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FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETIES INC

 

e-BULLETIN No. 86 – 19 July 2011

 

Hon Editor, Dr Ruth S. Kerr

 

 

1) New technologies; value and practice in libraries

 

2) Temporary closure of State Reference Library, New South Wales

 

3) Heritage listing proposed for gravel football & cricket oval at Queenstown, Tasmania

 

4) Tourism numbers in decline to Maria Island, Tasmania

 

5) Scottsdale Visitor Information Centre, Tasmania

 

6) Diesel engine heritage group in Cobar, New South Wales

 

7) Chinchilla Historical Museum, Queensland

 

8) Consider joining the online Australian Historical Societies Support Group

 

9) Census forms preservation

 

10) (advertisement) Affordable digital replacement for your old microfilm readers now locally available

 

 

1) New technologies; value and practice in libraries

 

Australian Government Library Network Forum is holding a forum on Wednesday 27th July 2011 at 8.30am, entitled New Technologies; value and practices in libraries, at the National Library of Australia. It illustrates the way of the future in libraries for research, including further cost recovery methods. Topics include:


Gaik Khong - Director, Database Services, Information Access Branch, Parliamentary Library
Automated selection and subject indexing of newspaper clippings
This is a brief overview and demonstration of how the Parliamentary Library uses its LAST (Library Authoring System and Thesaurus) system to assist with selecting digital newspaper clippings for the Parliament’s ParlInfo Search databases and assigning thesaurus terms to them.


 Anne Slaney - Library Manager, Therapeutic Goods Administration
Piloting new Pay per View models for e-journals
In 2009 and 2010, Therapeutic Goods Administration library negotiated with two major publishers, Nature Publishing Group and Elsevier (Science Direct), for end users to have click through access to unsubscribed titles. A per article deduction is made automatically from a prepaid deposit account. It is likely that more publishers will be offering similar purchasing options for 2012. This presentation describes the TGA model and how it fits with the library's service delivery; outlines other similar models; and considers the associated risks and benefits.


 Alison Dellit - National Library of Australia
Trove: Bringing Australian resources to Australians
The National Library’s premier search service, Trove, offers a simultaneous search across varied content such as digitised newspapers; journal articles; books; theses; images; sound and video and biographical records about people and organisations. Delivering both digital and print copies of works to the general public, Trove has also built a community of supporters, who enhance and correct content, share context for resources, and learn from each other. In this presentation, Alison Dellit will talk about how Trove came to be; and what the team have learned from working on such a collaborative and social service.


 Paul Hagon – National Library of Australia
Web 3.0, an introduction to the semantic web
The web is changing rapidly. We've all become socially connected through Web 2.0. The semantic web, or Web 3.0, promises to enrich and connect our information. What exactly is the semantic web and how can libraries take advantage of the opportunities it presents.


 Scott Lewis - ATO
Beyond Classification: Semantic techniques for connecting users to needed information
Semantic techniques offers ways to provide users with information access that both complement and exceed the techniques offered by classification and keyword searching. This talk explores the most viable techniques and discusses the practical opportunities and difficulties that arise in making use of them.


 Registration closes Wednesday 20 July 2011.


Go to https://wiki.nla.gov.au/display/AGLIN2/Events+and+Training for the programme and registration form.


(Source: aliaaglin@lists.alia.org.au – 18 July 2011)

 

 

2) Temporary closure of State Reference Library, New South Wales

 

The Federation has been advised that the State Reference Library in the State Library of New South Wales will be closed for renovations from Monday, 1st August to Sunday, 18th September 2011, inclusive. The work will result in a contemporary new look for the State Reference Library with dedicated study rooms, more informal study areas and more computers. The new layout will also offer easier access to the services and collections.

 

All client services offered by the State Reference Library, including the Family History Service and the Legal Information Access Centre, will be closed. Access to the book, journal and microfilm collections, will not be available to the public during this period.

 

The Mitchell Library will remain open to the public but will be busier than usual as some of the clients who would normally use the facilities in the State Reference Library will move across to this reading room.

 

You can still contact the State Library through the Telephone Inquiry Service on
9273 1414 and the Information Request Service through the online form on the Ask a Librarian page.

 

(Source: Access and Information Section, State Library of NSW – 12 July 2011)

 

 

3) Heritage listing proposed for gravel football & cricket oval at Queenstown, Tasmania

 

The gravel football and cricket ground at Queenstown was nominated for heritage listing in 2002. Michael Lynch of Heritage Tasmania has advised that his office has only begun hearing submissions now, focussing on the heritage value of the gravel surface.


The oval was inducted into the Australian Football League's Hall of Fame in 2007.


The gravel oval at Queenstown on Tasmania's west coast is infamous. The home ground of the Queenstown Crows is thought to be the last gravel oval in the country still hosting regular matches. Rival teams often complain about playing at the ground.


The gravel has nurtured a fair share of football stars, including Carlton's Arthur Hodson and Collingwood's Syd Coventry.


In summer, the oval boasts one of country's fastest outfields, making it a batsman's paradise.


Early attempts to sow grass there failed because of high rainfall and sulphur emissions from a nearby copper smelter which has since closed down.

 

(Source: ABC News 29 June 2011 - www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/06/29/3256850.htm)

 

 

4) Tourism numbers in decline to Maria Island, Tasmania

 

Numbers of visitors to Triabunna and Maria Island on the east coast of Tasmania have halved in the past five years. Arrivals to Maria Island by ferry declined from 15,000 in 2004-2005 to 8000 in recent years. Maria Island is a very significant convict heritage site in Australia. On 1 August 2007 the Darlington Probation Station on Maria Island was entered on the National Heritage List and it was placed on the World Heritage List in 2010. Tourism Minister, Hon Scott Bacon MP, is considering a report, the Triabunna, Orford and Maria Island Visitor Plan, developed by local Councils and Tourism Boards.

 

(Source: Hobart Mercury 4 July 2011 p.5)

 

 

5) Scottsdale Visitor Information Centre, Tasmania


The new Scottsdale Visitor Information centre opened in the old courthouse in Alfred Street, Scottsdale in late June. The centre is also offering local craftspeople opportunities to display and sell their products. The new location is designed to attract more visitors and support local businesses.

 

(Source: Launceston Examiner 5 July 2011 p.16)

 

 

6) Diesel engine heritage group in Cobar, New South Wales

 

The National Trust (NSW) is supporting the establishment of the Cobar Diesel Engine Group, which aims to preserve all, or at least some, of the diesel-generating sets at the CSA Mine. The CSA Mine, first established in 1905, was reopened in 1962. In order to provide electricity, the mine acquired five Mirrlees HFS8 Alternator Sets from Kempsey Power Station, where they had been installed in 1951 to alleviate the post-war power shortage in NSW. These big engines were the peak of pre-WW2 British technology and are becoming increasingly rare, as most have ended up at the scrap dealers.

 

Bob Mills who is the initiator of the Cobar Diesel Engine Group, has a plan to establish a regional diesel engine museum around these historic engines and is seeking volunteers to join the group and help bring this plan to fruition. Bob can be contacted at PO Box 38, St Ives, NSW 2075 or email: digiproc@ozemail.com.au

 

(Source: ticcih-in-oz@googlegroups.com – 4 July 2011)

 

 

7) Chinchilla Historical Museum, Queensland

 

A proposal to move the Chinchilla historical museum from Villiers Street onto the Warrego Highway has been dismissed by the Western Downs Regional Council who now proposes to sell the Warrego Highway land. The Chinchilla Community Commerce and Industry Association supported the Historical Society in their proposal to move to a more prominent position. The local newspaper, Chinchilla News, featured the issue on its front page on 16 June 2011 stating that Council has advised the Historical Society that it reserves the right to move the Society at any time.

 

(Source: Chinchilla News and Murilla Advertiser 16 June 2011 p.1 including two photographs)

 

 

8) Consider joining the online Australian Historical Societies Support Group

 

The online Australian Historical Societies Support Group, through an arrangement between the Federation of Australian Historical Societies (FAHS) and the Royal Historical Society of Victoria, is one of the My Connected Community (mc2) groups initiated and funded by the Victorian Government’s Connecting Communities policy. 

 

The Australian Historical Societies Support Group offers participating historical societies, like-minded bodies and their members a variety of free, easy to use Web-based services which they can use to communicate with each other across the nation and the world on any topic that is of interest or concern to their organisations.  

 

The mc2 website provides easy access to online technologies now available for communicating between group members. Features of mc2 include a forum, an events list, space for sharing files, space for sharing photos, a links page and a chat room.

 

Details on how to join the Group are available at the FAHS website.

 

(Source: FAHS Committee)

 

 

9) Census forms preservation


Census night is Tuesday, 9th August 2011. The Federation reminds you that you have the option of ticking the box to preserve your Census Form in the National Archives of Australia. The forms will be retained and released to public access after 99 years. Preservation of the forms will allow historians in a century’s time to obtain a greater understanding of our Australian population, its economy, education, social, sporting and family life etc. In contrast to many overseas countries including Britain Australia has never preserved census forms until the option was introduced in 2001 by the then Commonwealth government.

 

(Source: National Archives of Australia website:
www.naa.gov.au/about-us/outreach-and-advocacy/census-time-capsule/index.aspx)

 

 

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