DEPARTMENT of EDUCATION
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Highlights 2004-2005

July 2004

  • Kingston Library’s major extension and refurbishment was completed.
  • Follow the Sun: Australian Travel Posters 1930s-1950s, a touring exhibition from the National Library of Australia, opened in the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts.
  • The Information Literacy Tasmania conference, jointly organised by the State Library, the University of Tasmania and the Institute of TAFE Tasmania, was held in Launceston.
  • The Archives Office issued records disposal schedules to authorise the disposal of:
    • the functional records of TAFE Tasmania
    • the functional records of the civil and criminal jurisdictions of the Supreme Court of Tasmania
    • records relating to the management of the mineral resources of Tasmania.
  • Tasmanian Archives Online was launched, providing access to web-based information on the publicly available holdings of the Archives Office.
  • The State Library of Tasmania received two state Learning Together Awards for Educational Excellence.
  • Tasmanian Communities Online received two state Learning Together Awards for Educational Excellence.

August 2004

  • The Archives Office joined Tasmania’s steering committee for the state’s participation in the Australia on the Map project, which will co-ordinate a series of events to commemorate the 400th anniversary of the beginning of Australia’s documented history.
  • The Premier hosted a barbecue at Campbell Town to thank Online Access Centre volunteers from around the state for their contribution to the Centres.
  • Children’s Book Week was celebrated statewide through school visits and displays of the award-winning books in libraries.

September 2004

  • A View of Mt Wellington and Hobart Town Looking Across the Derwent from Kangaroo Bay (oil painting, c.1835, artist unknown) was purchased at Christie’s, London, for the Allport Collection.
  • Nine libraries around the state participated in National Simultaneous Storytime to celebrate Literacy and Numeracy Week.
  • Launceston and Glenorchy libraries hosted ABC Radio’s live Meet the Candidates special federal election broadcasts.
  • The inaugural Joint Tasmanian Archival Consultative Forum was held to gain feedback from community stakeholders and inform them about activities and services.
  • The Archives Office staffed an information booth at Clarence Council’s Tasmanian Bicentenary Open Day at the Rosny Heritage Centre.
  • Lighthouse displays were mounted in the Tasmaniana Library and Archives Office as part of the statewide Tasmanian Lighthouse Trail project.
  • A promotional campaign for Informing Tasmanians was launched to highlight the importance of information to economic, cultural and social wellbeing.
  • The sixth annual Tasmanian Communities Online conference at Campbell Town focussed on online services and building capacity of communities.
  • Parliamentary Library officers interviewed Legislative Council Members as part of a review of service delivery strategies.

October 2004

  • The Oatlands Community Learning Centre opened at its new location at Oatlands School.
  • The exhibition Finders & Keepers - Collectors and their Treasures from the State Library’s Heritage Collections opened in the Heritage Collections.
  • Map of Van Diemen’s Land (John Arrowsmith, London, 1842) was purchased for the Tasmaniana Library.
  • The Archives Office ran classes in the access and use of their services for researching family history.
  • Seven additional schools were included in the TALIS network, the combined catalogue for the State Library, schools, colleges and TAFE.
  • Announcement of the Huon LINC (Learning and Information Network Centre) project, which will integrate services related to education, training and information focussing beyond the compulsory years of schooling.

November 2004

  • Nineteenth century records of the Launceston Port Office and Marine Board, previously held in the Low Head Pilot Station, were deposited in the Archives Office.
  • The Archives Office staffed an information booth at the Female Factory Muster, a Tasmanian Bicentenary event at the South Hobart Female Factory.
  • The Archives Office staffed an information booth at the Back to George Town Day, a Tasmanian Bicentenary event.
  • The state presentation for the Nestlé Write Around Australia program was held at Parliament House.
  • Author Robert Dessaix discussed his book Twilight of Love: Travels with Turgenev with an audience of over 90 people who attended an evening hosted by Glenorchy Library, in partnership with Book Discussion Groups Tasmania.

December 2004

  • The Archives Office staffed an information booth at the North West Family History seminar at Burnie.
  • Flora Tasmanica, a set of six Southern Ice Porcelain plates, made by Les Blakebrough and decorated with prints designed by Lauren Black, was purchased for the Allport Collection.
  • Watercolour paintings of Mount Ida (Lake St Clair) and Bradys Bay (Port Arthur), by John Skinner Prout, were purchased for the Allport Collection.
  • The joint State Library and Tasmanian Communities Online Bicentenary project Our Streets, Our Stories concluded, with over 834 previously unpublished historical streetscape photos available on the Our Digital Island website.

January 2005

  • The State Library held its statewide summer holiday program Thrills and Chills at Your Library with almost 3,000 students participating.
  • Pas-Caart van Zuyd-Zee Tusscehn California en Ilhas de Ladrones t’Amsterdam (c.1690), a very early map showing part of Van Diemens Land, was purchased for the Tasmaniana Library.
  • Records of the Marine Board of Hobart covering the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were deposited in the Archives Office.
  • The reading guide Tasmania’s Favourite Reads was published, providing library users with a list of well-loved titles nominated by other Tasmanians.
  • The Archives Regulations 2004 came into effect.

February 2005

  • Polus Antarcticus Terra Australis Incognita (1639), an important early map of the southern hemisphere, was purchased for the Allport Collection.
  • The Parliamentary Library published the Legislative Council election results from 1909 on the internet.
  • A survey of the expectations, experiences and demographic information of visitors was completed for the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts.
  • Maydena Online Access Centre’s DVD on forestry heritage was launched.

March 2005

  • The Archives Office was represented on the University of Tasmania’s School of History and Classics Advisory Committee for setting curriculum.
  • Different Readings: A Contemporary Interpretation of the Allport Furniture Collection opened in the Allport Library and Museum of Fine Arts as part of the Ten Days on the Island festival.
  • Twelve early Tasmanian botanical watercolours by William Buelow Gould were purchased for the Allport Collection.

April 2005

  • Amendments to the Archives Act 1983 were passed, adding government business enterprises to the organisations covered by the Act.
  • The Archives Office’s primary archival management system was extended to improve the short term retrieval of records for use by government agencies.
  • Eight information sessions on topics ranging from health issues to heritage collections were held for seniors as part of the Seniors at Glenorchy Library program.
  • The Launceston Library publication On the Tide: Stories of the Tamar was reprinted for the fourth time, having sold over 3,000 copies.

May 2005

  • Sorell and Penguin libraries were refurbished.
  • At the annual Archives and Records Management Day seminar, Archives Office staff gave presentations on changes to the Archives Act 1983.
  • The Your Librarycard campaign was launched during Australian Library Week, promoting the benefits of owning a Librarycard.
  • A client use and satisfaction survey on library resources and services was conducted for the State Reference Service.
  • The awarding of five State Library of Tasmania Research Fellowships marked the inauguration of an initiative designed to improve understanding of, and access to, the rich holdings of the State Library’s Heritage Collections.

June 2005

  • Tasmanian Communities Online in partnership with TAFE Tasmania investigated best practice in supporting online learners through the e-Learning Creative Community Partnerships project.
  • Twenty-two State Library staff in the south received State Service Awards for 25 years of service.
  • A Friends of the Hobart Lending Library group was formed.
  • The State Library of Tasmania received two state Learning Together Awards for Educational Excellence.
  • Tasmanian Communities Online received a state Learning Together Award for Educational Excellence.