Local Studies meeting online

Minutes 19 November 2020 9.30am- 3.30pm

Use the times in the program for approximate timing on the video

Virtual attendees: Adrienne Brown (Penrith); Aleem Aleemullah (Innerwest); Amber Sierek (Stanton North Sydney); Andrew Allen ( Campbelltown); Andy Carr (SL NSW); Angela Phippen (Ryde); Anna Maybury (Randwick); Beverley Fenton (Moree); Bridget Banfield (Northern Beaches); Brigid Whitbread (Queanbeyan); Carmel Andrew (Innerwest); Claire Lynch (Campbelltown); Dan Fredericks (Parkes); David Berg (SL NSW); Debbie Campbell (Coffs Harbour); Derrilin Roberts (Shoalhaven); Donna Braye (Mosman); Elizabeth Grace (Camden); Ellen Forsyth (SL NSW); Geoffrey Potter (Central Coast); Georgina Keep (Randwick); Gialy Ly (Fairfield); Helen Mavropodis (Canterbury Bankstown); Helen McDonald (Sutherland); Hilary Powell (Wollongong); Ingrid Grace (Waverley); Jan Herivel (Blacktown); Jane Britten (Woollahra); Jason Slattery (Northern Beaches); Jennifer Madden (Canterbury Bankstown); Jenny MacRitchie (Strathfield); Jessica Graham (Ku-ring-gai); John Johnson (Canada Bay); Julie Sykes (Central West); Karen Richardson (Hornsby); Kay Shirt (Lithgow); Kimberly O'Sullivan (Cessnock); Kylie Vella (The Hills); Lynda Muggridge (City of Sydney); Mandy Vaccaro (Albury); Maria Paterson (Bathurst); Maribel Morales Rosales (Cumberland) ; Marilyn Gallo (Fairfield); Matthew Dawes (Shellharbour); Michael Adam (SL NSW); Michael Houstone (Northern Beaches); Michelle Goldsmith (Central Coast); Michelle Nichols (Hawkesbury); Michelle Richmond (Northern Beaches); Neera Sahni (Parramatta); Penny Morse (Northern Beaches); Peta Luck (Goulburn); Jeff Stonehouse (Port Macquarie); Rachel Cody (Leeton); Ravneet Gill (Blacktown); Ronald Briggs (SL NSW); Sharelle Ravenscroft (Northern Beaches); Sharon Tollard (Lithgow); Simone Taylor (Dubbo); Sue Miller (Hornsby); Sue Ryan (Newcastle); Susie Rowe (Leeton); Thomas MacRae (Georges River); Victoria Keane (Clarence); Wendy Gallagher (State Records NSW).

9.30 -9.50 Pre-meeting Chat

9.50 Welcome and acknowledgement of country

10 - 10.40 Angela Phippen, Programs Librarian Local Studies Ryde, Sources for researching Chinese market gardeners and their gardens. Angela discussed the methods she uses to identify both the (mostly Chinese) Market Gardeners who have lived and worked in the Ryde area. The process is admittedly long and winding, but very good results can be had by consulting a range of primary documents, maps and aerial photographs. It is not wise to solely rely on newspaper reports, as these were often coloured by racism and fear of the unknown. Such accounts of robberies, murders etc. allegedly committed by Market gardeners deny the many thousands of daily, ordinary transactions that such people would have had with their communities. Some resources such as exemptions from dictation tests provide information on individual Market gardeners, even down to references given by locals which give a true picture of the regard in which the workers were held, and their context as members of their communities.

presentation here

10. 45 - 11.15 Local Studies in a Flash: 10 slides in 5 minutes pt. 1

• Local History Primary School Prize (Students Years 4, 5 & 6), 2019. Hilary Powell, Wollongong Local History primary school prize 2019 Wollongong Library ran a Local History Primary school prize scheme where students were asked to select and research the history behind photographs in the Library Collection. Hilary discussed the pros and cons of such schemes, the level of community involvement and the successful outcomes gained for all involved.
• Celebrating our local history: Christo and Jeanne Claude’s Wrapped Coast 50 years on, Georgina Keep, Randwick Celebrating our local history: Christo and Jeanne Claude’s Wrapped Coast 50 years on, Georgina Keep, Randwick. 2019 marked the 50th anniversary of the iconic Wrapped Coast installation. When John Kaldor invited artistic duo Christo and Jeanne-Claude to Little Bay, the trio changed art in Australia. Georgina discussed the many challenges and rewards related to the research, rights negotiation and mounting of the Wrapped Coast project. Gallery displays combined with a series of talks and events that invited the involvement of a wide range of community and arts groups, just as the original project did 50 years ago. Georgina reflected on the importance of close relations with stakeholders, and how some became best friends of the library.
• Paint the town read publications. Each place that participates is required to produce a booklet for their area. Ellen Forsyth, SLNSW Ellen Forsyth briefly discussed the Paint the Town read initiative and how some local examples of childrens literacy books were created by Councils, some with illustrations and photographs reflecting scenes and stories in particular areas. These publications might be worth watching for for Local Studies Collections. presentation here

11.30 – 12.10 Andy Carr, Team Leader, Information & Access Branch SLNSW, From Broken Bay to Broken Hill: Discovering Sports Archives in the Public Libraries of New South Wales. Andy Carr described the study he had done relating to the amount and types of historical sporting records held within public library collections. Many Libraries have collections relating to prominent sporting personalities from their areas.presentation here

Sporting collections list

Sporting collections by sport list

Women in sport collections

12.15 - 12.30 Local Studies in a Flash: 10 slides in 5 minutes pt. 2

• History Hub: The Challenges and Opportunities of Merging Multiple Digital Collections. Bridget Banfield, Northern Beaches. Bridget described the thinking, challenges, opportunities presented and methods used to bring several local studies collections together from amalgamated Councils. Northern Beaches History Hub
• 200 Years Together, Claire Lynch, Campbelltown Claire described how considerable planning had gone into a series of events and initiatives for Campbelltown’s 200 years of European settlement. When Covid-19 struck all of this planning went out the window and new plans devised to take many of these events and initiatives online. Working with the Communications section a range of categories were devised to reflect key people, places and events in Campbelltown history. Involvement from indigenous groups was sought as this is integral to the presentation of an inclusive and balanced history programme.
• Indyreads and local studies, Ellen Forsyth, SLNSW Indyreads will be adding local studies content once the training has been updated, and tested with one library. Watch NSW public library email lists for more information presentation here

link to local studies professional development titles on Indyreads

link to library professional development titles on Indyreads

• An Introduction to Coffs Collections, Debbie Campbell, Coffs Harbour Coffs Collections You can see other Recollect sites here
• New website and at home initiatives during COVID19.Neera Sahni, Parramatta Debbie described the work that had been done recently in bringing Coff’s Collections, a new database using the Recollect platform to fruition. The platform supports a range of photographic, document, realia and art collections from several institutions in the Coff’s Harbour area. presentation here

12. 30 - 2pm LUNCH

2 - 2.30 General Business

2.30 pm Ronald Briggs, State Library of NSW Curator's Choice: Aboriginal stories through the PIX lens. Pix magazine was a tabloid style Australian photographic magazine which started in 1938. Trove provides access to 1938-1954 editions Ronald discussed the many features depicting NSW Aboriginal people, lifestyles and missions, and suggested that Local Studies Librarians might have a look to establish what could be there of interest to their localities. The magazines can be searched for keywords and phrases using the advanced search options.

3.00 - 4.00pm General business continued

• Local studies audit update - Ellen thanked all the libraries for their information, and the time it took to complete the audit. She is working at bringing the data together. It is likely there will be a summary, as well as a longer document.
• Wider Local Studies sessions. There are two professional development sessions a year with talks from across Australia. The next is likely to be in March 2021. As well there are combined NSW local studies and wider local studies drop ins on the first Wednesday of the month. It was a greed that the calendar invites are handy for this.
• Digital collections and ongoing storage requirements. Hilary Powell, Wollongong asked these questions of the LS e-list: i) How libraries manage and fund storage for their digital content. ii) What type of storage is currently in use? iii) Is current storage adequate. Hilary will talk about her findings.

Hilary did not report a great response. It was thought by attendees that this is a question that Libraries and IT departments don’t fully understand or prioritise highly enough to engage with, Many people think that digitisation of resources automatically means that you do not need to keep original material, which is totally incorrect and was rejected by the group.

• NSW public library wiki - some help with adding links back to the local studies section was requested
• Geoffrey Potter expressed a wish to step back from the Local Studies Committee to give someone else a go. If you are interested in joining the Committee, please contact either Donna Braye or Ellen Forsyth

Online meeting closed: 4.15pm.