Just three years ago, the Minister for Urban Affairs and Planning, Craig
Knowles MP, announced that NSW would have a State Heritage Inventory. Ric
Bolzan's first task when he joined the Heritage Office as SHI Project
Manager was to implement the SHI strategy and get the inventory up and
running.
The Inventory now includes all protected items in NSW and numbers an
impressive 17,500 items. The database provides information on statutory
protected heritage items and is readily available to everyone via the
internet.
The team responsible for getting the State's heritage online has a wide
range of skills and backgrounds, and includes historians, software
specialists, geographers, database managers and physical anthropologists.
Manager, Ric Bolzan, worked at the Australian Museum as Manager of
Photographic Services before he started work with the Inventory. While he
was first appointed as SHI Project Manager, he is now Information Systems
Manager for the Heritage Office.
"I see our role as not just providing information, but providing a resource
that will assist decision making and give certainty. It is about
accessibility. The SHI enables us all to have extensive information about
heritage in NSW so that we can better conserve and manage it for future
generations" says Ric.
Database manager, Stewart Watters, has been working closely with government
agencies and local councils to gather information for the Inventory.
"We have developed strong partnerships with councils and government
agencies as we work to put more information on the inventory. I check for
quality and help them to format their data" says Stewart.
Over 90 organisations and individuals have participated in training
sessions run by the SHI team. Stewart and the team have travelled
throughout NSW to explain how to use the Inventory and to work with groups
using the software.
A major initiative for 1999 will be creating the State Heritage Register
within the SHI. The State Heritage Register was created by amendments to
the Heritage Act in 1998 . It will provide information about the State's
significant heritage assets. The SHI team is working with government
agencies to identify items of State Heritage significance that will be
placed on the Register.
"When I started with the Heritage Office" says Ric, "the challenge was to
create the inventory. Now that it is up and running and available on the
internet, we are moving on to the second stage which is to create an
integrated heritage information system."
"The Inventory, the Register, nominations, approvals, permits, contact
lists and grants: all will be managed through the one system. By improving
information management, the Heritage Office will have better tools to
provide information and assist the community conserve their heritage."
