Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
Item
Minutes
1. Attendance &
Apologies
Present:
Anne Burrows
Carmen Quick
Elaine Craig
Amanda Peckham
Liz Pidgeon
Vicki Court
Glenn Greening
Myra Dowling
Lina Favrin
Diane Woda
Ros Ryan
Jordana Lory
Barb Billings
State Library of Victoria
State Library of Victoria
Whitehorse Manningham
Hobsons Bay
Yarra Plenty Regional Library
Whitehorse Manningham
Darebin
Boroondara
Yarra
Brimbank
Wimmera
Goldfields
Goldfields
Apologies:
Robyn Luczynski
Kay Rowan
Heather McKay
Fiona Campbell
Moonee Valley
Port Phillip
Melbourne
Melbourne Library Service
2. Confirmation of
Minutes.
3. Business Arising
4. Guest speakers
Action
By
Accepted
None
Guest Speakers
Dr Marina Larsson and Patricia Pollard, Veterans Heritage Veterans Unit, Department of Planning and
Community Development spoke about their role and the digital stories collection. Encourage
everyone to look at the website at http://www.dpcd.vic.gov.au/veterans/veterans-heritage
Established 2004 look after commemorations, Spirit of Anzac study tour, and Shrine of Remembrance,
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
Policy, Grants, Liaison and heritage preservation.
Demographics: in Victoria there are 77,000 veterans including an aging WW2 generation. “Need to
act now” with collections of oral histories. There is a change in the ex-servicemen organisations (e.g.
RSL’s merging or closing). There is an increased public interest in veteran’s heritage and Anzac
history, pilgrimages, high value given to memorabilia and the upcoming centenary of WW1 (not just
ANZAC this is worldwide)
War veterans Heritage – war memorials and nominal rolls. Currently adding a donation of one
person’s collection including names which will be searchable.
Digitisation of WW1 battalion histories which are accessible via SLV site.
Publications and guides – can be downloaded on website
In Our words – Digital storytelling project
Partnerships with Shrine of Remembrance and Australian Centre for the Moving Image (ACMI)
Nearly 200 mini documentaries or interviews made over 20 community workshops
Regional focus and school involvement
Workshop experience
Accessibility
Teacher’s notes on ACMI site (and more) Visit: http://generator.acmi.net.au/education-themes
Other Local History programs – Veterans Heritage Workshops – Free one day event for community
volunteers with collections
(Every RSL should have a Memorabilia Officer)
Expert presenters from PROV, NAA, RHSV, Museums Australia and Shrine.
4. Around the Table
Kay Rowan Port Phillip (absent)
Datacomit loan of their STViewscan machine for a couple of weeks from next Monday. I will give a
report on it at next meeting.
Ros Ryan – Wimmera
Wimmera were involved with local branch of National Trust for Heritage Weekend 5 & 6th May, had a
library stand in the Town Hall, we conducted a Laneways Tour, and produced a Self-guided Cemetery
Tour booklet. Had good response - booked out and appreciative responses afterwards.
·
Working with ABC Open's Wimmera Producer, held Now & Then workshop in Horsham Library,
contributed photos & blog post, and talking about a narrated slideshow on Ebenezer Mission Station.
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
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Local Wimmera Association of Genealogy had introduction & tour of Horsham Library
·
Looking at purchasing another micro fiche/film reader/printer investigating ScanPro 2000 and ST
ScanView.
·
Have RFID tagged our Stack & Local History collections.
·
Compiling a Wimmera Place Names resource (113 pages at present) and as a by-product a
separate Wimmera Schools, and possibly Wimmera Churches and Halls just basic information and
dates, with photos of those still in existence (have found the Geocaching community useful in
pinpointing locations by GPS).
·
With National Year of Reading having some visiting authors including Dr Robert Kenny
·
Am going to Audrey Collins seminar
·
Researching Foy & Gibson firm if anyone has any info
Diane Woda Brimbank Libraries
·
Has recently begun working on a 3 stage project to add a local history portal to the library
website and to re-establish relationships with the 4 local history societies in Brimbank. Ultimately the
portal will provide up-to-date contact information to related organisations, access to digitised images
& resources and community created content. The aim is to raise the profile of Brimbank’s heritage
and to have historical resources available through Trove down the track.
·
Planning is underway for the 125 year anniversary of St Albans, to be celebrated in November.
The library will be involved in calling for, collecting and scanning historical photos from the
community (Aug-Sept) and will host a week of related activities in November.
·
Brimbank Libraries will be celebrating its 100 year anniversary later this year, and as part of the
program have been searching for our longest-serving member
Lina Favrin City of Yarra, Fitzroy Library
Fitzroy History Society held a successful walk called “Brunswick Street: Lost and Found” on Sunday 20
May. Over 50 people attended the walk and 40 attended the lecture that followed.
“Frontline” staff training is being rolled out across Yarra Libraries. This is the second group to
undertake the course.
Glenn Greening – Darebin Libraries
- Restructure has finally begun with two new band seven positions being filled by Gary Edge and Caz
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
Smith. This leaves a couple of band 6 positions vacant – Children’s Team manager and Information
Team manager which will be filled in the coming weeks.
- Northcote was closed for a couple of weeks while new shelving and furniture was installed in a new
layout.
- Attended cultural weeding training which was very interesting.
http://www.kevinhennah.com.au/libraries/library-workshops-and-presentations/
Have installed new touchscreen catalogues at the end of bays, this is to provide closer, quicker access
to the catalogue when we are roving in the future. Online resources, etc. also available from these
screens but am yet to see them being used for that.
We soon will be installing TVs to use for promoting events, etc. within the library. Xbox to be installed
at Preston library shortly.
Have recorded customers and staff on video talking about their time at the Reservoir library. This will
be edited into a PowerPoint type presentation with images and sound to display at the opening of the
new Reservoir library in a couple of years time.
Two members of our team attend a local primary school to do a talk about local history – focused on
children, schools and the local area. Showed a PowerPoint presentation showing what kids used to
wear, how schools looked and how many attended. Had a picture quiz: “school teacher or bush
ranger” and showed old objects from the past. Quite successful. May be more in the future.
Still transferring content to new history website. Slow process. Almost copied all articles but still need
to transfer and tag many many images.
Vicki Court – Whitehorse Manningham Nunawading Library
We have reorganised the local history collection to try and make the collection more visible to
patrons and also display a selection of collections items.
Whitehorse Heritage Week is the 13th to 20th September. At Nunawading Library Jacquie NicholsReeves, Curator of the City of Whitehorse Art Collection will speak about the development of the
collection and show examples of some of the artworks. At Vermont Library Angela Henrikson from
Archival Survival will run a session for the public on safely storing photographs and documents.
With the closure of My Connected Community (mc2) The Local Studies Librarians SIG online group has
been transferred from mc2 to Yahoo Groups.
To join the Local Studies Librarians SIG Yahoo group go to http://au.groups.yahoo.com/group/lslsig/
and click Join this Group.
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
If you already have a Yahoo account for any of their services you will need to login and then click box
or link to join the group.
If you do not have a Yahoo account for any of their services you will need to fill in the boxes to join
and then click the appropriate link / box to join the group.
Jordana Lory Goldfields Research Centre - Goldfields Library Corporation
It is a very busy time at the Bendigo Library. The library is about to undergo a 2 year, 8 million dollar
redevelopment. The library, including the Goldfields Research Centre will be moved to temporary
premises while the works are being conducted. The Bendigo Library will close on 25th August and
reopen 3 weeks later on the 17th September at the temporary locations (we will be spread across 4
different sites).
The Goldfields Research Centre will be located at 202 Hargreaves St. The opening hours will be:
Monday: Closed
Tuesday: Closed
Wednesday: 9—5
Thursday: 9-5
Friday: 9-5
Saturday: 10-1
We would like to encourage anyone who intends to visit us to please call ahead first.
Not all of the collections will be available onsite.
We will add updates to the Yahoo site and also our own website of course.
Goldfields Library was successful in being granted a PROV Local History grant. We will be converting
the Bendigo Rates index from an Access to SQL platform – which will enable us to allow online
searching. Moving to SQL will also future proof the database (which currently has more than 10 times
the amount of data it should!)
Jordana Lory
Manager, Information Services
Goldfields Library Corporation
Amanda Peckham Hobsons Bay Libraries -
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
The new Williamstown Library will be opening in September 2012. We have been based at the
Williamstown Mechanics Institute for over 18 months. From the opening we will be hosting a series of
history talks specifically around Williamstown's history. Matthew Reilly will be our keynote speaker. I
am currently working on relevant historical displays for the history room. The new Library will feature
genre lounges. There will be special collections of Railways, maritime, indigenous, military, local
history (which includes Victoria) and Australiana.
On Saturday July 29th as part of Family history week we will be hosting 'Tracing your Williamstown
Ancestors' with the Williamstown Historical Society. We have purchased 2 ST Viewscanners so there
will be training and 'hands on' practise.
Ann Dixon will be presenting her new show called 'A Collectors Tale’ on Thursday 28th June.
We will be receiving a substantial amount of stock through PLVN thanks Elaine from Whitehorse
Manningham Library Corporation, these items will be added to our history collection.
Anne Burrows - Genealogy Librarian, State Library of Victoria
1. Family History Feast 2012
The ninth city-based Family History Feast, a free collaborative event organised by PROV/NAA
(Victorian Office), Victorian BDM, Immigration Museum and State Library of Victoria will be held in
the Library Theatrette on Monday 30 July during National Family History Week. In 2012 the
Immigration Discovery Centre of the Immigration Museum is joining the event as a collaborative
partner. This year’s Don Grant Lecture is to be given by Professor Janet McCalman of the Founders &
Survivors Project on the topic "Family secrets: Vandemonians in Victoria". Bookings via the Public
Record Office Victoria website.
Bookings: slv.vic.gov.au/family-history-feast
Or email: enquiries@prov.vic.gov.au or telephone (03) 9348 5609 Monday to
Friday 10am - 4:30pm.
A copy of the full program is available on the Library website
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/event/family-history-feast
2. A new online Research Guide Aboriginal family history: a research guide is almost ready for
publication on the Library website. We hope to make it available by NAIDOC Week in early July 2012.
3. In March 2012 I was invited to join the National Archives of Australia Melbourne Consultative
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
Forum committee. My first meeting was on 16 March. Next meeting is on 13 July.
Elaine Craig Doncaster Library Whitehorse Manningham
•
Attended PLVN planning meeting in November 2011.
•
Attended VALA for 1 ½ days.
•
Attended the 13th AFFHO Congress in Adelaide.
•
Involved again this year in the planning meetings for this year’s Manningham Heritage
Festival.
•
Gave a class for the public on online newspaper resources.
•
Ran staff training on the comparison of Ancestry Library Edition and findmypast.
•
Commenced Frontline training.
•
RFID tagging commences at Whitehorse Manningham, with Doncaster being the first branch,
as were are moving to our new building in August, and will go live a while before then.
•
The Australiana Collection at Box Hill library (a bequest from a former Chief Librarian) is being
disbanded, and I went through the entire collection of over 3000 items, to select items for inclusion in
the Genealogy Collection at Doncaster. I took about 150 items. The majority of these were recovered,
and all needed their collection and location changed in the catalogue, as well as a new spine label.
The remainder of the items were offered to other libraries and archives around Australia. The
reminder is now being offered to public libraries in Victoria and their affiliated historical and
genealogical societies.
•
A proportion are very old (some over 100 years) and have leather covers with gold tooling
and gilt edges. Many had been covered in contact, and the covers looked terrible. These covers were
colour photocopied, turned into dust jackets, and then recovered using plastic sleeving. These items
now look fantastic.
•
Purchased black polypropylene specially cut to size, as microfiche dividers. Using white
writing on black Dymo labelling, which looks very professional.
•
The new Doncaster branch is nearing completion, with dates now set for closure of the
existing building and the opening of the new. Closed from August 23 for 2 weeks, opening in the new
building on August 3rd.
•
We shall be getting a new 3 drawer Planex microfiche cabinet, and hopefully the existing one
will be able to be used at Nunawading.
•
We may also be getting a ScanPro 800 reader printer.
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
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The Corporation is now on Facebook.
•
I have recently read Barry Heard’s book ‘Well done, those men ’and it is recommended for an
understanding of the ramifications of national service in Vietnam.
Robyn Luczynski - Moonee Valley (absent)
Robyn is retiring and she has sent in her career highlights
I have had many highlights in my library career, starting out as a casual at RMIT, working at Australian
Catholic University in Ascot Vale and 23 years at the Moonee Valley Library Service. Working with
Alison Daams and making the Local History Collection at Sam Merrifield Library more accessible and
searchable on the catalogue. Working with the Essendon Historical Society in promoting the local
history collection in the area; and more recently with John Dickie from the Flemington Association Inc.
2001 Celebrating Italian Migration – This was a project was part of Celebration of Federation, I was
part of a committee that was co-ordinated by Judy Maddigan, MLA for Essendon, other committee
members wee Alan Mayne (University of Melbourne), Don Cornish (Moonee Valley Council), Bob
MacKay (Essendon Historical Society), Lisa Attard and Armando Di Sipiofrom the Circolo Pensionati,
Moonee Ponds. We were fortunate to have Gioconda Di Lorenzo, Honours Student (University of
Melbourne) who interviewed and under the supervision of Alan Mayne produced the book ‘Solid Brick
Homes and Vegie Patches: A History of Italian Migration to Moonee Ponds’
2004-2006 - West Bourke Family & History Fair. This was an all-day event that brought together the
following exhibitors –
Brunswick Community History Group
Civil Aviation Historical Society and Airways Museum
Essendon Historical Society
Footscray Historical Society
Friends of Horseshoe Bend Farm
Friends of St. Kilda Cemetery
GSV and GSV Special Interest Groups
Hotham History Project
Keilor Cemetery Research Project
Keilor Historical Society
Melbourne’s Living Museum of the West
Moonee Valley Libraries
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
PROV
RHSV
Sunshine Historical Society
West Bourke Heritage Association Inc. (WBHA)
This was a great event that was an excellent opportunity to network and promote the Local History
Collection and the Library Service.
2006- The introduction of Digital Storytelling by Hisham Attia that is now a regular feature of Family
History Week at Moonee Valley Libraries.
The establishment of the Moonee Valley Family and Local History Blog and more recently twitter.
Along with all the training, enquiries and other things that we do along the way.
The area of local and family l history as certainly progressed and changed in the last 10-15 years and it
has been great to be a part of the your group and I am looking forward to doing my own family
history.
Liz Pidgeon Yarra Plenty Regional Library
Roll out of new PCs.
EBA is being negotiated
Branch restructure. PDs re-written surrounding the areas of learning, community and reading
Booklovers Festival in July
Jon Faine came to Rosanna Library
Personally
Attended Australasian Congress on Heraldry and Genealogy in Adelaide March 28-31
We had an interesting speaker for Anzac Day that spoke at two of our branches on stories of the
Victorian Light horsemen of WW1
April 29 we had a successful launch of the Corranderk Database and Birrarung Database in
conjunction with author Mick Woiwod and the Nillumbik Reconciliaiton Group. YPRL partnered in this
project which received funding through the Wilam Naling Grant scheme via PROV and helped with the
free distribution of this indigenous history of the Wurrundjeri people.
I was asked to help out with some sessions during Library Week, which I did helping people use our eresources Ancestry, Find My Past etc. We also had Ann Dixon come in and do her BDM talk with
costumes. A very good presentation for 2 hours, well worth her fee. Recommend.
We had Recherché Speciality Framing at Mill Park Library but were disappointed in the numbers for
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
that.
End of May for the Family History Fest program at Diamond Valley we had Kath Ensor speaking on
ancestors in mental asylums. Very interesting with 20 people in attendance.
Involved in meetings regarding the re- design of the Wikinorthia website and also managing spam
control on the existing site.
Genealogy blog currently participating in the Family history alphabet challenge
We have had a staff trial of British Newspapers Archives and are looking at subscribing to this.
Distributing the Whittlesea Heritage Program
June 23 there will be celebrations to mark the 10th anniversary of Mill Park Library
The second Yarra Plenty Heritage Forum for the year is to be held at Edendale Farm on June 26 in
Eltham and hosted by the Eltham District Historical Society.
Family History events set for August when we focus on genealogy throughout the month including
some talks by Shauna Hicks. Distributed program
4.Next meeting
Discussion – Anyone know about Archiving/digitizing Leader newspapers online?
Has anyone got an admin login for Pic Vic?
VISIT TO GEELONG AREA - DETAILS AS THEY STAND AT THE MOMENT.
Organized by Judith Oke, Northern Zone Coordinator, Corio Library and Mobile Services Team
Leader, Geelong Regional Library Corporation
DATES
Wednesday September 19th and Thursday September 20th 2012
It will be a car trail, with those people coming to Geelong by car offering a ride to others who
may come by train.
PLACES TO BE VISITED
·
Geelong Heritage Centre (a PROV Place of Deposit)
http://www.geelongaustralia.com.au/heritage/
·
Alfred Deakin Prime Ministerial Library http://www.deakin.edu.au/alfreddeakin/
·
Bellarine Historical Society Inc. and Old Court House Museum
http://www.zades.com.au/bellhs/bellhs.html (link broken)
visit to be confirmed
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Minutes of Meeting of Local Studies Special Interest Group held on Thursday 14 June 2012 at State Library of Victoria
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Queenscliff Maritime Museum http://www.maritimequeenscliffe.org.au/
Judith is still investigating what is actually available at the less prominent centres; other
locations could include National Wool Museum,
The Geelong centric locations will be visited on the first day; then if someone can’t get
funding to do the 2 days, they can just do the one day.
ACCOMODATION
Judith is investigating the possibility of group discounts.
At least one local Motel, convenient location, offers single rooms at $85 a night, including
breakfast.
Future Meeting Dates
September 19-20 2012 Geelong visit
November 2012 Melbourne Museum Kay Rowan to be confirmed
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