Federation of Australian Historical Societies

FEDERATION OF AUSTRALIAN HISTORICAL SOCIETIES INC

e-BULLETIN No. 85 – 6 July 2011

Hon Editor, Dr Ruth S. Kerr

1) Trove award

2) Australian Government heritage funding

3) Senate web resources

4) British Library Google books agreement

5) Local history - Raymond Terrace near Newcastle

6) Federation's advocacy service

7) (advertisement) Affordable digital replacement for your old microfilm readers now locally available

1) Trove award

Trove won the Excellence in egovernment Award at CeBIT Australia. Historians and librarians use Trove extensively and acknowledge the value of the search engine. Trove staff at National Library of Australia have done an excellent job in creating and maintaining Trove.

(Source: aliaaglin@lists.alia.org.au – 17 June 2011)

2) Australian Government heritage funding

The former Chair of the Australian Heritage Council, Mr Tom Harley, was quoted in the Australian of 20 June 2011 expressing his concern about the serious decline in funding for heritage preservation in the recent government budget, together with the abolition of the ‘Distinctively Australian’ Program which was established to protect our national heritage. The FAHS President, Associate Professor Don Garden, has also addressed this issue (in our e-Bulletin No. 83 of 18 May 2011), but also commended the government on the development of the Community Heritage Grants program.

(Source: Australian 20 June 2011 p.2)

3) Senate web reources

Transcript Production Status for Senate Legislation Committees considering Budget Estimates. This link goes to a table which shows if a committee Hansard has been loaded or not or to what stage it is available. Links are then provided to the transcript (www.aph.gov.au/hansard/senate/commttee/s-news.htm)

Which committee deals with which portfolio:

(www.aph.gov.au/Senate/estimates/portfolios.htm)

Consolidated Program gives a broad summary of all the committees’ programs, with links to each committee's agenda. (www.aph.gov.au/Senate/estimates/budget1112/index.htm)

Individual Programs gives additional details for each meetingy (www.aph.gov.au/Senate/estimates/schedule.pdf)

Previous Estimates Rounds links you to individual committee pages which then provide links to present transcripts, previous hearings, Budget Supplementary Estimates, Additional Estimates and Reports on Estimates. This is where Questions on Notice and the Answers to Questions on Notice are located. (www.aph.gov.au/Senate/estimates/committees.htm)

Senate Daily Summary - a summary of each day’s proceedings in the Senate including Estimates - [ ] denotes Estimates hearings (www.aph.gov.au/Senate/pubs/daily/index.htm)

Live broadcasting schedule of Senate estimates hearings. (http://webcast.aph.gov.au/livebroadcasting/)

(Source: aliaaglin@lists.alia.org.au – 9 June 2011)

4) British Library Google books agreement

The British Library has negotiated an agreement with Google whereby texts of books published between 1700 and 1870 will be made available in digital form and able to be downloaded and copied and searched. This is one step in the library’s goal of making the majority of its 14 million books and one million periodicals available in digital form by 2020.

(Source: Australian Financial Review 22 June 2011 p.59)

5) Local history - Raymond Terrace near Newcastle

The Anglican Diocese of Newcastle is selling the historic St John’s 1842 rectory at Raymond Terrace. It has been continuously occupied since then. The home no longer satisfies the diocese’s standards for a rectory and would require $200,000 of expenditure to raise it to modern standards. Therefore the valuable heritage building within 200 metres of the CBD will be transferred into new hands for probable preservation. The heritage listed Norfolk Island pine tree on the property is said to be the tallest in the southern hemisphere.

(Source: Sydney Morning Herald 1 April 2011 p.10)

6) Federation's advocacy service

In order to be an effective voice for historical societies throughout Australia, it is essential that the Federation knows what concerns/practical problems societies consider should be addressed at the federal/state/local levels. If your society wishes to enlist the support of the Federation on any issue please go to our website at www.history.org.au and complete a form for each concern/practical problem for which you are seeking advocacy support. The form can be electronically completed and emailed to admin@history.org.au. To find the form and further information click on ‘Support’ button on the horizontal bar on the home page and on the drop-down menu click on ‘Advocacy support’.

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