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ItemDocumentation, Digitisation and Dissemination: Preparing for the History of CSIRO( 2017-07-27)In February 2017 Tom Spurling and Terry Healy delivered 34 A1 archive boxes of records to the eScholarship Research Centre (ESRC) at The University of Melbourne. They had been commissioned to write a history of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) to complement the existing histories of CSIR and CSIRO. These boxes contained an impressive array of documents and research notes assembled for Boris Schedvin, the former CSIR/O historian. They were to support his writing of a second volume to Shaping Science and Industry (Allen & Unwin, 1987). They provide a unique overview of the history of scientific research in Australia in the late 20th Century and the evolution of CSIRO from 1949. The ESRC was commissioned to extend the existing documentation of the records (metadata), prepare for and then digitise the records and produce at least one dissemination form integrating the metadata and images. This paper outlines the scope of this project, the nature of the records, and the archival and digitisation systems, standards and strategies. The digitisation and post-digitisation processes (software and methods), including the production of derivatives is examined. Of interest is the balancing of the expectations of the researchers, and the requirement for standardised and reproducible methods that support archival documentation and digital data preservation. The paper will utilise examples from the records that focus on the history of chemistry in Australia – a selection that is interesting in its own right.