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ACTive ALIAproACTiveNumber 237: August 2003[Leanne Harvey Ford award | ACTive ALIA stands up to be counted | Volunteers wanted! | A refugee chronology | aliaNEWS broadcast, 25 July | Ethnomathematics in the Pacific | Young at Heart!] Leanne Harvey Ford awardThis award commemorates the achievements of Leanne Harvey Ford, the first children's librarian at the Tuggeranong Town Centre Library and the first Public Relations Librarian for the ACT Library Service. Leanne proposed and developed Canberra's COOL awards, based on voting by school children for their favourite books. The award is given to the University of Canberra student who achieves excellence in the area of literature for young people. The 2003 Award winner is Michael Jansessen-Gibson, who earned a rare High Distiction for his course. Michael was given a commemorative plaque by the Harvey family on 25 July. Following the ceremony he gave an excellent seminar on Young Adult literature to students from Tuggeranong College. Judith Brooker ACTive ALIA stands up to be countedThe ACT Government has funded a new library for the Kippax District Centre in West Belconnen. Great! But a vocal local minority want it built, with a community centre, on the site of the current temporary library while the government's planners want it sited immediately in front of the shopping centre entrance, adjacent to the bus terminus. The problem is that the current site is about to become rezoned for high density housing on one side, and a supermarket loading bay on the other. The Friends of the ACT Library and ACTive ALIA are concerned that noisy lobbying for the current site and for more funding will make it all too hard. Timid politicians with extensive post-bushfire commitments may take fright and the new library might not happen at all. So we voiced our view for the Planning Minister, Simon Corbell. At its meeting on 23 July the ACT Group of the Australian Library and Information Association unanimously resolved that it:
Ian McCallum Volunteers wanted!Almost 30 Canberra library staff attended a presentation organised by ACTive ALIA and the NLA on 23 July to hear Angela Barry tell us about ICV, the Indigenous Community Volunteers Foundation. ICV, a not-for-profit public company established in mid-2000, is currently looking for experienced librarians to participate in the Indigenous Knowledge Centres pilot project in the Cape York and Torres Strait Island regions of Queensland. This project aims:
The volunteers would work closely with communities, responding to each community's needs, supporting skills growth and community development while taking a partnership approach to help communities identify their needs, while acknowledging their priorities and respecting their values. ICV is seeking librarians for 4 week to 6 month placements to the eight pilot project centres (the more time that can be given the better). Training and support will be given, travel and accommodation arranged and costs covered by ICV. The volunteer is paid an initial engagement fee, and thereafter a weekly allowance which covers the cost of food and incidentals. Angela described a number of successful projects, including small business development at Mer Island, Torres Strait, IT support in Tiwi Islands, NT, and education and development activities at Kalka, SA. More information is on the web at http://www.volindigenous.org.au. If you are interested please contact Angela at:
Indigenous Community Volunteers: Roxanne Missingham A refugee chronologyDr Barry York of the Parliamentary Library has drawn our attention to a new publication tracing changes in refugee policy over the past century. This immensely detailed 161-page publication is available online at http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/online/03chr02.pdf. For the reader who requires an overview rather than the detail, a summary is also to be found at http://www.aph.gov.au/library/pubs/chron/2002-03/03chr02.htm. The introduction to the summary gives a clear indication of the scope and purpose of the publication: The refugee issue remains a matter of parliamentary and public interest in 2003. Events such as the Commonwealth Government's decision to deny permanent residence to East Timorese who were originally admitted on humanitarian grounds in the 1990s, the demonstrations against mandatory detention which occurred outside the new Baxter Immigration Detention Facility at Port Augusta over Easter, and the unanticipated attempts by two boatloads of Vietnamese to reach Australia via Indonesia in late April, testify to the fact that the issue won't go away, despite the success of the Government's multifaceted strategy to deter unauthorised boat arrivals. This publication is a summary of Australia and Refugees, 1901-2002: an Annotated Chronology Based on Official Sources. It is intended as a brief overview of the development of Australia's intake and policy responses from 1901 to 2002. It also includes some useful statistical tables. Over 600 000 refugees have been resettled in Australia over the past 50 years. The past has been a rerence point in many of the debates, particularly in terms of whether Australia in the new century has maintained its traditional humanitarian response to refugee crises. The central rationale for this chronology is that the past lives on in the present, and policy-makers can only benefit from understanding how things have developed and changed over time. aliaNEWS broadcast, 25 JulyThose of us who enjoy the advantage of ALIAnet (and even those who don't) also have the benefit of Ivan Trundle's aliaNEWS broadcasts from time to time. The latest broadcast included, among other items, information about members-only access and e-mail addresses and passwords. Ivan also reminded us that the first inCite issue of each year includes, as well as ALIA events, a calendar of events of interest to library and information professionals. It seems that ABC Radio have discovered it, and ALIA National Office staff have been interviewed more than once about upcoming events of interest, most recently 'Take a gnome to work day' (26 July).
Do you know about ALIA National Simultaneous Storytime 2003? This will be held at 11:00am [AEST] Friday 5 September. National Simultaneous Storytime will bring together public library services, primary and pre-school libraries, early-childhood centres and pre-schools. They will all participate, simultaneously throughout the country, in reading the picture book 'I don't want to go school', written by popular Australian author Christine Harris and illustrated by Craig Smith. All organisations registering will receive a NSS2003 poster featuring the chosen book, bookmarks for all the children participating and a certificate of participation. NSS2003 is kindly sponsored by Random House and Dymocks Booksellers. To register, go to http://www.adultlearnersweek.org/events/greatdebate.html More information from Marie Murphy, Ethnomathematics in the PacificMany librarians in the ACT will remember Nancy Lane from her time as Head of the Library and Information Studies program at the University of Canberra and subsequently in the Australian Academy of Science. Nancy is now Director of Communications of Pacific Resources for Education and Learning (PREL) in Hawaii. She was in Canberra again for a flying visit at the end of April and, among other enjoyable topics aired at an enjoyable lunch hosted by APSIG at the Blue Elephant in Braddon, Nancy introduced us to ethnomathematics. Have you ever admired the handiwork of indigenous basket weaving, beadwork or tattooing? Next time, look closely and you will see geometry in the patterns. Indigenous counting and measurement systems have existed for thousands of years but have only lately been made the subject of Western research. The term 'Ethnomathematics' was coined in the mid-1980s by a Brazilian mathematician named Ubiratan D'Ambrosio to describe the concept of indigenous mathematics. D'Ambrosio also believed that mathematics can be better learned if it draws on a culture with which students are familiar. The Ethnomathematics Digital Library (EDL) at http://www.ethnomath.org supports research and provides access to lesson plans and other activities so that indigenous groups could learn about their 'own' mathematics. The EDL currently holds information about 55 geographical areas and 65 cultural groups throughout the world. Print information about topics such as Marshall Islanders' navigation and Micronesian astronomy is now being scanned into the library and catalogued for worldwide use on the Internet.
The EDL is a component of the National Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Education Digital Library (NDSL) at http://www.nsdl.org. The Australian Academy of Science's website, NOVA: Science in the News, has an excellent introductory article about ethnomathematics with relevant links at http://www.science.org.au/nova/073/073key.htm. Young at Heart!'Young at Heart' is the inaugural one-day seminar planned by the new ACT, Southern NSW and Riverina Children's and YA Services ALIA Group. It aims to encourage innovative youth programs across Public and School Library sectors within the region. Queanbeyan Public Library is hosting the event on Saturday 13 September. Mylee Joseph the ALIA CYS NSW and National president from Sydney will be a guest speaker. Other sessions will include a panel discussion entitled 'Sharing Excellence' and a paper on'Why YA's?' by Sarah Steed. Trish Barron from the ACT Public Library Service will discuss the introduction of the Bookstart program, Club COOL and the COOL Awards. Lynette Sebbens will focus on Storytimes. The day begins with registration and morning tea at 9.30 am. Sessions will begin at 10:00am and end at 3:00pm with a final open discussion over afternoon tea until 4:00pm. All are welcome. Participation is free but bookings are essential. Please contact: Judy Brooker on ph 02 6207 5725 or judy.brooker@act.gov.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address). |
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