Local Studies Librarians’ Meeting 9 and 10 November 2021
Local Studies Librarians’ Meeting 10 November 2021
Video from 9 November 2021
Use the times in the program for approximate timing on the video
MINUTES
Virtual attendees: Ellen Forsyth (State Library of NSW), Helen Thompson (Macquarie Regional), Gialy Ly (Fairfield), Loretta Di Totto (Fairfield), Megan Crook (Shoalhaven), Susan Kane (Greater Hume), Kathryn Joss (City of Sydney), Michelle Nichols (Hawkesbury), Kylie Vella (The Hills), Angela Phippen (Ryde), Neera Sahni (Parramatta), Jennifer Madden (City of Canterbury Bankstown), Anna Maybury (Randwick), Helen McDonald (Sutherland), Geoff Potter (Central Coast), Jane Britten (Woollahra), Fran O'Flynn (Goulburn), Rav Gill (Blacktown), Vicki Movizio (Camden), Maria Paterson (Bathurst), Jane Elias (Cumberland), Jessica Graham (Ku-ring-gai), Maribel Morales Rosales (Cumberland), Aleem Aleemullah (Innerwest), Jeff Stonehouse (Port Macquarie), Donna Braye (Mosman), Michelle Richmond (Northern Beaches), Karen Richardson (Hornsby), MaryLou Byrne (Mosman), Andrew Allen (Campbelltown), Elizabeth Humphrys (UTS), John Johnson (Canada Bay), Ingrid Grace (Waverley), Penny Morse (Northern Beaches), Cassie McKenna (Walcha), Julie Sykes (Central West), Jennnifer Mcconchie (Wollongong), Adrienne Brown (Penrith), Brigid Whitbread (Queanbeyan), Susan Killham (Narrandera), Marilyn Gallo (Fairfield), Lois Sinclair (Cessnock), Sharelle Ravenscroft (Northern Beaches).
9.00am - 9.30am Pre-meeting Chat Breakout into groups.
9.30am Welcome and acknowledgement of country
9.30am – 10.19am Elizabeth Humphrys, political economist, School of Communication, UTS Sydney. Recent industrial research: work and workers. Elizabeth provided some very interesting responses to the following series of questions asked by Donna Braye, about her recent industrial research on work and workers, including her West Gate Bridge disaster project, and her use of archives and collections in her research. • In the podcast Archive Fever https://www.archivefeverpod.com/, with historians Yves Rees and Claire Wright, they ask guests when the archive bug hit them. We will follow in their footsteps. When was that for you and what archive did you first visit? • You have used a range of archives and collections, across several states and territories. Can you tell us a bit about these collections? • You have been doing some research about fairly recent industrial history as part of your Dr AM Hertzberg Fellowship at the State Library of NSW, and your Westgate Project research - what are some of the resources you have been using for this? It might help public libraries think about how they are collecting information about current industries and other relevant concerns • Working in archives is often a mix of the mundane and unexpected. Can you tell us about the most memorable moments for you? • What sort of tech setup and process do you use when in the archives, to ensure good practice? • What do you think makes a good archive or local studies experience for a user? • We love all our archives and collections the same, but do you have a favourite?
Websites referred to in presentation: • Archive Fever podcast: https://www.archivefeverpod.com/ • Elizabeth Humphrys publications: https://profiles.uts.edu.au/Elizabeth.Humphrys/publications • West Gate project: https://www.thewestgateproject.org/ and interesting infographic as well https://www.thewestgateproject.org/50th-anniversary/
10.20am – 11.00am Sarah Lethbridge, Senior Archivist, ANU Archives (University Archives, Noel Butlin Archives Centre, Pacific Research Archives and National AIDS Archive). Work and play in the Archives - How to find archives of business and hotels in the Noel Butlin Archives Centre. Sarah gave a very interesting presentation on the archives at the Noel Butlin Archives Centre at the Australian National University that were founded by Professor Noel Butlin in the 1950s to collect business and labour records from Australian companies, trade unions, industry bodies and professional organisations. Sarah showed records and photographs from the Tooth & Company Ltd. online repository of historical hotels, and also demonstrated how to search for records on the website.
Websites referred to in presentation: • Noel Butlin Archives Centre: https://archives.anu.edu.au/collections/noel-butlin-archives-centre • Tooth & Co. Ltd online exhibition: https://archives.anu.edu.au/exhibitions/tooth-and-company-hotels
11– 11.30 Morning tea break
11.30 – 12 Local Studies in a Flash: 10 slides in 5 minutes
1. Helen Mcdonald, Sutherland Shire Libraries, The WDYTYA experience in Sutherland Shire: or what happens when a celebrity finds a local pioneer on a branch of their family tree. Helen gave an interesting presentation on her experience working with a researcher from the ‘Who do you think you are?’ television program, researching a local man Joseph Springall, which all began with a photo album of pre-1900 photographs.
2. Jenny Mcconchie, Wollongong City Libraries, Wollongong Steel Works: the backbone an online exhibition. Jenny gave an interesting presentation of the ‘ Steelworks – the backbone’ website https://illawarrastories.com.au/steelworks-the-backbone/, that was created as a Wollongong City Libraries online photographic exhibition for History Week 2021.
3. Geoffrey Potter, Central Coast Library Service, Gosford Aboriginal street and place-names: the Gosford experience Geoffrey gave an informative presentation on how Aboriginal names came to be used in our street names, starting with a 1924 book Australian Aboriginal Words and Place Names and Their Meanings, compiled by Sydney J. Endacott, that became a one stop shop for councils for finding street names.
4. Marilyn Gallo, Fairfield City Open Libraries, Our Stories: Fairfield's daily life during COVID-19 Marilyn gave an interesting presentation on a project that Fairfield City Open Libraries undertook during the Covid-19 pandemic in early 2020, where residents and workers in Fairfield city were invited to share images of how their daily lives changed during Covid-19 for a digital archive to help future generations understand the impact of the pandemic and how people adapted by uploading them on the Fairfield City Heritage Collection platform. The photographs can be viewed at https://heritagecollection.fairfieldcity.nsw.gov.au/nodes/browse?filter=eyJudGlkcyI6WyIxIl19&bid=2882.
12.00pm – 1.00pm General Business
1. Bookshops and the Indyreads summer reading club
Ellen Forsyth discussed the Indyreads Summer Book Club which will run from 1 December 2021 to 31 January 2022, during which time the award-winning Australian novel The Grandest Bookshop in the World by Amelia Mellor will be available as an ebook with unlimited access for all public library members on the indyreads platform – details at https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/public-library-services/services/indyreads/indyreads-summer-book-club. Ellen also suggested that libraries might like to include some photographs of local bookshops on their Throwback Thursdays social media. A discussion was held about remembering the first bookshop that people went into.
2. NSW Public Libraries Local Studies Audit 2020 Ellen Forsyth said that for the short version of the NSW Public Libraries Local Studies Audit read the introduction, or read the complete report. Link to documents: https://www.sl.nsw.gov.au/public-library-services/nsw-public-libraries-local-studies-audit.
2. LSL Committee Donna Braye thanked Mandy Vaccaro and Helen Thompson for being on the NSW Local Studies Working Group organising committee this year. As both have stood down due to work commitments, Donna called for new members for the committee for 2022. Marilyn Gallo volunteered. Anyone else who is interested in participating on the committee, or can suggest a guest speaker, should email Donna and Ellen.
4. General discussion and information sharing
Fairfax Collection photographs - Marilyn Gallo (Fairfield) commented on their progress with the Fairfax Collection. They have contacted the 9 Network – recommended they put a watermark on the photos and put on their library catalogue, and link to their website. Marilyn will send information as to who they contacted.
Anzac Community Grants – Marilyn Gallo (Fairfield) commented that the $2000 Anzac Community Grants close soo, and that her library was applying for one to do some oral histories with Vietnam veterans for next August. Website for details https://www.veterans.nsw.gov.au/commemoration/anzac-community-grants-program/anzac-community-grants-information-for-applicants/#:~:text=The%20Anzac%20Community%20Grants%20Program,of%20the%20NSW%20veteran%20community.
Online meeting closed: 1.00pm.
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Local Studies Librarians’ Meeting 10 November 2021
Video from 10 November 2021
Use the times in the program for approximate timing on the video
MINUTES
Virtual attendees:
Ellen Forsyth (State Library of NSW), Helen Thompson (Macquarie Regional), Gialy Ly (Fairfield), Loretta Di Totto (Fairfield), Megan Crook (Shoalhaven), Michelle Nichols (Hawkesbury), Kylie Vella (The Hills), Angela Phippen (Ryde), Neera Sahni (Parramatta), Jennifer Madden (City of Canterbury Bankstown), Anna Maybury (Randwick), Helen McDonald (Sutherland), Maria Paterson (Bathurst), Jane Elias (Cumberland), Jessica Graham (Ku-ring-gai), Maribel Morales Rosales (Cumberland), Aleem Aleemullah (Innerwest), Donna Braye (Mosman), Karen Richardson (Hornsby), Andrew Allen (Campbelltown), Brigid Whitbread (Queanbeyan), Susan Killham (Narrandera), Marilyn Gallo (Fairfield), Kay Shirt (Lithgow), Kirsty Plumbridge (Penrith).
2 – 2.15pm Sean Volke on twarc
Sean Volke, Online Resources Specialist Librarian from the State Library of New South Wales, gave a technical presentation on how twarc can be used to do retrospective capturing of Twitter tweets for the last 7-10 days, and how they can be made available on the library catalogue. Sean also mentioned Visie, Word Clouds, and an Emotions Cog for social media at the State Library of New South Wales, and Wall.py Python scripts. Links: Twarc download: https://github.com/DocNow/twarc Twarc Guide: https://scholarslab.github.io/learn-twarc/ Twarc Utilities For Windows guide https://scholarslab.github.io/learn-twarc/07-utilities-windows#tweet-wall
Ellen Forsyth provided the following link in Chat to the State Library of New South Wales Social Media Archive: https://socialmediaarchive.sl.nsw.gov.au/prototype/live.html
2.20 -2.30pm Local Studies in a Flash: 10 slides in 5 minutes
Kirsty Plumridge, Penrith Lockdown Life Creative Writing Competition Kirsty Plumridge, Outreach and Programs Librarian at Penrith City Library, have a presentation on a Penrith Lockdown Life Writing Competition that was conducted by the library. Entries closed in History Week. The plan is to develop a printed booklet for the Local History collection, and PDF copies for local schools, and having a launch to give entrants a copy and a certificate for their participation.
2.30 – 3.20pm Effy Alexakis and Leonard Janiszewski 'In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians – Food for Thought'
Documentary photographer, Effy Alexakis, and socio-cultural historian, Leonard Janiszewski, from Macquarie University, gave an interesting presentation on their project and archives, In Their Own Image: Greek-Australians, which encompasses visual, oral and literary material, and memorabilia. They provided information on how the Greeks brought American confectionary and ice cream, and technology such as soda fountains to Australia, and on the history of the development of Greek cafes in Australia, and changes over time in the types of food that they sold in their family businesses. They also gave tips for ways librarians could connect with their Greek communities.
3. 20 – 3.45pm Breakout rooms for a discussion about collecting local food stories based on the fascinating Chopsticks or Fork? https://iview.abc.net.au/show/chopsticks-or-fork
Online meeting closed 3.51pm.