Library
Friends of Swinburne Library Online newsletter
Welcome to Issue 1
Welcome to the first Friends of Swinburne Library Online newsletter. This newsletter will include updates from Swinburne Library, and focuses on our digital and online identity. The first issue includes an overview of the Swinburne Image Bank Launch in April; our involvement in the Letters of a Nation project; news from Swinburne Research Bank; and highlights of the image and video collections. We hope you enjoy reading this.
Swinburne Image Bank Launch
On 23 April this year, Vice-Chancellor Ian Young officially launched Swinburne Image Bank, an online gallery of digital images and video related to Swinburne.
The event was held in the AGSE Foyer in the late afternoon and was attended by approximately 80 people including alumni, past and present staff and students, and library professionals from Melbourne and interstate.
During the event, two large screens displayed a selection of image and video highlights from Swinburne Image Bank, while attendees watched and some recognised earlier versions of themselves within the collection!
Letters of a Nation
In June this year the Library's archivist, Sara Jervis, examined our rich collection of historical university correspondence to choose 11 significant letters for contribution to the Australia Post Letters of a Nation project.
This project is part of Australia Post's bicentenary celebrations, marking 200 years of the postal service in Australia. Australia Post put a call out for individuals and organisations to submit letters demonstrating the history of our nation, from which they have been selecting letters to include in their online archive.
Swinburne Library submitted 11 letters written between 1910 and 1949, including both hand-written letters (some with meticulous cursive handwriting) and typed letters (featuring a range of decorative letterheads). One letter from a new car owner, enquiring about driving lessons for ladies in 1929, has already generated interest from a women's multicultural magazine. Other interesting letters include one written 'at sea' while aboard the SS Shropshire in 1920, and an application letter from cookery instructor Lucy Drake for a position to teach cookery in 1913.
Swinburne's contributions to the archives can be viewed from the Letters of a Nation Archive through a keyword search on 'Swinburne'. The letters may also be browsed in Swinburne Image Bank's correspondence collection.
Swinburne Image Bank: New Submissions
Swinburne Image Bank is a work in progress with new images being added continually to the database. Shown here are some recent examples.
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[Farewell for Laurie Pendlebury] |
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[Costume drawing] |
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[Old Library] |
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[Typing class] |
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[New interactive workstations] |
YouTube Videos: Mt Donna Buang
At the Swinburne Image Bank launch in April this year, we displayed a selection of clips from our archival video footage. If you would like to view this footage in full, the videos are available on our YouTube channel.
One video that we find particularly entertaining is 'Senior students at Mt Donna Buang', which shows a group of Swinburne students having snow fights at Mt Donna Buang in 1951.
An Exciting New Library System for Swinburne Library
The Library is moving towards a new search and discovery system to be launched in early 2010. This will replace our current catalogue and enable the Library to be more responsive to user needs. It will present a more modern interface and make it easier to access online materials.
You can see an example at The State Library of Victoria, where they have recently implemented the same product to enable searching across all of their collections in one search.
Swinburne Library will provide regular updates on the website and blog in the lead up to the system going live in early 2010. To find out more about it, go to the search and discovery system launch page.
Increase in Non-Book Loans
During the first half of 2009, loans of non-book items from Swinburne Library exceeded that of book loans for the first time. Popular non-book loans include eBooks (electronic books), DVDs and laptop computers. With over 100,000 eBooks in the Library catalogue, one in four of our titles is now an eBook which increases off-site access to library titles. Swinburne Library also has over 400 Windows and Mac laptops available for loan to current students.
Swinburne Research Bank
Swinburne Research Bank is an open-access digital collection of research created by Swinburne researchers. It aims to increase the exposure and impact of Swinburne research by making it visible and available to anyone who is interested in research findings worldwide.
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There are now over 13,000 records in Swinburne Research Bank and this number grows daily. Of the 13,000 items now available in Swinburne Research Bank: - 2500 (19%) are available with full text |
Some records related to digital media that may be of interest include:
Given, Jock, 'Radio's digital challengers', Telecommunications Journal of Australia, Vol. 58, no. 2-3 (Nov 2008)
Russo, Angelina & Peacock, Darren, 'Great expectations: sustaining participation in social media spaces', Proceedings of Museums and the Web 2009, the International Conference for Culture and Heritage On-Line, Indianapolis, Indiana, United States, 15-18 April 2009 / Jennifer Trant and David Bearman (eds.)
Rennie, Ellie & Thomas, Julian, 'Inside the house of SYN: digital literacy and youth media', Media International Australia incorporating Culture and Policy, no. 128 (Aug. 2008), pp. 95-103.
Funnell, Anthony, Thomas, Julian & Singh, Christina, 'New research on Australian internet usage', 'The Media Report', presented by Antony Funnell, 31 July 2008.
Waller, Vivienne, McShane, Ian, 'Analysing the challenges for large public libraries in the twenty-first century: a case study of the State Library of Victoria in Australia', First Monday, Vol. 13, no. 12 (Dec. 2008), pp. 37-55.
Swinburne Library Blog
The regularly updated Swinburne Library Blog, which began in January 2007, is a convenient way for staff and students to stay informed about Library news and developments. Subscribers to the blog can find out about new information resources, new library services and read about other topics which will assist users in utilising Swinburne Library. Recent blog topics include New spooky reads, Swinburne inventions - on the trail, and Come to the Swinburne Living Library at Wantirna. Comments are welcome on all topics.
Contact Us
If you have any comments or feedback about this newsletter,
please feel free to contact us via email at:
sbesselaar@swin.edu.au.