LOCAL STUDIES INTEREST GROUP

September 5 2006

Annual General Meeting

Infralib – Department of Infrastructure Library,

Level 18, 80 Collins Street, Melbourne.

Present:

Elaine CraigWhitehorse Manningham (Shoppingtown Branch)

Edith FryCentral Highlands (Ballarat Branch)

Kay RowanPort Phillip

Deborah MoulaVision Australia

Anne BurrowsState Library of Victoria Genealogy Centre

Christine WorthingtonPrahran Mechanics Institute

Lloyd BradyMaribynong Library Service

Melissa GilmourYarra Melbourne (Richmond branch)

Lina FavrinYarra Melbourne (Fitzroy branch)

Andrew HooperYarra Melbourne (Carlton)

Heather McKayYarra Melbourne (North Melbourne)

Michael SmithMooneeValley Library Service

Liz PidgeonYarra Plenty Regional Library

Kathy SmalleyEastern Regional Libraries

Paul MichellDarebin Libraries (Northcote library)

Meeting commenced at 2.10 pm.

We were welcomed to the library by the Librarian Jillian Hiscock who told us about the library.

Clients

  • Include Victorian Department of Infrastructure, services are also sold to other authorities
  • Close alliance with Heritage Victoria
  • It is open to the public, (Mon – Fri 9 – 5) but they are encouraged to do their own research
  • Historically tertiary students from MelbourneUniversity and RMIT have used the collection.

Catalogue

  • Is not online
  • Standard bibliographic records
  • Records are being reviewed and subject headings added for better searching
  • Two OPACS available for library users
  • Compiling indexes from back dated journals which are patchy though e.g. Railway magazine from 1950s, Board of Works newsletter.

Collection

The library provides access to public documents

It is a non-consistent “mongrel” collection

Many of it inherited from old govt departments. etc. E.g. Department of Railways and Public Works Department

Nothing is discarded

Topics include Heritage register studies, area studies, typology, and demography studies. Some from the 1800s, railways, early town planning. Local history collection, conservation studies, conservation of buildings (a lot UK published), early planning, garden history, conference proceedings, conservation studies, garden designers

Victorian Heritage Collection, material on buildings on Historic Register

Maritime archaeology

Reference collection, index to early Victoria architects, Pre 1860 structures, Myers Lewis Index on microfiche

Separate Archive run – public transport, schematics on locomotives, gradient books, and annual reports

Photos from Heritage reports, MelbourneTown plans, Housing Commission.

Library moving next year to Southern Cross.

Staff – 3 library services, 3 intranet.

General Business.

Elaine welcomed Deborah from Vision Australia to her first meeting, and Edith Fry from Central Highlands who had travelled from Ballarat.

Local Studies group now part of VicLink. Elaine gets lots of reports in regard to Viclink. Elaine is unable to regularly attend meetings because of a clash, and called for volunteer to attend each VicLink meeting and give a report. This is usually bi-monthly, usually ½ to full day.

Elaine will email around and seek a volunteer to attend before each meeting.

Viclink had their AGM recently.

Annual General Meeting:

Committee agreed to as follows:

Convener: Elaine Craig.

Committee members: Paul Michell and Kaye Rowan.

Suggestions for 2007 program.

March – East Melbourne new library

June – Vision Australia (by invitation)

Sept – Ballarat (by Edith’s invitation) – this may involve a 2 day visit with an overnight stay as there are a number of facilities we could visit.

Nov – Yet to be decided.

Around the table

Elaine – Whitehorse Manningham (Shoppingtown)

  • Converted to Spydus 8 in March. Big problems. Offline for 2 weeks.
  • Guest speaker – National Family History Week - Ken McInness from GUM on how to put your family history on the web. Recommend good speaker.
  • Ann Dixon coming for Seniors Week.
  • Attended Family History Treasure Chest.
  • Attended Scottish Genealogy conference.
  • Now have genie PCs with access to the WA and NSW BDMs via their websites.
  • Major staff changes – unofficial restructure with new PDs written.
  • Westfield Shoppingtown complex being massively re-developed. Library moving out in January to unknown temporary location. Plan for new library to be on the roof.
  • Web Page being revamped. Re-launched soon.

Andrew Hooper – Yarra Melbourne Regional Library (Carlton library)

  • A local history group is undertaking an oral history program
  • Attended the researching and writing your family history talk at the Athenaeum.

Liz Pidgeon – Yarra Plenty Regional Library

  • Yarra Plenty has employed new positions – Media and Marketing officer and Reading and Literacy Officer
  • First Heritage Forum took place (Liz unable to attend due to ill health) – next one scheduled for November.
  • Very final stages of completion and formalization of Local History and Genealogy Strategy.
  • Have received the Significance Assessment Reports.
  • Attended Conservation and Preservation workshop by the Archivists Association at PROV.
  • Successful session at Mill Park “starting your family history” as part of Whittlesea Heritage Program – 27 people
  • National Family History Week : commenced Family History Fest at DiamondValley library– have conducted two sessions so far – starting your family history and civil registration
  • Establishing a Wiki – seeking community input
  • Launched a local history book on Kangaroo Ground on the weekend at the Hurstbridge Wattle Festival. “Auld Duncan’s Kangaroo Ground Tales” published by the AndrewRossMuseum.

Kathy Smalley – Eastern Regional Libraries (Ringwood)

  • Her position has been on hold for 6 monthsdue to acting position and staff moves.
  • CEO is rotating BMs and 55 staff with 2 weeks notice. Union has been involved.
  • Held open day for National Family History week – very busy day. Next year will hold a beginners class as part of the day.
  • Use of Ancestry database extremely high.
  • Has a student checking their local Victorian history books for adequate catalogue records and if inadequate, putting aside for better subject headings etc.
  • Introduction of Cronus pay system
  • Involved in Collective Agreement
  • Looking at 35/38 week

Edith Fry – Central Highlands

  • Works in Australiana room – consisting of rare volumes art, military, photos
  • Shares space with the Genealogy Society of Ballarat and their volunteers who pretty much look after this service. Currently their collection is being catalogued into the libraries catalogue.
  • Attended Digital collections summit in Adelaide. Four collective domains represented – Museums, Galleries, Archives and Libraries. Lots of people there. Pleased to report that libraries are in front in this area.
  • See
  • New CEO at Ballarat – aiming more to network with other local groups such as ArtGallery, SovereignHilletc. This has proved worthwhile.
  • International Historic Cities Conference is to be held in Ballarat at the end of October.
  • See: “talk fest for town planners”
  • Council pushes history all the time. There is going to be a Heritage Festival at the same time. The library will hold an open day for the genealogy collection on one day and the next an open day of the Australiana collection which will include items not usually publicly accessible including incunabula’s which have recently had a conservation assessment.

Paul Michell – Darebin Libraries (Northcote)

  • Currently located at Northcote. Staff has annual rotations.
  • Introducing 15 minutes internet access. Looking at introducing Office as PCs do not have access to word, etc.
  • Internet classes changed from group training to one on ones- very popular – bookings increased.
  • Victoria’s Virtual Library launched -
  • Also attended the Conservation and Preservation workshop at PROV run by the AAA.
  • Ballarat Mechanics Institute is after a copy of Dewey.
  • New Book – Preston train workshops
  • Darebin Online Encyclopedia ongoing.

Kaye Rowan – Port Phillip

  • 5 weeks leave
  • Reduction in budget
  • Spydus 8 update and training / Inmagic – images did not transfer well. All difficult due to Kaye’s absence.
  • Meeting with CEO to discuss significance assessment report received
  • EB in progress.

Deborah Moula – Vision Australia

  • Deborah has studied and worked in local history before; hence her interest, in fact has worked with Infralib.
  • Vision Australia is an amalgum of RVIB, RNSWIB, Vision Australia Foundation. Libraries merged and then so did the main body.
  • Located in Kooyong and Enfield, NSW
  • A National Public Library
  • Provides services to print disabled. Interested in accessible websites. Not big on Local History but have some aspects in their audio collections. Audio collections transferred from Analog to digital daisy.
  • Attended IFLA conference at Seoul

Anne Burrows – SLV – Genealogy Librarian

  • Attended Genealogy Conference in Darwin Well represented from around Aus (except for Tas). Well organized and good range of speakers. Look for the published proceedings available through the GSV
  • National Family History Week – Ran sessions on introduction to genealogy and newspaper sections of the library.
  • Attended the Family Treasure Chest on Sat 19 Aug. 450 paid attendees and 200 on stands. 240 queries on internet terminal on SLV stand.
  • Coming events: 30 September – 3rd annual Family history feast.
  • Interest in publishing – SLV has compiled a flyer on publishing your family history – please email Anne if you want an electronic copy of this.
  • Super sleuthing program for primary school students begun in Genealogy Centre. Have already had 3 groups with a total of 47 children participate. They play detectives on famous people with a box of clues etc. Receive a certificate at the end. Very successful.
  • SLV is now a member of the IFLA Family History section (see above website)
  • Current program – Share your treasures – flyer
  • Upcoming VAFHO (Victorian Association of Family History Organizations) AGM and Guest speaker at PROV 9 Sept.
  • Heading into SLV21

Christine Worthington – Prahran Mechanics Institute

  • Stonnington Library and Information Service keeps the PMI catalogue on its
  • web server. Recently it considered upgrading to Spydus version 8 but has
  • decided to wait, due to some negative feedback about the new version of
  • Spydus.
  • The two latest PMI Press publications now available are Flood, Fire and
  • Fever: a History of Elwood by Meyer Eidelson and FrontierFrenchIsland by

Ruth Gooch. Order forms were distributed at the meeting. We are currently

  • working on a short history of the Malvern Special Needs Playgroup, to be
  • followed by a history of WattlePark which has been written for the area's
  • 90th anniversary early in 2007.
  • Christine Worthington will be a keynote speaker at the West Bourke Local
  • History Fair next month. She will speak about publishing history, and a
  • forum on the subject will follow.
  • The PMI recently received a $10,000 grant from the Department for Victorian

Communities which will be used to remove old non-adjustable wooden shelving

  • around the library (creating further space for the collection), to add mild
  • tinting film to the vast windows (screening out UV to better protect the
  • collection) and to install a workstation for the Cinema & Theatre Historical
  • Society (CATHS). The new workstation will hold the catalogue to the CATHS
  • archives, which are held at the PMI. Mechanics' institute libraries are not
  • government funded, and these occasional grants enable them to make
  • significant improvements to their facilities, collections and services.

Lloyd Brady – Maribynong Library Service

  • Significance assessments received especially regarding their John Mills collection. Hope to use it as a tool to obtain a specific LH position with someone with dedicated hours. Library already works closely with the Footscray Historical Society. Looking into the cemetery records and hopefully with council support will be able to get them onto a database.
  • West Footscray closed for 14 months. Will re-open in October as part of the Community House.
  • Applied for funding for disability PCs with touch screens.

Melissa Gorman – Yarra Melbourne (Richmond)

  • Work for dole person currently doing one of the recommendations outlined in their significance assessment report.
  • East Melbourne has a LH room.
  • New CEO commencing in 2 weeks.
  • Was going to do Swift but now re-considering.
  • Come April 22 2007 Yarra Melbourne Library will be splitting into 2 organizations.

Heather McKay – Yarra Melbourne (North Melbourne)

  • Published “Men of Hotham”. Includes biographies of councillors and employees. Hotham History Project released in September. Following an article she wrote on the Argus Newspaper Index which was published in the GSV “Ancestor” she was asked to speak to the Rosebud Historical Society which she did (never been to Rosebud before) one afternoon.
  • “Pride of Hotham” book also been released.
  • She has given a talk at the local historical society.
  • Received significance assessment and they have placed on their intranet – note you can request a digital version of your significance assessment to be e-mailed to you.

Michael Smith – MooneeValley Regional Library

  • CEO has resigned, process now taking place for new appointment hopefully to start beginning November.
  • No dedicated person currently for LH.
  • Significance assessment received.
  • Local Histories published on St ThomasChurch, Essendon and a local Real Estate Agent.
  • Attending West Bourke Fair.

General Business:

Elaine suggested that the group use a template where each representative can type up their group report for ease of minutes. Group agreed and she will look at getting the template on the Infonet.

Elaine also suggested that next year we rotate days (Tues, Wed, Thurs) to give more opportunity for people to attend meetings. This was agreed to.

Suggestions for 2007 program.

March – East Melbourne new library –Tuesday

June – Vision Australia (by invitation) Thursday

Sept – Ballarat (by Edith’s invitation) – this may involve a 2 day visit with an overnight stay as there are a number of facilities we could visit – not in the school holidays

Nov – Yet to be decided.

Next meeting:

Thursday 16th November 2006

2.00pm

ChineseMuseum,

22 Cohen Place,

Melbourne 3000

Ph 9662 2888

The cost will be $7.00 per head to visit the Museum

And we will need to hold our meeting somewhere else.

RSVP to Heather McKay

ph 9297 3280