APSIG newsletter no. 62: November 2006

Preserving east Timor's history

Preserving East Timor's history: Jill Jolliffe speaks in Canberra

In a presentation sponsored by Amnesty International at the National Library of Australia on 27 September 2006, journalist and Timor 'veteran' Jill Jolliffe gave a large audience a moving and challenging insight into the East Timor Living Memory Project. The project, initiated and directed by Jill, aims to document the human rights abuses inflicted upon the civilian population of east Timor by both Indonesian forces and Timorese political parties. The project films interviews with civilian victims of imprisonment and torture. It also collects documents and photos, all to be stored finally in a permanent archive in Dili.

But this is not simply a story about preservation of library material for historical interest; there are important ramifications for the current situation in East Timor as the country tries to come to terms with its violent past. At the individual level the recording of experiences may assist people to overcome the trauma they suffered; at a political level it may lend weight to efforts to ensure that justice is done and genuine reconciliation can take place.

Initially funded largely by the Southeast Asian Digital Library at the University of Northern Illinois, the project has so far filmed 52 interviews with former political prisoners. More financial sponsorship is required to continue.

Jill's talk highlighted several individual experiences as well as an account of the current state of progress. She showed the film of Simplicio, who had been injured and arrested during the infamous Santa Cruz massacre in 1991. With him, we trace his traumatic journey during the hours, days and weeks following the massacre as we visit the actual site of Santa Cruz, a hospital and a prison. It is a cathartic experience for Simplicio and a revealing and confronting occasion for the Australian audience.

There are many men like Simplicio, from both sides, emotionally and psychologically damaged by the violent recent past in East Timor. It may be possible to interpret the recent outburst of fighting and violent street demonstrations in Dili in April 2006 as a result of the constant violence of the past forty years and the lack of any justice for the victims or genuine reconciliation between parties. Alfredo Reinado (the so-called leader of the 'rebel' police) as a child endured a life of dislocation few Australians could imagine: parents fleeing to the hills in 1975, a child soldier in the Indonesian army, moved to Sulawesi virtually as a servant of an Indonesian officer, escaping to join the Fretilin forces and then time as a refugee in Australia.

Many issues relating to the current situation in East Timor were raised during discussion. East Timor is in a difficult position itself to pursue prosecutions in Indonesia given its dependence on its large neighbour. But international action may be beginning to increase pressure on the Jakarta government. In the meantime, the Living Memory Project is doing its part to provide victims with the opportunity to tell their story.

The Project can be contacted on troppo_media@yahoo.com.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address). (George Miller)

Outstanding display of historic Bibles

On Wednesday 4 October 2006 a group organised by APSIG were privileged to have a guided tour of the Historic Bibles Display organised by the Bible Society in Canberra. Set out in the very modern Australian Centre for Christianity and Culture in the grounds of St Mark's Theological College, in the suburb of Barton in the A.C.T., these historic books drew admiring looks from the librarians. We were fortunate to have the Rev. Dr John Harris with us, who was Translation Consultant with the Bible Society before his retirement.

The display included a unique and rare collection of Bibles dating from 1495 to the present day. The collection included a Geneva Bible, reputedly owned by William Shakespeare, a Tyndale New Testament and the Lord Hopetoun Bible which has been used for the swearing in of each Governor General since Federation. Also on display were Bibles dating from the early days of the Colony, including copies of the first Aboriginal and Asia Pacific language scriptures.

Our thanks to the Bible Society, Deveni Temu and Dr Harris for organising this interesting event.

House of Welcome in Canberra

Canberra APSIG members were fortunate to be able to visit the Papua New Guinea High Commission in mid-August. We were welcomed by Mr Charles Lepani, the High Commissioner and shown through the renovated buildings which are decorated with superb pieces of art in all media, especially carved and turned wood. We were shown part of a film made in Mr Lepani's home district, the Trobriand Islands, which records the life of the people. We also met Helen Sanny, the Third Secretary.

Renamed by Prime Minister Michael Somare in 2005 as Kamasan Haus (House of welcome) this Canberra showplace made a wonderful excursion. We were very glad to visit the representatives of our nearest neighbours.

House of Welcome in Canberra

Canberra APSIG members were fortunate to be able to visit the Papua New Guinea High Commission in mid-August. We were welcomed by Mr Charles Lepani, the High Commissioner and shown through the renovated buildings which are decorated with superb pieces of art in all media, especially carved and turned wood. We were shown part of a film made in Mr Lepani's home district, the Trobriand Islands, which records the life of the people. We also met Helen Sanny, the Third Secretary.

Renamed by Prime Minister Michael Somare in 2005 as Kamasan Haus (House of welcome) this Canberra showplace made a wonderful excursion. We were very glad to visit the representatives of our nearest neighbours.

Building Research Collections for the New Asian Studies

Roundtable discussion at the 16th Biennial Conference of the Asian Studies Association of Australia, University of Wollongong, 26-29 June 2006, featuring Geremie Barmé (ANU), Peter Jackson (ANU), Mark McLelland (UOW) and Amelia McKenzie (NLA)

Dr Peter Jackson opened the discussion by pointing out how new developments in technology were impacting both upon the scope of Asian studies as well as the manner in which research is being conducted. He noted in particular how digital technology in the form of CDs, DVDs, i-pod etc. had made Asian cinema, TV and popular music, for instance, much more accessible to researchers and digitization has facilitated the collection and archiving of these popular cultural forms. However, Dr Jackson also noted that the rapid turnover in technological formats also posed problems for archiving, in that material catalogued and stored in one format might become obsolete in only a few years unless strategies were put in place to migrate the material on to the latest delivery platforms. The constant need to keep up with the technology and to keep archives up to date and accessible to researchers was outside the ability of most individual institutions and Dr Jackson noted that this was a responsibility that needed to lie with professional archives - namely libraries.

Dr Jackson also noted the turn to popular culture in the humanities in general and more recently in Asian Studies, pointing out that issues such as sexuality, which had tended to be overlooked by Asian Studies researchers had, in the last decade, begun to attract considerable attention with a number of key monographs being published. Particularly with regard to minority sexualities, Dr Jackson noted how much material relating to these cultures was in the form of ephemera such as short-lived magazines, photocopied fliers, video and other community-generated materials that often were not stored or catalogued by these communities. He pointed out that in many areas in Asia, these is considerable stigma associated with homosexual identities, making it difficult for community organizations to adopt a public face and role. It was noted that several prominent Australian researchers working on minority sexual communities in the region had personally amassed large amounts of this kind of material but were unable to make it available to other scholars. Dr Jackson wondered whether there might be a role for Australian libraries in collecting and preserving this kind of 'politically sensitive' material for future research, and if so, in what format this might be best achieved?

The next presenter, Dr Mark McLelland, outlined how he discovered and began to collect a range of popular, mass-circulated sexology magazines published in the early years of the US Occupation of Japan that give a fascinating insight into how native Japanese understandings of both heterosexual and homosexual categories came into dialogue with and were transformed by contact with US popular culture (including film and print media as well as interaction with US male and female personnel). He noted that, excepting his own work, this very extensive genre of magazines which sought to educate the public in new modes of romantic/erotic interactions such as 'dating' had not been studied in either Japanese or English. While many of these magazines could still be bought up cheaply in second-hand book stores in Japan, Dr McLelland noted that few were archived in libraries in Japan, and he believed that he has one of the most extensive collections of this kind of material. However, the magazines were printed on poor-quality paper from between 1949-1955 and they are now not able to be lent out for fear of damage. These important texts need preserving in digital format in order for them to be made available to the scholarly community.

Professor Geremie Barmé followed on by describing his efforts to set up online archives of Chinese-language material, particularly ephemeral material connected with Chinese intellectual history. As a documentary film maker, Professor Barmé has had access to a great deal of archival material and he has established websites that archive some of the important material used, such as http://www.morningsun.org/. Professor Barmé noted that he had been involved with a wide range of Chinese intellectuals for over 30 years and that he was aware of numerous individuals who had extensive personal collections, including film and video, and that he hoped to be able to archive and make available more of this material via his website. It was noted that an understanding of intellectual history required the study of a wide range of media and that digital technology provided excellent potential for convergence in this area. Professor Barmé outlined his plan to work with other academics across Australia and with the ANU to establish an Asia-Pacific Media Archive that would collect, digitize and store a wide range of media products from the region and make these available for teaching and research purposes. He thought it important that access to this material should be guaranteed to a general public and that organizations such as Microsoft should not be allowed to purchase and privatize these intellectual resources.

Ms McKenzie noted that the kinds of materials discussed by the previous presenters did need to be collected by libraries and stored in a format that enabled them to be accessed by the wider scholarly community. It was noted that the NLA has already been proactively working with scholars like Dr Jackson in order to build up its collection of print materials in Asian languages to do with sexuality (for instance local gay and lesbian magazines and Indonesian versions of Playboy). The NLA is also actively archiving community-group websites (at this stage mostly in Australia but it is hoped to extend this to other countries in the region). Important also, is the storing of audio materials and the library was pleased to receive a donation of over 30 years of Indonesian popular music.

Ms McKenzie pointed out some of the pitfalls in building this kind of collection, particularly issues of copyright regarding the archiving of Web-based material, and problems associated with computer code (for storing and retrieving Asian languages in a variety of scripts).

It was stressed by Ms McKenzie that the NLA is very willing to work with academics to further build on these collections and to rely upon academic expertise in identifying these significant materials. The NLA was always happy to receive donations of academics' own archives (and in some instances does purchase materials from academics) and was also happy to be put into contact with second-hand booksellers or other sources of print media. Ms McKenzie passed on that all that was required to request the NLA to purchase materials was an email message to select@nla.gov.au.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address). (Mark McLelland)

Wendy Smith : in memoriam

Many in the region will be saddened to hear that Wendy Smith, well-known as a teacher and expert in Asian and Pacific conservation, passed away earlier in 2006.

One of Wendy's major interests was the special problems of preserving library and archive materials in Asian and Pacific countries and she undertook a number of training courses and workshops in the region under the auspices of ALIA-APSIG and the National Library of Australia, and later as a volunteer.

Wendy started her career as a textile physicist, and began to take an interest in the conservation of cultural materials when she lived in England in the early 70s, as a result of visiting the many museums and historic houses there. After she returned to Australia, and when the first conservation course in Australia started at the University of Canberra in 1978, Wendy was immediately interested. She decided on a career change, and enrolled for her second Master's degree, specializing in the conservation of paper-based materials.

After graduating, Wendy first worked at the National Museum of Australia, and then joined the Preservation Services Section of the National Library of Australia. She found the work at the National Library challenging and immensely rewarding. She saw that Preservation Services needed to be part of the mainstream library functions rather than just a specialist area, and rather than treating individual objects, the emphasis should be on managing the whole collection. So that she could better understand librarians' needs and priorities, Wendy enrolled in a Graduate Diploma in Librarianship.

Wendy went on to become the Director of Preservation Services at the National Library of Australia. However, she retained an interest in teaching, and in 1993 she took the opportunity to take a three year job rotation from the National Library, and became the Lecturer in Paper Conservation at the University of Canberra. On her return to the National Library, Wendy moved into the increasingly important area of preserving electronic information, and was the inaugural manager of the National Library's PANDORA digital archiving project.

Wendy had a special interest in preserving library and archive materials in countries in the Asia and Pacific region. Much of the material available about conservation procedures and practices had been developed in Europe and America, and was simply not suitable for libraries and archives in the Asia and Pacific region, which have major problems caused by the tropical climate, lack of resources, and lack of trained staff. In response to this challenge, Wendy developed a large amount of teaching and training material that was specifically designed for the problems and circumstances of these countries. Over a number of years she ran workshops and training courses in Thailand, Vietnam, Laos, Fiji, Samoa, the Philippines and the Cook Islands. Several of these occurred after Wendy had retired, and were given by Wendy acting as a volunteer. She was also generous with the notes and teaching materials that she prepared for these courses, and was happy for people to copy them, asking only that she was acknowledged as the original author.

Wendy retired in early 1998 and enrolled as a PhD student at Charles Sturt University in Wagga, with Professor Ross Harvey as her supervisor. Her field of research was concerned with problems of preserving and ensuring long-term access to electronic information. During this time Wendy had a number of papers published in library journals, and she was nearing the completion of her PhD when she was diagnosed with kidney cancer just before last Christmas and died in the middle of this year aged 62 years.

A tribute to Wendy by her colleagues at the National Library appears in the October 2006 edition of the National Library publication, Gateways.
(With thanks to Mike Smith)

Clicking in Perth : Dili librarian attends ALIA Conference

Avenel Hicks writes:

With the support of the National Library of Australia, Margaretta (Evy) da Silva, Librarian at the Dili Institute of Technology in East Timor, was able to travel to Perth for the ALIA Click06 conference. She mounted a poster display providing information about the development of libraries in East Timor, the national library association (ABITL) formed in 2004, and the first library training course launched earlier this year at DIT. While libraries in East Timor and Australia are a world apart, I think it was a valuable experience in sharing and learning.

During a stopover in Darwin, Evy also met with librarians from the Northern Territory Library Service and Charles Darwin University to discuss issues of shared interest.

Having worked with Evy for 18 months at the DIT in 2004 and 2005, I was delighted to have her stay with me during her time in Perth. While here she was also able to visit a range of local libraries, the ECU library school, and meet with Australian librarians interested in library development in East Timor. I hope her visit will lead to ongoing interaction and support for libraries in East Timor from colleagues in Australia.
(Avenel Hicks, Perth)

APSIG newsletter no. 62: November 2006

It takes a world to build a village: READ Nepal wins Gates Foundation $1M award

In August 2006 at the IFLA Conference in Seoul, Korea the winner of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's 2006 Access to Learning Award was announced. It was won by Rural Education and Development (READ) Nepal for its innovative approach to building and sustaining village libraries. READ provides no-cost access to books and information technology for the country's underserved, rural population.

Possessing eight of the world's 10 highest peaks, Nepal is among the most mountainous countries in the world. It is also among the least economically developed: of its 28 million people, nine out of 10 live in rural areas, fewer than half have electricity, and one in three lives below the poverty line. Only half of adult Nepalis-and only one-third of women-can read or write.

READ Nepal was founded in Kathmandu in 1991 to establish a library system that could help rural Nepalis advance their own educational, economic, and community development.

To furnish the first library, six porters carried 900 books on their backs for three days, crossing a 12,000-foot pass before setting down their bulky loads in the tiny village of Junbesi. From this modest start, READ has gone on to touch the lives of more than half a million Nepalis from one end of the country to the other. To date, the organization has built 39 libraries, some in very remote, mountainous villages.

Although each READ library reflects its particular community, all provide similar resources: 3,000 to 5,000 books written in Nepali; an adult reading area; a women's section; a section for teenagers and young adults; a children's section with educational books, games, and toys; a multimedia center; and one to five computers (with Internet access where possible).

READ will use the $1 million award to expand its already successful program. At the heart of READ's success is a model that ensures a sponsoring village conceives and nurtures each new library. The process begins when a community learns about READ (often by word of mouth) and submits a proposal. To foster strong local commitment, the community must contribute the necessary land and cover 20 percent of the library's start-up costs. In one village, a man donated his former home. In another, an illiterate woman gave land so her grandchildren could learn to read. Some villagers participate by selling a handful of rice.

Before construction begins, villagers develop a business plan to cover the anticipated costs of ongoing operations. Undertakings have included a furniture factory, a printing press, a stationery store, a grain mill, and a fishpond, as well as ambulance, X-ray, rickshaw, telephone, and storefront rental services. These businesses often raise considerably more money than the library needs. The extra funds have been used for additional community projects, such as child-care centers, health clinics, scholarships, and a bridge to shorten the two hours it took children in one village to walk to school.

To promote a sense of ownership, villagers manage the libraries themselves, with training and oversight from READ. Each village assembles a library management committee, reflecting diverse membership. Villagers also develop their own charter, open a bank account, select a building site, design the building, supervise construction, and select librarians.

Observed Rashidah Begum bt. Fazal Mohammed, a member of the award selection committee and retired chief librarian at Universiti Sains Malaysia Library, 'This model ensures libraries' ongoing prosperity, independent of external aid.'

In the 15 years since its inception, READ has facilitated access to books, newspapers, computers, and other educational materials for hundreds of thousands of Nepalis. People who cannot read watch videos or listen to audiotapes, to learn about investment and microfinancing opportunities, for example. The libraries also serve as social hubs for child care, medical assistance, literacy training, women's discussion groups, AIDS awareness programs, and farming and animal husbandry workshops. These vital social services are provided through READ partnerships with Nepali social welfare providers and university libraries, Nepal National Library, Asia Foundation, and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO).

READ library activities are as diverse as the communities where they take place. In Danda, a village inhabited by several ethnic groups, including Tharu, Newar, Magar, and Gurung, the library has sponsored a poetry festival and a writing contest for children. A women's literacy group in the village applies for loans to support small, home-based businesses, such as candle-making and raising goats.

In nearby Jhuwani, a local Tharu community leader devised a '10 Program,' which encourages women to borrow 10 books and 10 toys for 10 days. Since this outreach, more Tharu and other indigenous people use the library.

In the remote Mustang district of north-central Nepal, women often suffer complications during pregnancy and childbirth, reports villager Ratna Sherchan. But now, with the local READ library recommending books on women's health, 'We are borrowing books to read out to other members during our meetings,' she says. 'Now the women here are gaining knowledge about the proper care to be taken in the stages of pregnancy.'

Village libraries are contributing to a more equitable distribution of information and communication technology throughout Nepal. In a country grappling with political and economic instability, the libraries have become safe havens to enjoy community life and cultivate literacy, learning, and opportunity.

'I saw many men, women, and children reading books and using computers,' said Rashidah Begum, who has visited several of the READ libraries. 'What I remember most was the look of hope on their faces. They knew that what they were learning would change their lives for the better.'

For information on how to apply for the 2007 Access to learning Award, visit http://www.inasp.info/ldp/awards/
(Reprinted with permission, INASP)

Report from Bali: Indonesian Library Association meets

On 14-15 November 2006 the Indonesian Librarians Association (IPI) conducted their Xth Congress and Seminar at the Discovery Kartika Plaza Hotel, in Kuta, Bali. The theme of the seminar was on improving the quality of librarians in order to create an information literate society. The keynote speaker was representative of the office of the Ministry for Communications and Information Technology, who outlined the Indonesian Government policy on creating an information literate society. In addition to local speakers who addressed the theme of Information Literacy there were two invited overseas speakers, Mohd Sharif Mohd Saad, from the Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Shah Alam, Malaysia and Ralph Sanderson, Manager of the NLA's Regional Office in Jakarta. Ralph spoke on the role of developed countries in supporting information literacy in developing countries through examining existing library support programs and by highlighting existing and available web resources as providing useful examples and potential 'role' models for action. The Congress and seminar were attended by 520 librarians, library staff, managers and interested participants over the two day program which also saw the re-election of Dady Rachmananta, Director of the National Library of Indonesia, as Chair of the Central Committee of the IPI for another term.
(Ralph Sanderson)

PIALA Conference Proceedings

The Pacific Islands Association of Libraries and Archives (PIALA) is pleased to announce the publication of the proceedings for both their 14th PIALA 2004 and 15th PIALA 2005 Conferences. For the first time, two PIALA conferences are being published in this one volume, containing papers from both events. The 14th PIALA 2004 Conference was held in Majuro, Republic of the Marshall Islands, November 16-19, 2004 and Tofol, Kosrae, Federated States of Micronesia was the venue of the 15th PIALA 2005 Conference, held November 8-10, 2005. Both conferences featured papers by local Micronesian and Pacific Islands experts, as well as presenters from throughout the world. Price: US $25.00. ISBN 978-1-892485-09-0.

Order forms are available at http://www.uog.edu/rfk/piala/orderform.html
For more information, please go the the PIALA Web site http://www.uog.edu/rfk/piala/piala.html or contact Arlene Cohen, PIALA Proceedings Editor acohen@uog9.uog.edu.nospam (please remove '.nospam' from address)
Fax: 671-734-1139

Singapore Library Association Conference Jan 2007

The Library Association of Singapore (LAS) cordially invites international colleagues to attend its annual conference on the theme "Librarian: Learning>Strengthening>Moving Forward" from 29-30 January 2007 in Singapore. The conference will highlight trends in the library environment in the era of globalization. The conference is supported by the National Library Board of Singapore (NLB).

More details at http://www.las.org.sg

Forthcoming APSIG events

Final event of the year for Canberra colleagues - Christmas lunch Tuesday 12 December 2006, 12:30 - 1:30 pm, Mamak Corner, Shop 4, Garran Place, Garran. Asian/Malay cuisine banquet. BYO. $27 pp. Acceptances by Friday 8 December to George Miller e-mail (please remove '.nospam' from address) tel 6295 1439.

A varied program of visits and activities is being planned for 2007. Details will be given in the March 2007 newsletter and in Incite. Announcements will also be made on the APSIG and other listservs.

APSIG Newsletter

ISSN 1327 1024
Published three times a year : March, July and November.

Address:
PO Box 51, Lyneham, A.C.T. 2602, Australia.

Copy deadline for March 2007 is Wednesday 21 February. Contributions very welcome especially from the Asia/Pacific region.

Contact : Marie Sexton (please remove '.nospam' from address), Editor telephone 02-62 477795.

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