Volunteers have place in university history

Volunteers

Max Duldig and Brian O'Donnell have very different connections to the University of Adelaide's past, but an equal commitment to preserving it as volunteers in the University Archives Volunteer Group.

Mr Duldig worked in the Physics workshop from 1944 to 1949, returned in 1956 to study Economics and is the father of current Vice-President (Services & Resources) Paul Duldig.

Mr O'Donnell, on the other hand, having studied in England, can claim to have been no more than "a water boy for the University hockey teams" when his son, an Honours graduate in Science, and younger daughter played.

He was, however, one of the first to sign up when the Archives initiated its volunteer program in 2003 to help bring its records into the computer age. "Our first task, on day one, was to make boxes," he recalled.

Mr Duldig came on board three years ago and there are now 36 regulars who make up an average 24-strong working team every Tuesday.

Most take over the Council Room, to read, transcribe, index and preserve the masses of documents a university accumulates over 132 years. Mr Duldig, for example, is transcribing all the letters written by Mr John Davies, who managed two properties in the State's mid north that were subsequently bequeathed to the University in 1968.

Mr O'Donnell works solo elsewhere, taking images of old newspaper cuttings and processing them to go online. He has even developed his own rolling copy stand.

He doesn't miss the catch up over morning tea, of course, but it was not until he and Mr Duldig were interviewed together for this story that they discovered both had worked at the then Weapons Research Establishment (now DSTO Salisbury) during the 1960s.

Both are invited to an even bigger morning tea in Bonython Hall at 10am on Friday 8 June, hosted by the Patron of University of Adelaide Volunteers, Mrs Lindsay McWha.

The event will formally thank all of the University's 1000-plus volunteers for their commitment in the lead up to South Australia's Volunteers Day on Monday 11 June. Senior staff and a number of special guests also have been invited.

"All members of the University Archives Volunteer Group are very committed and passionate about the work they do and we look forward to seeing them all each week," said the Executive Officer, Corporate Communication, Tupp Carmody.

"As a result of their efforts, the Archives Collection is becoming much more accessible to our researchers and the broader community."

If you are interested in joining the group please contact Ms Carmody on (08) 8303 4194 or email: tupp.carmody@adelaide.edu.au

Story by Nick Carne