.

Further information about this guide and the records it describes, including transfer arrangements, custodianship and other contextual information, is held in the office files and the Heritage Documentation Management System (HDMS) database at the eScholarship Research Centre, University of Melbourne.

• The collection is comprised of records from 4 accessions. The codes used to uniquely identify each accession range from GOOD1990/0001 to GOOD2008/0001.
• The records have been allocated to 27 series. The codes used to uniquely identify each series range from GDES0001 to GDES0027.
• Through the processing of the records, 1 provenance entity was identified. The code used to uniquely identify this provenance entity, i.e. records creator or custodian, is GDEP001.
• The inventory covers 1,037 items, and may include records of continuing value, records sentenced for destruction and records that have been destroyed. The codes used to uniquely identify each inventory item range from GOOD00001 to GOOD01032. The total collection occupies 1,067 linear cm of shelf space (or its equivalent).
• The documentation of the records at inventory level started on 21 December 1995. The latest additions were made on 11 April 2008. The latest modifications were made on 18 August 2008. This collection profile was updated on 22 April 2009.

Scope and Content

The historical record of the march of conservation in Australia is recorded in these papers, with emphasis on arid lands. (Dewar Wilson Goode).

Dewar Goode was a prominent pastoralist and conservationist who played a considerable role in soil conservation and management of farming land in Australia. As the owner and manager of a several stations in the semi-arid regions of South Australia and properties in the Western District of Victoria, Goode developed and refined his deep knowledge of land use and environmental issues. During the Second World War, he was seconded to the Rural Industries Division of War Organisation of Industry as a Commonwealth Pastoral Advisor. Dewar Goode also initiated the formation of National Parks Authority in Victoria, was the founder and first chairman of the National Trust Landscape Committee, a foundation member of the Australian Conservation Foundation, a member of the National Park Service Advisory Council, former President of the Natural Resources Conservation League and a member of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources.

Dewar Goode's records document his contribution to nature preservation and land management, his broad community service and the environmental cause in Australia over eight decades. Due to the magnitude of the records, this collection is invaluable, not only in terms of its rich historical content, but to any individual committed to the development of a 'land use ethic'. There can be few archival collections where the past can be seen to have such an obvious and critical bearing on our future.

This collection is particularly strong in demonstrating the practical basis of many of Dewar Goode’s conservation methods and philosophies. He has maintained extensive documentation relating to his properties 'Warraweena', Malbooma' and 'Brim Brim'. This includes a number of dramatic before and after photographs that reveal the effectiveness of his management strategies,and his commitment to sustaining the landscape. There is also a large number of files relating to specific environmental and conservation issues and debates. In these, a range of press clippings, published articles, brochures and correspondence, chart changing attitudes to the environment in Australia over a considerable period. More generally, the collection reflects Goode's active and continuing commitment to a range of conservation causes. Writing letters and articles, lobbying, campaigning, disseminating information, Dewar Goode has given many years of service to the Australian community.

Copyright

The Dewar Wilson Goode Collection is held by the State Library of Victoria. The State Library of Victoria manages any rights (including moral rights) in all material contained in the Dewar Wilson Goode Records.

All information in the guide to this collection and in the material of the collection itself, served from Australia, is administered under Australian Intellectual Property Laws.

How These Records Can Be Used

Where material from the Dewar Wilson Goode Collection is copied or quoted the source of the material must be acknowledged.

Preferred Citation

For citation of the published guide, an acceptable form would be: Paula Montesano, Lisa Cianci, Stewart Brash, Angela Savage, Dorothy MacLaren, Lisa O'Sullivan, Rachel Tropea and Ann McCarthy, Dewar Wilson Goode Guide to Records, eScholarship Research Centre, 2008 [URL and date accessed].