Heywood DSE

Familiar view: records in need of rescue.

I spend this week (excepting the 10 hours of round trip travel) appraising 20 years worth of office records for the Heywood branch of the Department of Environment and Sustainability.

Heywood is just north of Portland; some four hours down the coast from Geelong. It's small and pretty remote. Mobile internet devices don't work here. I spend most of the after work hours trying not to imagine all the spam mail choking my inbox and re-learning small town survival techniques like watching copious amounts of TV and pre-writing blogs to be posted later.

Heywood downtown at rush hour (3 cars).
The pizza place is also the video store.

My in-work hours aren't terribly exciting. Record's management isn't something I'm passionate about, but I really like the idea that I'm contributing something more than cafe customer service.

This is my first assignment renting myself out to a temp agency that specializes in knowledge management. I'm told that most of the requests they receive are for government records management type assignments. This particular project is the result of extra funds as the end of fiscal year approaches. Since these records are on the more aged side my goal is to strike a balance between appraising the records according to strict records management rules and getting the job done. On our arrival I sensed tension from the field crew (whose crew room we have over taken for the project) towards the office dwellers. I suspect they may have missed out on some extras so they could clear the storage shed. I'm determined that the money be seen as well spent. The pile of boxes needs to be visibly improved to justify our presence and keep the office peace.