The Historical Records Museum is now in its new premises, in the heritage Court House. Packed with information and a wonderful store of photographs and other records, the Museum opens its doors for Arts Trail and there’ll be a digital and print display of historical photographs, prepared by historian Alan Mulraney. Meet Debra Parry from Melbourne Conservation Services, and hear about the restorer’s craft. Debra will also be available to consult about the restoration of your own treasured photographs, books and objects.

Saturday 10am-11am : Caring for your collection with Debra Parry (bring in items for conservation advice 11am-11.30am)

Saturday 12.30pm-1pm Wedderburn’s history in photographs with Alan Mulraney

Saturday 2.30pm-3.30pm The Preservation of photographs, Debra Parry.

Sunday 10.30am-11.30am Caring for your Collection with Debra Parry (bring in items for conservation advice 11.30am-noon).

Debra Parry is a qualified conservator with a Masters in Cultural Materials Conservation from the University of Melbourne. She previously worked for six years as a conservator with the National Archives of Australia, where she carried out a range treatments, including the repair of documents, maps and plans, as well as photographs, albums, books and ledgers. Debra has also worked for Heritage Victoria, providing advice on storage and display to museums and historical societies in Victoria.  She has also worked in projects for the National Museum of Cambodia and the National Library of Laos.  Debra has been running her own business for over ten years, which is Melbourne Conservation Services.

Alan Mulraney: Alan is the secretary of the Historical Records Museum and during his working days he was a computer systems analyst/programmer with the Victorian State Government. He developed many software packages for use within the department up until his retrenchment in 1995, after which he formed his own software and sales company. Alan wrote the software package for the historical museum which now holds over 130,000 records and over 500,000 images on its database. Along with president Darryl Arnott he spends several hours per week scanning and referencing additional data into the system.