Federation of Australian Historical Societies

FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETIES INC

e-BULLETIN No. 80 – 19 March 2011

Hon Editor, Dr Ruth S. Kerr

1) National Library of Australia - Community Heritage Grants

2) Report of a Churchill Fellow - Kate Prinsley, Victoria

3) Federation Merit Awards - call for nominations

4) John Douglas Kerr Medal for Distinction in Research and Writing History

5) Discard of books and journals by major Australian libraries

6) National Volunteering Strategy Consultation Report

7) Northern Territory Archives Service

8) Launceston Historical Society - annual history symposium

9) Australian and New Zealand Map Society conference 2011

10) Local history - Warwick and District Historical Society

1) National Library of Australia - Community Heritage Grants

Applications for 2011 opened on 1st March 2011. Application forms and guidelines are available on the NLA website at www.nla.gov.au/chg/. Applications will close on Friday 6 May.

The Community Heritage Grants (CHG) program provides grants of up to $15,000 to community organisations such as libraries, archives, museums, genealogical and historical societies, multicultural and Indigenous groups. The grants are provided to assist with the preservation of locally owned, but nationally significant collections of materials that are publicly accessible including artefacts, letters, diaries, maps, photographs, and audio visual material.

The types of projects supported include Significance Assessments of collections; Preservation Needs Assessments of collections; conservation activities and collection management; and training workshops.

(Source: National Library of Australia)

2) Report of a Churchill Fellow - Kate Prinsley, Victoria

The report of Churchill Fellow, Kate Prinsley of Victoria, on her Churchill funded visit to the US to study the operation of historical societies is now available at the following web page, in both podcast and downloadable print form:

www.historyvictoria.org.au/podcastlecture9.htm

(Source: Royal Historical Society of Victoria – 15 March 2011)

3) Federation Merit Awards - call for nominations

The Federation's call for nominations for its Merit Awards is on the Federation's website: FAHS - Merit Award. Nominations close on 30 June 2011.

4) John Douglas Kerr Medal for Distinction in Research and Writing History

The Royal Historical Society of Queensland and Professional Historians Association (Queensland)'s call for nominations for the John Douglas Kerr Medal for Distinction and Writing History is now on the Society's website: www.queenslandhistory.org.au/JohnDKerr.html

The selection criteria cover Australian history and are not restricted to Queensland history.

Nominations close with the Royal Historical Society of Queensland on 31 March 2011.

(Email: info@queenslandhistory.org.au)

(Source: Royal Historical Society of Queensland)

5) Discard of books and journals by major Australian libraries

The Sydney Morning Herald published a series of Letters to the Editor on 9 March 2011 (on page 12) reporting that major libraries are discarding books and journals including nineteenth century government publications. It was reported that the University of New South Wales Library has discarded into skips the New South Wales Government Gazettes for the nineteenth century and possibly the twentieth century, although it is not available in electronic form. It is believed that this is happening in other states including Queensland and Western Australia and is being done by junior staff without a technical knowledge of Australian history or the sciences or professions. The libraries state that they are doing this as the information is now available electronically. Some librarians personally disturbed by the practice have retrieved some items and are sending them to overseas libraries such as Timor.

(Source: Sydney Morning Herald, 9 March 2011, p.12)

6) National Volunteering Strategy Consultation Report

The report of the National Volunteering Strategy Consultation was released recently. A summary of the findings and a copy of the report can be found at www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/national_volunteering/index.cfm

(Source: www.dpmc.gov.au/publications/national_volunteering/index.cfm - February 2011)

7) Northern Territory Archives Service

The Northern Territory Archives Service (NTAS) has changed its website at www.nt.gov.au/nreta/ntas/

It has launched Archives Navigator allowing exploration of collections held at NTAS.

Stories from Archives is also new, providing feature articles, updates on research being undertaken in our search rooms and insights into the archives which have been recently added to the collection. It replaces the newsletter Records Territory.

Guides have also been updated regarding Cyclone Tracy and the Second World War in the Northern Territory. Photo galleries are also provided. A future topic is: It wasn't all chop picnics: Images depicting life in the Top End for Defence Service Personnel during WWII.

The Archives is located at 2nd Floor, 25 Cavenagh Street, Darwin, and Minerals House 58 Hartley Street Alice Springs.

More information is available at www.nt.gov.au/nreta/ntas/.

(Source: Northern Territory Archives Service – 14 March 2011)

8) Launceston Historical Society - annual history symposium

Saturday, 16 April 2011, 9.00am – 3.00pm

Meeting Room, Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Inveresk

The Indian Connection with Tasmania

Keynote speaker, Dr James Broadbent, An Overview of Indian Connections; Linda Clark, Sydney Cove; Alexander Davis, India and Australian Imperialism, 1858-1901; Lionel Morrell, The Influence of India on Colonial Tasmanian Architecture and Artefacts; Dr Nic Haygarth, Theophilus Jones - An East Indian officer on the West Coast; Professor Paul Edwards, Mars, Mammon and Venus in British India: Tasmanian Family Connections.

Registrations (essential) close Friday 8 April 2011.

Enquiries: Dr Marita Bardenhagen, email: mbardenh@bigpond.net.au

(Source: Launceston Historical Society - 21 February 2011)

9) Australian and New Zealand Map Society conference 2011

Southern Latitudes: 39th Annual Conference

The Australian and New Zealand Map Society will hold its 2011 conference in Sydney at the State Library of New South Wales between 24 and 27 May.

A highlight will be a presentation by Frederik Muller on the oldest existing map documenting Magellan's circumnavigation, his discovery of the Southland and crossing of the Pacific, Fries' Tabula moderna alterius hemispherius, 1525.

The conference will also acknowledge the bicentenary of the publication of the first complete map of Australia by cartographer, Louis de Freycinet in 1811 and the 150th anniversary of the Burke & Wills expedition.

Further information is available on the ANZMapS website. This year attendees can register and pay by direct debit or credit card through http://anzmaps.eventbrite.com/.

(Source: www.anzmaps.eventbrite.com – 28 February 2011)

10) Local history - Warwick and District Historical Society

Warwick flooded twice; the second time much higher and did more damage as the water was moving much faster but Society's premises were well above the flood lines. However the Society is suffering as there is very little tourist movement and tour groups which are the mainstay have not started. Normally the Society is well booked up. The trip over Cunningham's Gap doesn't encourage people to travel. It takes up to 6 hours to go to Brisbane instead of 2 ½ depending on what the construction workers are doing at the time. It is a difficult time for all.

(Source: Warwick and District Historical Society – 19 February 2011)