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APSIG Newsletter November 2004Feature articlesBible collection transferred to St Mark's Library, Canberra
Reverend Dr John Harris The Bible Society in Australia's 'Memorial Library of Historic Bibles' is a very significant collection of historically and nationally important Scriptures. Now, with the sale of the Memorial Bible House in Canberra, the whole collection is in the process of being transferred to the care of St Mark's Library in Canberra under a joint arrangement between the two organisations. The first bible library in Australia was opened by the Bible Society in Sydney in 1817 and some of the original volumes remain in the collection. The collection contains rare copies of printed bibles dating from the late 15th century until today, including Tyndale, Geneva and other historic English bibles as well as bibles from the same early era in German, Dutch, French and other European Languages. Indicative of the Bible Society's vision of scriptures for the whole world, the collection contains first editions in many Asian languages as well as historic scriptures from Africa and the Americas. In particular, there are very substantial holdings in Australian Aboriginal languages and in languages of Australia's near neighbours in the Pacific and Papua New Guinea. A particularly interesting facet of the collection are volumes which were associated with important times in Australian history including copies which belonged to famous Australians such as the explorer John Oxley, governors Macquarie and Hunter and the first governor general, Lord Hopetoun. It is hoped that the new arrangement between the Bible Society and St Mark's will benefit both organisations, that there will be better opportunities for access to the collection and that the books will be better cared for and preserved as part of Australia's heritage. Papua New Guinea publishing and booksellingJohn Evans, manager of the recently merged University of Papua New Guinea Press and Bookshop, writes about the book trade in Papua New Guinea, and the role of the University of Papua New Guinea Press and Bookshop. Publishing in Papua New GuineaEF Schumacher, the founder of the Intermediate Technology Development Group once said: 'The gift of material goods makes people dependent. The gift of knowledge makes them free'. However, knowledge needs to be disseminated and often resides in some tradable artifact or item - book, CD, electronic file etc. The supply of such documents is an industry in its own right, but the elements of this global knowledge industry are particularly weak in Papua New Guinea. PNG has a lot to contribute to this trade - especially on the cultural industry side - and has everything to gain from strengthening its links with the book trade and publishing beyond its borders. At present the book trade in Papua New Guinea is weak (except for christian book stores), and secular books and other information products are not available to most Papua New Guineans. Access is limited to those who can travel overseas or can shop electronically. This absence is impacting on all areas of endeavour where access to knowledge and ideas is a requirement for progress. It is also impacting more broadly on education and its intended effects. The lack of a reading culture through a general and prolonged book famine make reading a survival concern rather than an useful tool for individual and professional development - let alone recreation. Equally, opportunities to read and find out about what has been done in the country, and about its diverse heritage are severely limited for most. This is due to lack of access to current and research results, poor book outlets and distribution mechanisms and limited local publishing opportunities. Much is published about PNG, but it is often done outside the country. While local institutions do publish, output is often limited in terms of distribution and irregular in appearance. For example, the creation of Divine Word University Press has been a notable move forward, although it is temporarily inactive. PNG's most famous publication Lik Lik Buk has now appeared in its latest version, published and printed locally in Wewak and Lae. Role of the UPNG PressUPNG Press's concern is to enhance the flow of knowledge, ideas and information to and from the University of Papua New Guinea, in support of its mission. University publishing has seen various (but generally limited) levels of support. It is a centralised operation but there are also publications issued by most Schools of the university - and these are often even harder to find out about. In defence of this it may be pointed out that UPNG faces overwhelming distribution and marketing problems, exacerbated by low literacy levels and lack of money for books. These are reflections of a lack of development rather than an underlying lack of need and purpose. However it must be acknowledged that staff capacity, lack of direction, minimal integration with university mission, and limited high level and policy support also played a part. UPNG Press and the university bookshop were separate entities and did not work together. Thus the university's decision to integrate them into one business unit is an innovative step towards re-engineering of this part of the university's work. In addition, technological change means that the environment now is far different from that which existed when the bookshop and press were set up. The futureThere are three themes which will be the framework of further work:
We will be attempting to create the convenient place (physical, intellectual and on the web) for viewing and buying relevant books and other media and for services related to their supply and creation. This will be seen as actively supporting university programmes and be well regarded in the community at large. This is very much work in progress. Any comments and references would be much appreciated. Also try us with your PNG book orders!
John Evans Pacific Digital Archive set upA new digital archive, PARADISEC, has been set up to provide a repository for ethnographic material recorded in the region around Australia. PARADISEC is the Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures, a cross-institutional, cross-disciplinary consortium established with Australian Research Council funding by a research group of linguists and musicologists. Australia lies within a region of great linguistic and cultural diversity. Over 2000 of the world's 6000 different languages are spoken in Australia, the South Pacific Islands (including around 900 languages in New Guinea alone) and Southeast Asia. The research group recognised that existing tape recordings, dating back to the 1950s, were becoming unplayable due to the lack of machines and the deterioration of the media. These tapes are now being digitised at a facility in Sydney and stored in a digital archive with cataloguing information to make them discoverable via the web. Textual data (theses, dictionaries, texts and so on) and images in digital form are also being stored. PARADISEC is calling for the deposit of digital material for safe long-term storage. There is no charge for this service. Nick Thieberger, the project manager, says that they are also interested in assessing undigitised collections and to make their descriptions available in their metadata set to allow discovery by interested researchers. They are interested in links with similar agencies in the region and in sharing approaches to metadata entry and discovery. The webpages give further detail, including the metadata set and workflow documents. For further details contact the project manager, Nick Thieberger, at Melbourne University thien@unimelb.edu.au.nospam. Barbara Burdon's 80th birthdayOur best wishes to Barbara Burdon of the Asia Bookroom, one of APSIG's sponsors, on her 80th birthday and her 35 years as a bookseller. The Asia Bookroom, established in 1969 as The Old Bookroom, is now in Belconnen, ACT, and is one of Canberra's treasures. New web site for Papua New Guinea legal materials
Peter Murgatroyd The Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute (PacLII) located at the University of the South Pacific School of Law, Emalus Campus, Vanuatu, is very pleased to announce free access to the full text of Papua New Guinea primary legal materials. The following materials have been loaded are now available in full text without charge:
More than 184 judgments from the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea handed down during the period 1976 - 2000 and 916 judgments from the National Court during the same period have also been made available. Over the coming months judgments and legislation for the period 2000 - 2004 will be progressively loaded to bring the site fully up-to-date. To browse the full holdings of Papua New Guinea materials available see http://www.paclii.org/databases.html#PG Sidney Sing-Wu Wang OAM, 1920-2004Amelia McKenzie Staff of the national library were saddened to hear of the death on 22 October 2004 of Mr Sidney Sing-Wu Wang, formerly chief librarian, Orientalia Section of the National Library, after a period of ill-health. Mr Wang is survived by his wife May, three daughters and many grandchildren. Mr Wang served as chief librarian, orientalia from 1964 to 1985 and worked successfully to build up the library's Asian collections from their early beginnings to their current strength. He was a dedicated librarian with keen bibliographic skills, a scholarly knowledge of Chinese literature and Asian cultures and a great commitment to assisting readers. 'Think of the reader' was his byword, and he remains affectionately remembered by many students of academics to whom he extended great kindness and hospitality. Mr Wang continued to write after retirement, most recently contributing a chapter on history of Chinese settlement in Australia to the monumental work The Australian people: an encyclopedia of the nation. (Cambridge University Press, 2001). In 2003 the library dedicated the long term readers room in the newly refurbished Asian Collections Reading Room to Mr Wang. The room was formally opened with a small gathering for Mr Wang, his wife and family, and a number of friends and former colleagues. Some months later Mr Wang made the decision to donate his personal book collection to the library. The collection of over 4 000 books, several long journal runs and a collection of personal papers was received at the library in the weeks following Mr Wang's death. It will be housed together as the Wang Collection in the library's newest purpose built stack on the fourth floor of the library. Announcing the Timor-Leste Library and Information AssociationIn a move to strengthen and improve coordination among existing information service organisations, the Timor-Leste Library & Information Association (ABITL) has officially been established. At the inaugural meeting in Dili on 17 July 2004, twenty eight people representing twenty two information service organisations from Dili, Baucau, Manatuto, Atauro and Lolotoe met and formally approved ABITL's constitution and elected a five member Board to develop and oversee the Association's activities. They are : Drs. Venceslao Do Rego, general co-ordinator from UNTL, Cancio Pires, vice from ONG Lorosae Baucau, Dra. Palmira Pires, East Timor Development Agency, Jose Caetano Guterres, from CAVR Archive Team and Margaretta Evy da Siva, from UNDIL. Mr. Venceslao Do Rego said 'The establishment of ABITL is an important step forward in addressing the challenges we face in education in Timor-Leste today, especially in the area of library and information. ABITL aims to focus on training and building the capacity of Timorese working in this field to enable them to provide good quality and professional services to the general community'. Book reviewsInternet Guide to Travel HealthElizabeth Connor. New York, Haworth Information Press, 2004. ISBN 0789018241 (Paperback). This handy 150-page guide to health-related web sites useful for travellers will be a valuable reference tool in health centres, travel agencies and doctors' surgeries. The sites described cover such topics as pre-travel preparation, travel documentation, and specific issues such as travelling with children or the elderly. There are also sites devoted to particular illnesses associated with travel, such as DVT, diarrhoea, malaria and hepatitis. Dengue fever has a section of its own, but surprisingly, not cholera. The health environment in many countries changes rapidly. The author indicates if a site is updated regularly, thus assisting the reader to know if they are obtaining current information. There is no specific section on Asia and the Pacific; indeed, most of the sites are US or UK based, with only a couple located in Australia. But references to individual countries can be found through the websites themselves. There are photos of a number of home pages and a glossary and index complete this useful publication. The accompanying fact sheet lists a sale price of US$14.94. (George Miller) IFLA MLAS meeting in Canberra, February 2005The IFLA Management of Library Associations Section plans to hold one of its annual business meetings in Canberra from 3 - 5 February 2005, at ALIA House. Colleagues from some of the region's library association will be invited to attend the meeting as observers and to participate in training workshops. The first two days will deal with the business of IFLA and will include business items such as the Governing board report and the Strategic Plan. There will be visits to the National Library of Australia, the National Gallery of Australia and Parliament House. Participants will also have an opportunity to watch kangaroos grazing! For further information please contact Meredith Hinchliffe, meredith.hinchliffe@alia.org.au.nospam IFLA Newspapers Section meetings in Canberra, February 2005:Also in Canberra, the National Library of Australia will host the IFLA Newspapers Section's 2005 meeting from 22-23 February 2005. The meeting will be followed by a two day conference entitled: Asia and the Pacific: Newspapers in the 21st Century. Topics to be covered include NPLAN (Australia's co-operative newspapers program), and the British Library's NEWSPLAN; the British Library's new newspaper digitisation program; preservation microfilming of newspapers and its role as a platform for digitisation and training of staff; and the National Library of New Zealand's experiences digitising newspapers. Digital heritage preservation and the challenge of sustainabilityThree leading experts and practitioners spoke on the latest national and international developments in the field of digital preservation on how to preserve items 'born digital', such as websites, electronic documents, images and sound at an APSIG lunchtime seminar on Tuesday 12 October at the NLA in Canberra. The keen interest was shown by the attendance of over 100 and the requests for information since. Professor Amareswar Galla is director of studies, Graduate Programs in Sustainable Heritage Development, Research School of Pacific and Asian Studies, The Australian National University. He reported on the International Council of Museums Congress in Seoul earlier in the month. He had attended as a senior office-bearer. His comments related particularly to museums and art galleries. Many gallery directors are reporting back to the international community on their difficulties in maintaining their exhibition web sites due to corporate pressures and lack of accepted policies on the need to retain them. Paradoxically, there seems to be so much emphasis upon digital displays in museums and art galleries that the primary focus of these institutions as ongoing cultural centres seems to be almost lost. Professor Galla emphasised that Australia had a unique role in relation to the small Pacific countries in helping them in this difficult area where change is so rapid. Kevin Bradley is sustainability advisor to the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories (APSR). He reported on issues of sustainability of web sites currently being addressed internationally and in Australia, including the recently established APSR project. The aim of the centre is to develop best practice in Australia and to be involved in the development of international planning strategies. Kevin reported that Australia is on the forefront of these developments. Paul Koerbin is senior librarian in the national library's PANDORA Digital Archive. Pandora preserves Australian websites selected for their longterm interest. Paul recently attended a number of conferences and workshops overseas and presented a paper to a conference at Bath, UK. Pacific Digital Archive set upA new digital archive, PARADISEC, has been set up to provide a repository for ethnographic material recorded in the region around Australia. PARADISEC is the Pacific And Regional Archive for Digital Sources in Endangered Cultures, a cross-institutional,cross-disciplinary consortium established with Australian Research Council funding by a research group of linguists and musicologists. Australia lies within a region of great linguistic and cultural diversity. Over 2000 of the world's 6000 different languages are spoken in Australia, the South Pacific Islands (including around 900 languages in New Guinea alone) and Southeast Asia. The research group recognised that existing tape recordings, dating back to the 1950s, were becoming unplayable due to the lack of machines and the deterioration of the media. These tapes are now being digitised at a facility in Sydney and stored in a digital archive with cataloguing information to make them discoverable via the web. Textual data (theses, dictionaries, texts and so on) and images in digital form are also being stored. PARADISEC is calling for the deposit of digital material for safe long-term storage. There is no charge for this service. Nick Thieberger, the project manager, says that they are also interested in assessing undigitised collections and to make their descriptions available in their metadata set to allow discovery by interested researchers. They are interested in links with similar agencies in the region and in sharing approaches to metadata entry and discovery. The webpages give further detail, including the metadata set and workflow documents. For further details contact the project manager, Nick Thieberger , at Melbourne University. Norad Travel Grant - IFLA Oslo 2005The Norwegian Library Association is pleased to announce the availability of the Norad Travel Grant, to support a number of delegates from developing countries to attend the World Library and Information Congress, 71st IFLA General Conference and Council: Oslo, Norway, 14 - 18 August 2005. APSIG colleagues are asked to circulate this information to their contacts in the region. Applications, including professional curriculum vitae and information on present occupation should be submitted as soon as possible and should be received by the IFLA 2005 Oslo Secretariat not later than 1 February, 2005. Criteria for allocation of the Norad Travel Grant:
Priority will be given to younger professionals with a minimum of 5 years of experience in the field of libraries and members of national professional associations. ContactApplication forms can be requested from the IFLA 2005 Oslo Secretariat:
IFLA 2005 Oslo
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