The Carnamah Historical Society collects, records, preserves and promotes the history of Carnamah, a town and farming community in the Mid West region of Western Australia.Carnamah Historical Society. Retrieved 17 June 2014
The society was formed in 1983, established a museum in 1992, and created an online presence in 2003.Inside History magazine . Nov-Dec 2011, "Calling Carnamah home". It was subsequently profiled at the joint national conference of Museums Australia and Interpretation Australia in Perth in 2011."Virtual Existence & Social Media". Andrew S. Bowman " Retrieved 31 March 2012. Its online content also resulted in Carnamah being featured at the National Museum of Australia in Canberra."Carnamah's Place at the National Museum of Australia". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog" Retrieved 31 March 2012.
The society is an institutional member of Museums Australia,"Annual Report 2010". Museums Australia. Retrieved 30 March 2012 an affiliate of the Royal Western Australian Historical Society (RWAHS),"Affiliated Societies". Royal Western Australian Historical Society . Retrieved 29 March 2012 and was the first Australian listing with the Society for One-Place Studies."Studies". Society for One-Place Studies. Retrieved 4 September 2013 At the RWAHS State History Conference in 2010 it was the recipient of the inaugural Affiliated Societies Merit Award for being a "dynamic, but very different society"."FAHS Newsletter No. 32 - December 2010". Australian Federation of Historical Societies . Retrieved 29 March 2012
The society was the 2015 winner for contribution by a community-based organisation in the Western Australian Heritage Awards, which are conducted annually by the Heritage Council of Western Australia. The award citation attributed the society with using "cutting-edge technology to engage with and promote the heritage of, not only their own and neighbouring districts, but also the State"."2015 Winner at the Western Australian Heritage Awards". Carnamah Historical Society & Museum's Blog. Retrieved 19 April 2015"2015 Western Australian Heritage Award Winners". State Heritage Office. Retrieved 19 April 2015
Museum
In 1992 the society established the Carnamah Museum near the centre of the Carnamah townsite. The museum contains a diverse collection of objects, tools, machinery, photographs, and ephemera relating to Carnamah’s social, domestic, commercial, and agricultural past."Carnamah Museum". Carnamah Historical Society. Retrieved 31 March 2012
In 2010 the society received a grant of $171,500 from Lotterywest"Annual Report 2010". Lotterywest . Retrieved 30 March 2012 to finance the extension of its museum. Additional financial and in-kind contributions were received from various sources including the Royalties for Regions Regional Grants Scheme and the Shire of Carnamah."Minutes Ordinary Council Meeting 17th March 2010". Shire of Carnamah . Retrieved 31 March 2012"Royalties for Regions Regional Grants Scheme - Mid West Region Successful 2009-2010 projects". Department of Regional Development and Lands . Retrieved 31 March 2012"Royalties for Regions Regional Grants Scheme - Mid West Region Successful 2010-2011 projects". Department of Regional Development and Lands. Retrieved 31 March 2012 The extension included the installation of a "Window to the Past" where an enlarged historic photograph of Carnamah's main street was fitted into an old window cavity (creating the illusion of looking through the window and into the past)."Carnamah Museum: Window to the Past". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 31 March 2012 The extended museum was officially opened on 15 September 2012 by Grant Woodhams, M.L.A. for Moore."Official Opening of Extended Carnamah Museum". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 21 August 2013
Macpherson Homestead
The society also cares for the Macpherson Homestead, located about one kilometre east of the Carnamah townsite."Macpherson Homestead". Carnamah Historical Society. Retrieved 31 March 2012"Macpherson Homestead". Shire of Carnamah . Retrieved 2 April 2012 The stone homestead was built in the late 1860s and following deterioration was restored with locally raised funds and grants from Lotterywest. The homestead is permanently on the State Register of Heritage Places. The Heritage Council of Western Australia noted that "early settlers played an important and successful role in the development and growth of the Carnamah district" and that "the place has a particular structural interest, with its high walls and steeply pitched roof and bush rafters".. Retrieved 2 April 2012
Virtual existence
Website
The society began a website in 2003"Musing magazine: Carnamah's dot com". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 31 March 2012. and meets many of its organisational objectives online. While its museum collection relates primarily to the Carnamah district, the society has taken a more regional approach online allowing the development of Carnamah to be placed in a wider historical context.
Online content includes an extensive biographical dictionary, virtual museum, historical photographs, cemetery records, local histories and Australian Curriculum resources. On the recommendation of the State Library of Western Australia the society's website has been periodically archived for posterity since 2004 under the Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources of Australia (PANDORA) program."Carnamah Historical Society". PANDORA Australia's Web Archive. Retrieved 12 June 2012.
Social media
In January 2010 the society entered the realm of social media by joining Facebook."Carnamah Historical Society & Museum". Facebook. Retrieved 31 March 2012. It has also joined and attracted a following on Twitter, Flickr, Google+, Pinterest, Instagram and LinkedIn. The society uses social media to engage and interact with online followers about Carnamah's history, its museum and online content. As a result of exposure on social media the society and its activities were profiled in a two-page spread in the Nov-Dec 2011 issue of Inside History magazine and in the spring 2011 edition of Musing, the publication of Museums Australia WA.
The society was invited to contribute as a guest author to the blog of Collections Australia Network (CAN). The invitation was accepted however CAN ceased its operations a few weeks after four posts had been written. The society instead started its own blog in May 2011 and began blogging on a regular basis after publishing the posts intended for CAN."The decision to blog!". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 31 March 2012. Blog posts cover a broad range of topics including museum happenings, website additions, historical pieces and featured photographs. The society's blog was named in Inside History magazine's Top 50 Blogs in 2012 and 2014"One Year, 40 Posts and in the Top 50". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 30 May 2012."We've been named in Inside History's 2014 Top 50 Blogs". Carnamah Historical Society & Museum's Blog. Retrieved 14 November 2014. and contributed to The Busy Archivist's Blogging Tool Kit in 2012 by providing insight into blogging and how it can be used by small archives and societies."The Busy Archivist's Blogging Tool Kit". Leah Davies, University of Alabama. Retrieved 22 August 2013.
Biographical Dictionary
The society, in collaboration with the North Midlands Project, produces the online Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs. The dictionary contains referenced biographical and local information on thousands of people with a connection to the shires of Coorow, Carnamah or Three Springs. It is a merged and improved version of the society’s former Coorow-Waddy, Carnamah-Winchester and Three Springs databases."Biographical Dictionary of Coorow, Carnamah and Three Springs" Carnamah Historical Society & Museum. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
The rationale behind this model is to tell the history of the district "one person at a time".. Retrieved 31 March 2012.
Virtual museum
The society added a virtual museum to its website in August 2011"Carnamah's Virtual Museum". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 31 March 2012. to share its collection with a broader audience."Carnamah to Online: Virtual Ticket to Our Collection". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 6 July 2012. It began with three virtual exhibitions, but was later expanded to a total of nine with support from the Department of Culture & the Arts (DCA)."Virtual Museum". Carnamah Historical Society. Retrieved 31 March 2012."Connect - Community Collections Panel Approvals, March Round 2012". Department of Culture and the Arts. Retrieved 21 August 2013. An image from Carnamah's virtual museum was the cover of the July–August 2013 edition of Inside History magazine."Inside History magazine with a Carnamah cover!". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 21 August 2013. In 2013 the society began rolling out Australian Curriculum resources to accompany its virtual exhibitions with backing from the Western Australian History Foundation and DCA."Launch of Australian Curriculum resource for Milk Cream & Butter". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 21 August 2013."Connect - Community Collections Grant Recipients May Round 2013". Department of Culture and the Arts. Retrieved 13 October 2013.
In May 2014 the society's Virtual Museum: to be known and distinguished as Carnamah was the Level 1 winner of the Permanent Exhibition category at the Museums and Galleries National Awards (MAGNA), which are conducted annually by Museums Australia."MAGNA 2014 Shortlist". Museums Australia. Retrieved 5 May 2014."We've come home with a Museums & Galleries National Award". Carnamah Historical Society & Museum's Blog. Retrieved 20 May 2014. The MAGNA judges summarised the work as an innovative solution that was "very creative with excellent production values and interpretative images and narratives"."MAGNA Museums and Galleries National Awards 2014". Museums Australia. May 2014. The following year, in 2015, the accompanying education resources received a Highly Commended in the Level 1 Interpretation, Learning and Audience Engagement category of the same awards. The judges commented that they were "beautifully designed and comprehensive" and were "an exemplar for all local historical society/museums"."MAGNA 2015 Winners". Museums Australia. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
To commemorate the centenary of the Gallipoli landings, the society created an additional virtual exhibition on World War I in 2015.
Virtual volunteering
In May 2012 the society launched a virtual volunteering pilot to index electoral rolls, with the work contributing to its databases."We're Recruiting Virtual Volunteers". Carnamah Historical Society's Blog. Retrieved 27 July 2012. "The aims of the program are to increase the output of the society, improve social inclusion and provide additional volunteering opportunities.""Local history - Social Innovation Grant - Carnamah Historical Society". Federation of Australian Historical Societies e-Bulletin No. 108. Retrieved 21 August 2013. In January 2013 the society received a $100,000 social innovation grant from the Government of Western Australia for the further development of its program."New online portal to benefit community sector". Government of Western Australia, Ministerial Media Statements . Retrieved 21 August 2013 The funding, over a two-year period, covered research, development, trials, refinement and the sharing of structure and outcomes with other community sector organisations.
The society received a Highly Commended for Virtual Volunteering in the Innovation category of the 2015 Museums and Galleries National Awards. It was hailed as a "great socially inclusive project which addresses the needs of both the museum and the volunteer"."MAGNA 2015 Winners". Museums Australia. Retrieved 26 May 2015.
Publications