ACTive ALIA

proACTive

Number 225: July 2002

French honour for your editor | The Tippett Collection | Libraries Change Lives! | National Library Technicians Day | Professional perspectives: past and future... | Sue Brudenall retires | CIT awards | PEARLS | Locum wanted!

French honour for your editor
At a reception on 19 June the French Ambassador, H E M Pierre Viaux, conferred on Peter Judge the insignia of Chevalier de l'Ordre National du Mérite, 'for services rendered to France in developing scientific exchanges between France and Australia, and for promoting French science and technology'. Peter has been working in the French embassy for nearly a decade, producing the magazine French Science and Technology, and acting as secretary of the Australian-French Science Association, AFAS.

The Tippett Collection
The library of St Mark's National Theological Centre
APSIG is proposing to visit St Mark's Library later in the year. This peep at the Tippett Collection has been specially written by the Library Manager, Deveni Temu, as a curtain-raiser for that visit.

St Mark's Library is one of very few significant public theological libraries in the southern hemisphere. The collection is estimated to be over 90 000 volumes and subscribes to some 300 periodical titles. As well as providing general resources for theological study, the library has specialist collections in Church and Society, Ethics and Missiology. Some of the materials relating to the Australian-Pacific region are unparalleled and are regarded as a national resource for Australia and Australians.

Library services are available by personal visits, phone, mail, and fax. The Tippett Collection is a specialist collection that may interest researchers and librarians.

'I had not been very long on the mission field before I saw that colonialism, over intellectualised religion and historical denominationalism all had to go. They had to permit an indigenous Christianity to emerge.' (Dr Tippett - 1984)

Methodist minister and missionary, anthropologist and missiologist of international repute, fellow of the Linnaean Society, an esteemed philatelist, a visionary Christian scholar, and an inspiring teacher, Dr Alan Tippett presented his library and manuscript collection to St Mark's National Theological Centre in 1984.

Dr Tippett and his wife Edna began their work for the Methodist overseas missionary service in wartime Fiji in 1941. Dr Tippett's keen powers of observation were used to compile with prodigious energy a rich collection of notes on Fiji custom, culture and folklore, which later provided a rich quarry for his anthropological and missiological researches. He was professor of Anthropology and Oceania Studies at the School of World Mission, Fuller Seminary, Pasadena, California. His teaching, research and publications in the field of missiology and the methodology of mission consultancies in Ethiopia, Korea and Papua New Guinea are unparalleled.

Dr Tippett wrote that his library includes: 'Many kinds of raw material, documented papers, reports of critical debates which become components of what is now called Missiology.' The Collection includes books, reports and journals, files of professional articles, letters, card systems, cassettes, microfilm and microfiche, field notebooks, transcripts, MA theses and PhD dissertations.

DrTippett intended his library to be used as a research source and said in his presentation of the library to St Mark's:

'Thus it should be possible for the researcher either to probe into the past or to look into the future, to evaluate that which is behind or to anticipate dimensions of the Post-Colonial missiology. Once we have eliminated matters that stem from colonial presuppositions and historical denominationalism, and the missionary task ceases to be one of civilising and sectarian extension, a completely different set of questions arises, eg. How does one communicate a loving Father God to a matriarchal community? How does a mission board and its appointees from a hierarchal structure plant a church in an utterly egalitarian community: or vice versa? How may our missionary effort or support from home be relevant in a third world community without intruding, dominating or foreignising?'

Reading areas
The Tippett Collection is available for research in a Restricted Access area on the first floor of the Hancock Wing of St Mark's Library.

Address and contact numbers:

15 Blackall Street, Barton ACT 2600

Phone: 02 6273 1040 Fax: 02 6273 4067

Deveni Temu, Library manager.

Kaye Malins, Distance education librarian.

Years later in another town, I helped move books into a brand new library building. It was my turn to visit local schools to tell the students about this new library and hand out joining cards. I used to organise regular enthusiastic class visits. I like to feel that we inspired an enduring love of libraries and books in a few of these children.

Some years later while on holidays with my family I had yet another encounter with a new library building that was in its final stages of being fitted out. I was curious so we began to walk around its balcony, peering in windows to try to imagine what these large rooms would be used for. Half way round, the building foreman came to tell us it was still a building site and we would need to leave. I told him I worked in libraries and was eager to see it, so he kindly walked us round the remaining perimeter of the building. As we left he said that perhaps one day I would work there. I just laughed; as I was happy in my current job, and it was highly unlikely we would move. Little did I know that a few years later, my husband would be transferred to Canberra and I would work in that library beside the lake for thirty years.

Pam Dunlop

Beth Clary

Enjoining new entrants to the profession to consider taking 'the path less travelled', she described her own varied career in librarianship which followed on from initial qualifications in maths (or 'math' as her American colleagues call it) to librarianship in the US and Australia. Now at PREL she's responsible for a library, a publications program and a research program: all paid for by consultancy and research funding. Her current research program (in 'ethnomathematics') involves documenting maths education and mathematical concepts in tiny, far-flung Pacific islands, of which she showed several photos.

The next Professional Perspectives Lecture will be on Wednesday 7 August, 12:30-1:30pm in 12B2 (a lecture theatre in the nursing building on the northern end of the campus). The guest speaker will be Professor Peter Putnis, Pro Vice Chancellor of the Division of Communication and Education, who will be speaking on 'The challenges of communicating across cultures'.

Peter Clayton

Sue Brudenall retires
Sue Brudenall retire from her position as director of library services, Medical Library, Calvary Hospital on 19 June. Ina message to staff at Calvary, Dr Griffin, director of Medical Services said, "Sue has been instrumental in assisting clinical staff in the promotion of evidence-based health care since joining Calvary in October 1997, and Calvary staff have consistently indicated their appreciation of the services provided by the library under Sue's leadership. We all hope Sue has a long, happy and healthy retirement.

Before taking up her post a Calvary, Sue worked in the National Library 1960-1961 and at the ANU 1966 to 1997, being a senior librarian there from 1975 to 1997. Sue also held the positions of ALIA ACT Branch secretary and treasurer and ACT Branch general councillor for two terms.

CIT awards
On Wednesday 19 June the 13th annual scholarship and prize presentation of the Faculty of Business and Information Technology at the Canberra Institute of Technology was held. Two awards were given to Library Studies students. Sumithra Kolonne received the ALIA ACT Library Technicians Scholarship given to a meritorious student going into the final year of study. The award included student membership to ALIA and fees for Semester 2 given by the Faculty. Danielle Reid received the ALIA Prize for the best Library Studies student graduating in 2001. The award provides one year's membership to ALIA plus a journal subscription. Beth Clary and Marion Boyd represented ALIA and ACT Library Technicians in presenting these awards. Congratulations to Danielle and Sumithra.

Beth Clary

PEARLS
PEARLS (Previously Employed Australian Retired Librarians) met again on 17 June. We welcomed Carol Mills, who is looking good and making an excellent recovery. Inter alia, we talked about kitchen sink drama, falling off horses, and the drinking of red wine. In particular, we discussed a new group of retired librarians formed recently by Pauline Antill in Townsville. They met first on 5 April, and in May visited the Townsville Health Library, with lunch after. Perhaps we in PEARLS here should be more active in terms of outings and meals? The issue is still being debated: suggestions will be welcome. The next meeting will be on 12 August. Contact Jon Prance, ph 02 6255 1857.

Locum wanted!
Would you like to edit proACTive?
You probably think you could make a much better fist of it than the present editor. Well, now is your chance to prove it (again)!

Peter Judge will be on holiday in September, and some enthusiastic volunteer (or a small team ... ) is needed to produce and distribute the October issue. Peter used to put proACTive together using PageMaker 6.52 for the Mac, but he now uses PM 6.5 for Windows and there is no reason why it couldn't be done equally well on MS Word.

It means a minor flurry of work around 17 September (to send the ACT Events to inCite by the deadline of the 18th of the month), and then again early in the week of 23 September to lay out the four A4 pages and see the newsletters printed. ALIA National Office provides the labels (about 450 of them), but you would have to stick them on, bundle the newsletters by postcode for mailing and take them to the Post Office by 28 September, to be in members' hands by the start of the next month. That's where a team effort would make it all light work.

Give Peter a call on 02 6296 6211, or peter.judge@alianet.alia.org.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address)