tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-65706930955132517292024-03-06T15:37:50.212+10:00the-storyspace............................................................. * read yourself into the storyalisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.comBlogger174125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-83649334104265147392010-10-21T22:12:00.000+10:002010-10-21T22:12:36.815+10:00what snoopy said...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvxWtUJp-qDjxgQAi6j3RWs9E0d2VP_ve3SaSLMsdsGJOnDunubaAWJOyQ9g-16lZeoggWMXdRDgX2dyFDJIyNtI5nml82Rin8zVaUp23WhfBKsebmxj3q5bWm6fH1wZGzm55k3IfQduf/s1600/snoopy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="299" nx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUvxWtUJp-qDjxgQAi6j3RWs9E0d2VP_ve3SaSLMsdsGJOnDunubaAWJOyQ9g-16lZeoggWMXdRDgX2dyFDJIyNtI5nml82Rin8zVaUp23WhfBKsebmxj3q5bWm6fH1wZGzm55k3IfQduf/s320/snoopy.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-31920967301607429912010-10-15T12:52:00.000+10:002010-10-15T12:52:44.701+10:00docs<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0hmR3a585CNjzzRivO4U7Clgzg4ES5dhyphenhyphenUx3Po10Qi19PdfSFHEl623oaTA_muIlogiBllO7oMfxnwCFUq49-PeOgEkVz1P0kCOx6JS6_G9DuMaYbgHX2O-Na0qBlAtu6oDalwENiIco/s1600/docs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" ex="true" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjs0hmR3a585CNjzzRivO4U7Clgzg4ES5dhyphenhyphenUx3Po10Qi19PdfSFHEl623oaTA_muIlogiBllO7oMfxnwCFUq49-PeOgEkVz1P0kCOx6JS6_G9DuMaYbgHX2O-Na0qBlAtu6oDalwENiIco/s320/docs.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>You and Robert Smith and the Lovecats</em></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em> </em></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>echoes of then<br />
we told ourselves lies.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><em>Six years with you and a backing track<br />
gone somewhere, somewhen</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><em> future look in your eyes.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">My friend Brenden used to have the most amazing footwear. He grew into the mid-80s swampie subculture with black Windsor Smith pointed shoes and delicious black <br />
Dr Marten boots. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I've only ever seen Docs boots, and always loved their personality! but something sparked in me when I saw Jo's Docs heels. And then I found a Docs store in Townsville...</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">117 Charters Towers Road <a href="http://www.downesshoes.com.au/">http://www.downesshoes.com.au/</a></span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><em>For you, Brenden. I know this would make you smile.</em></span></div><br />
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</div>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-75900624313622584212010-09-28T23:36:00.000+10:002010-09-28T23:36:48.299+10:00#followalibrary @townsvillelib october 1<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipf_OLfb0h_4a8CyuFBed5yeFiEV1CxTOUvct9XUcJjJ8wKV9FUuy-G_WTfYkKat-DnEwuUlnjUBWRjDfeCZoiUb7fY0IA2WZz9IMsvhCzqBi5HMff_hhJPezzvswkBUEUBRn_crbDF-C0/s1600/followalibraryposter.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipf_OLfb0h_4a8CyuFBed5yeFiEV1CxTOUvct9XUcJjJ8wKV9FUuy-G_WTfYkKat-DnEwuUlnjUBWRjDfeCZoiUb7fY0IA2WZz9IMsvhCzqBi5HMff_hhJPezzvswkBUEUBRn_crbDF-C0/s1600/followalibraryposter.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Love your library? Love libraries? Follow a library on twitter on October 1 (that's Friday: three days away)</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://twitter.com/followalibrary/australia"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://twitter.com/followalibrary/australia</span></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(which libraries are on?)</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/09/19/international-follow-a-library-day-on-twitter-followalibrary/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://stephenslighthouse.com/2010/09/19/international-follow-a-library-day-on-twitter-followalibrary/</span></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(Michael Stephens clip)</span><a href="http://www.followalibrary.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.followalibrary.blogspot.com/</span></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">(poster)</span></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Join twitter and tweet on Friday about your favorite twittering library Use the hashtag <strong>#followalibrary</strong> in your tweet along with the library's twittername. <br />
Tweeting libraries: encourage users to follow your news and tweets</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Choose one or all:</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">@TownsvilleLib, @mosmanlibrary, @slqld, @nlagovau... just check out the list here: <a href="http://twitter.com/followalibrary/australia"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://twitter.com/followalibrary/australia</span></a></span></div>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-6226261619669964582010-09-28T23:02:00.002+10:002010-09-28T23:04:34.483+10:00NaNoWriMo<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/">Website</a> will be live next week! Great widgets for participants, and posters for libraries to display to encourage writers </span><a href="http://www.nanowrimo.org/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.nanowrimo.org/</span></a> <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I'll have to print a few out.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Also: NaNo Young Writers Program: </span><a href="http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://ywp.nanowrimo.org/</span></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">with workbooks to get your creativity on.</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjT4w0op4xLqO4GCZK8KaWLypcN4FXKADZ7FztbSj6p8zxSzQ8J_oXNWZrzpd7GnVpLhNJNHfpdgRuUK5MjehfGqdOXiUm7_dZDOmcqhqQ8xJC0asr0CwhWPw1QpaOqcpEJiIkfFrJZQ61/s1600/ywp_07_novelists_at_work_thumb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" px="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjT4w0op4xLqO4GCZK8KaWLypcN4FXKADZ7FztbSj6p8zxSzQ8J_oXNWZrzpd7GnVpLhNJNHfpdgRuUK5MjehfGqdOXiUm7_dZDOmcqhqQ8xJC0asr0CwhWPw1QpaOqcpEJiIkfFrJZQ61/s1600/ywp_07_novelists_at_work_thumb.jpg" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;"><em>You will write a few words, and then write some more</em></span></div>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-35922522510145481812010-09-22T00:24:00.001+10:002010-09-22T00:29:03.978+10:00it's all greek to me<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Information Service Questions of the Day</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Late this afternoon I received a phone call from a lady requesting books in other languages. <br />
I began to explain to her that we have books in other languages in each of our branches (Community Languages collection), and was there a particular language she was interested in? She said that she was after books in Greek, and did we have a printed catalogue? <br />
I had a sudden visual memory surge of timber draws with metal handles filled with hole punched index cards in the library of my childhood, but I moved on.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I asked if she had internet access at home so she could look at our online catalogue, but she did not.<br />
I said that I would be happy to show her our catalogue when next she is in the library. ('I' being the collective Information Services team because I move across branches with no set routine, so I was suggesting that anyone on our team will be happy to show her). <br />
It is then that she said that she would like the books for her elderly husband, and that she would like a printout to show him the titles as he is unable to come in.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I had searched on 'Greek' and collection: Community Languages by this time and found 7 titles. <br />
Our Community Languages collection is sourced from SLQ. <br />
I said that we could certainly print out a list of seven titles. As I mentioned our source, my customer asked if she could have a printout of their titles. I thought that might be a different thing entirely, especially in its entirety.<br />
She wanted printouts to show her husband at home. She was particulary keen to see if the titles were in English as well as Greek because she does not speak Greek. She did not want to have to keep coming back asking if we had this title or that title. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">After contacting Heather (assistant cataloguer who liaises with SLQ for commlang supplies) I got back to the customer with the relevant information in front of me. A quick search on <a href="http://plsopac.slq.qld.gov.au/cgi-bin/Pwebrecon.cgi?DB=local&PAGE=First">SLQ's</a> commlang collection found 1604 titles in modern Greek fiction and nonfiction.<br />
I suggested she come in to the library so information services staff could show her the search, she could select a range and we could print out a list.<br />
Of course not all of those from the search are available, but we can sift through to discover which of these we can request for our customer.<br />
Generally our library service has a changeover of languages six monthly, but SLQ is open to requests as necessary.<br />
Our customer was pleased and said that she would visit on Friday. She asked if I would be there. Unfortunately not, but I advised her who would be available that day and have sent that staff member details of our search today.<br />
A bit of a heads up too, because we do not at the moment have printer access from that information services point. Our hard drive was just returned after a ritual cleansing, and the KM guy just said we would be able to find the printer name and add - unfortunately no.<br />
I'd checked everything else with him when he was there. Spydus access, network access, email access, clone screening. Just not the printer *sigh*</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Letting the customer know that we can provide her with access to a list of Greek books for her husband was a good result for her, and for us as enhancing the usage of our community language resources is one of our kpi targets. Needs to rise 15%. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Today I contributed to literacy satisfaction and percentages. Yay.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I recently worked with Heather to source nonfiction books in the Urdu language for a customer recently arrived from Pakistan. Our Customer Services team is working on providing a suite of information for our new members from Somalia.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Hey Dorothy, we are not in Maryborough anymore... </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">SLQ's LOTE collection languages: <a href="http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0009/73638/SLQ_-_LOTE_collections_prefix_-_May2008.pdf">http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/__data/assets/file/0009/73638/SLQ_-_LOTE_collections_prefix_-_May2008.pdf</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">* I also had an enquiry from a gentleman about Indigenous resources. I showed him our collection and mentioned similar collections in the other branches. He was very impressed with the range and how it was organised. <br />
This time a nice memory of Kerry, our Indigenous Resources librarian, came to me. She would have been happy that the collection suited the gentleman. <br />
He had a very cute daughter who wanted chapter books and cookery books. I showed her the way and asked what she liked to cook. "Cakes!" We looked through a few and I read out some mouthwatering cake names. She laughed.<br />
Another good day at the office.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-51710608832550874522010-09-17T00:24:00.000+10:002010-09-17T00:24:38.693+10:00townsville stories and townsville authors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEUuA4a4zfJEOWjNRq2FhW2ECtopo9U6SA5rR67mkW3aXNYTi4P8hHEvWNtKFn6l9ErEYu-bOdSSQ3U4uwNXF82vWREQYu7T1rhCEjzvTr61AYtvJtF0dhyrJRW4hSq-kW3d7HVH6mLSc/s1600/bush+oranges.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQEUuA4a4zfJEOWjNRq2FhW2ECtopo9U6SA5rR67mkW3aXNYTi4P8hHEvWNtKFn6l9ErEYu-bOdSSQ3U4uwNXF82vWREQYu7T1rhCEjzvTr61AYtvJtF0dhyrJRW4hSq-kW3d7HVH6mLSc/s320/bush+oranges.jpg" /></a></div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGKuF8JEvwGOJPMiMkX8MFZdy_4IA4UFBzpnTn2NIh-_CBtNX4P91jtHr0gN9eoYSF3D6bWpmLnp8vvx9ccYNEdvCLsRCeGW9K3Spdd_G84bz13FMzIEuwwojM0Ue98G5ExDgt8OYJmKcx/s1600/houseonthehill.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><img border="0" qx="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGKuF8JEvwGOJPMiMkX8MFZdy_4IA4UFBzpnTn2NIh-_CBtNX4P91jtHr0gN9eoYSF3D6bWpmLnp8vvx9ccYNEdvCLsRCeGW9K3Spdd_G84bz13FMzIEuwwojM0Ue98G5ExDgt8OYJmKcx/s320/houseonthehill.jpg" /></span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i am discovering more richly evocative townsville literature, thanks to library colleagues who have lived here for longer than I. and soon it will be time again for <em>one title one townsville,</em> which was such a success earlier this year with alex miller's <em>journey to the stone country.</em> </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">which book will be the one that all townsville reads?</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i have most enjoyed estelle pinney's <em>house on the hill </em>because estelle portrayed the multiculturalism of townsville, and her characters covered the landscape well. <br />
the story revolves mostly around a family of women, but the men are also strongly drawn, especially Nicos, the Greek cafe owner and Belle's sometimes lover.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">a few weeks ago i smelled the luscious aroma of monsoon season that so beautifully conveys our northern summer mood. it was still autumn. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">today i started kay donovan's <em>bush oranges. </em>kay writes the monsoon so beautifully. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">For the first two months in Tully it rained every day, sheets of rain. Heavy, drenching rain you couldn't walk through.... The rainforest shaded the house and kept the inside cool and moist, even when the clouds cleared enough to let the tropical sun shine through. (Donovan, 2001, pp 38-39). </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;">Set in the brooding, tempestuous climate of North Queensland from the 1920s to the 1990s... (from jacket blurb)</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"></span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">I love that NQ's climate is <span style="color: #cc0000;">tempestuous </span>and the landscape <span style="color: #cc0000;">evocative.</span> Not for us the ordinary adjectives like 'liveable' and 'friendly'. </span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><em>Bush Oranges</em> has multiple female narrators with many local landmarks making the cut: The Strand, Belgian Gardens, the Criterion Hotel, Magnetic Island and Tully. One of my grandmothers was born in Tully, and NQ remains her favourite place. She dreams about it from Brisbane.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">With my cataloguing colleague, Anne, I plan to create a local authors/local stories page on the library website where we highlight some <span style="color: #cc0000;">evocative</span> Townsville literature from our collection. Although I have not yet read Thea Astley's <em>The Multiple Effects of Rainshadow</em>, I expect we will include that. Thea Astley taught school here and visited the city library here (not in its present location). And of course Janette Turner Hospital, who I understand taught at JCU some time ago.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">This is going to be such fun.</span></div>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-23272918571017739442010-09-05T23:18:00.001+10:002010-09-05T23:18:56.582+10:00be an information services librarian and make a difference<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Darwin's advertising: </span><a href="http://alia.org.au/employment/vacancies/listing.html?ID=1768"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reference librarian</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> </span><a href="http://www.darwin.nt.gov.au/sites/default/files/PN%20L28%20Reference%20Librarian_0.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">job description</span></a>, <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">closes 13 September</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Actively participate as a team member and provide outstanding customer service.</em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em></em></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>Effectively manage reference services and ensure a consistent standard of service </em></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><em>delivery across Darwin City Council Libraries.</em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fraser Coast's advertising: <a href="http://ezijob.com.au/ezijob/frasercoast/default.cfm?dest=2&publishedFormID=7309">Information services librarian</a> <a href="http://ezijob.com.au/pdfs/4538/PD.pdf?CFID=2343846&CFTOKEN=9be4c40d24dacc9d-E1EAD276-D551-C978-FB306FCABFE988A2">job description</a>, closes 12 September<br />
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;">The position is responsible for the management and coordination of all </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">functions within the Information & Reference Services section of the </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">Regional libraries. </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">The position is responsible for the organisation, direction and promotion </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">of five (5) discrete operational areas: </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">1. Reference and information research, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">2. Local history, Heritage and Genealogy programs, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">3. Community and staff education programs, </span><span style="font-size: x-small;">4. Statistical monitoring, </span></em><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>5. Cataloguing of specific collections</em></span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* and if you're a <a href="http://alturl.com/h7hf">newgrad</a> or <a href="http://alturl.com/dsq9">student</a>, participate in the LIS education project survey before 14 September. </span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-24597424237539279732010-09-05T20:27:00.002+10:002010-09-07T22:30:38.199+10:00#ALIAAccess 2010 Brisbane<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">say hello to the future. it was good. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.flickr.com/groups/1517385@N23/">#ALIAAccess</a> group on flickr</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<br />
highlights:</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial;">meeting tweeps @jobeaz, @rachelwray, @newgradlib, and catching up with Jo and Robyn (fraser coast)</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Dr Neil Carrington's leadership workshop</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">Helen Partridge's LIS education project</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">the massive twitter interaction during the conference (33%+ delegates tweeting) - realtime responses to discussion</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">north brisbane library visits - checking out design, spaces, information service models, community engagement, staffing, collection development and customer service</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">the interaction and community atmosphere of many sessions, especially #camp</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">the walk from Ibis, across the Victoria Bridge to the convention centre - Brisbane turned on beautiful weather</span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial;">suggestion:</span><br />
<ol><li><span style="font-family: Arial;">brilliant to have iPads on the perch to play with, but next time - perhaps loan out a few iPads and other devices to delegates in each stream, particularly to newbies so they can tweet intensively in sessions; get a real feel for it.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;">loan out flipcams so short films can be uploaded to the website (#camp, dinners, the lunch buzz, exhibits)</span></li>
</ol><span style="font-family: Arial;">If delegates haven't used these devices preconference, then actually putting them out there will do more to encourage their use and the influence will spread.</span><span style="font-family: Arial;"> </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">congratulations:</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">committees did a fabulous job :) thnx</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-63766130087427831152010-09-02T20:16:00.000+10:002010-09-02T20:16:17.784+10:00brisbane in septemberwill post images from ALIA Access conference to my flickr later. Enjoyed tour of northern libraries, and have many ideas for my information services investigation project and for information services delivery.<br />
<br />
more later.alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-1594326682873010562010-08-23T00:00:00.000+10:002010-08-23T00:00:35.212+10:00novel writing software<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I started exploring novel writing software today, after seeing a <a href="http://justinelarbalestier.com/blog/2007/12/29/scrivener/">review</a> of <a href="http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scrivener.html">Scrivener</a> on Justine Larbalestier's site. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">So Scrivener is for Macs, but on their site they list alternatives for Windows. I tried a couple that were freeware, others were 30 day downloads and others you have to buy. </span><br />
<ul><li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.salsbury.f2s.com/rd.htm">RoughDraft </a>- no longer being developed</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.writewaypro.com/">WriteWayPro</a> - 30 day demo</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.blackobelisksoftware.com/">Liquid Story Binder</a> - looks incredible, and again available on 30 day demo</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.softwareforwriting.com/pagefour.html">PageFour</a> - at first this looked too simplistic to me, but I may need to persevere with it</span></li>
</ul><span style="font-family: Arial;">And then I found I had <a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-au/onenote/">OneNote</a> on my pc. Has some good features.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">The software should really be called 'novel organisation software'. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I'm trialling my character profiles on OneNote and PageFour.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-32881168084844383322010-08-21T20:55:00.000+10:002010-08-21T20:55:39.636+10:00robert frost philosophy<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>riddle:</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">there are several paths to take which will lead you to several different destinations. if you don't try some or all of the paths, how will you know which is the correct destination for you?</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"><strong>answer:</strong>it is not the destination that is most important. it is the journey. </span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-463768818903828282010-08-15T00:26:00.001+10:002010-08-15T00:31:02.389+10:00joe egg<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Curious. In about 1971 my cousin Susie played the part of Joe Egg in a Townsville theatre production of <em>'A Day in the Death of Joe Egg'</em>. I only know this because I saw a faded newspaper clipping in a family album. Suse would have been about 10 at the time, living in Townsville in between Moresby and W.A. As far as I know this was her only production. Our cousin Wendy is the actress in the family (she was a brilliant Miss Hannigan!).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">That news clipping is, until now, the only time I had ever heard of this play. I have never seen it in production, never heard of it anywhere else. I sought out the playscript out of curiousity some years ago, but that was it. Until today. Forty years after that Townsville production, Joe Egg is on again in Townsville, at The Civic Theatre. </span><br />
<a href="http://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/recreation/theatres/civic/theatreseason"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.townsville.qld.gov.au/recreation/theatres/civic/theatreseason</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Maybe it's a Townsville theatre classic?</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">Have you seen <em>Joe Egg</em> performed? When and where?</span></div>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-76296596169692247702010-08-04T00:11:00.001+10:002010-08-04T00:11:53.906+10:00my grandmother's waitui<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i'm writing a list poem in a workshop exercise and it has turned out to be about my grandmother. it's not as good as the one about my grandfather, but it is only yet a first draft.<br />
my grandparents lived in maroochydore on the sunshine coast where a mcdonalds now stands. They actually had to sell their house in the seventies because mcs wanted their block, and their neighbours'. they moved to toowoomba to be closer to their sons* but their toowoomba house never had the character of maroochydore's <em>waitui.</em> <br />
<br />
<em>Waitui </em>was the name of their house, and is a Fijian word meaning ocean or sea. they lived a block from alexandra headland and quite close to cotton tree. in better news, at least one of their previous homes in suva, fiji, is still standing and people still live in it. <br />
<br />
my grandfather often greeted us and his sons with <em>Bula Vinaka</em>, which is a hearty hello in fijian. he was a bristol lad who served in the army over there before setting up shop in bulimba. my grandmother was born in suva but was neither fijian fijian or fijian indian. she was a scottish fijian. <br />
*when they moved to toowoomba three of their four sons lived in that very chilly city. none of them do now. sensible lads. two of the sons were born in oz, two in fiji - suva and taveuni. they all have some great stories to tell about growing up in fiji.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-73522275064254703182010-07-17T21:45:00.002+10:002010-07-17T21:48:50.354+10:00goodbye culture portal, hello pandora<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">The <a href="http://www.cultureandrecreation.gov.au/">Culture Portal</a> was a valuable Australian information resource. Was, I say, because it was closed on 1st July. I used it as a resource in my information service work and I was proud that the editor accepted <a href="http://wordbox4writers.wordpress.com/"><em>wordbox</em></a> for inclusion on <em>Culture.gov.au</em> from 2008. <br />
<br />
But things change. The interesting moment for me, on finding the CP closed, was that it was then being archived by the National Library of Australia, and therefore available as a '</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">permanent static resource through <a href="http://pandora.nla.gov.au/">PANDORA</a>'.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;"></span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>PANDORA, Australia's Web Archive, is a collection of Australian online publications, established initially by the National Library of Australia in 1996, and now built in collaboration with nine other Australian libraries and cultural collecting organisations. </em></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><em>The name, PANDORA, is an acronym that encapsulates our mission: Preserving and Accessing Networked Documentary Resources of Australia.</em><span style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: small;">So, a search on PANDORA through Trove, throws up a list of websites that have also been archived and that included wordbox in their list of information resources. Oh what a tangled and pretty web.</span></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/website/result?q=wordbox4writers">http://trove.nla.gov.au/website/result?q=wordbox4writers</a></span> <br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://trove.nla.gov.au/website/result?q=wordbox">http://trove.nla.gov.au/website/result?q=wordbox</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">When I started <em>wordbox</em> four years ago it was like a garage band playing to its mates in the suburbs. I was between jobs, tinkering with code and web management, and keen to support young writers. I wanted it online for maximum market penetration; a one-stop information resource for teachers, parents and young people. Authors, librarians and organisations thought the '<em>box</em> was okay too. So I now have a job, work in the webs, and <em>wordbox</em> is hanging out in all the cool places. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Lovely to see them grow up isn't it :)</span></span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-61154993645072410312010-07-02T01:55:00.004+10:002010-09-07T22:53:49.878+10:00some people will love it<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHlbIgdaoImOMldlFn7CUD_dyGSMDDRUw6MN-HEilyGLjz67iNteon0zF-L0H72gUnu2X3-S6TUKx8aeFuHye0lLQ8KIs6ukKRpb_SkPDXhL9May6kaz7mwNoyvOqJZu7uns2V7DAKuexi/s1600/mash.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" rw="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHlbIgdaoImOMldlFn7CUD_dyGSMDDRUw6MN-HEilyGLjz67iNteon0zF-L0H72gUnu2X3-S6TUKx8aeFuHye0lLQ8KIs6ukKRpb_SkPDXhL9May6kaz7mwNoyvOqJZu7uns2V7DAKuexi/s320/mash.JPG" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've been reviewing for <a href="http://the-storyspace.blogspot.com/2009/12/reviews.html">various</a> publications for a few years now - mostly young people's literature. I worked in that area of libraries so had open access to the latest. Most of it good. I sought out reviewing opportunities and tried to choose something that I might not usually have chosen to read.<br />
Thus <a href="http://www.benjulien.com/">Ben Julien's</a> <em>Runes saga</em> trilogy. I would say that I don't usually read fantasy, but there are always exceptions. I reviewed two and went out and bought the third. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">And Suzy Zail's <a href="http://www.scribepublications.com.au/book/thetattooedflower"><em>The Tattooed Flower</em></a> - Zail's memoir of her father, his life shaped by his Holocaust experiences.<br />
I've enjoyed the challenges of writing to various house styles, especially with API which had a strict academic style which included use of footnotes.<br />
Usually I read fiction. Those who never read may dismiss fiction as frivolous, but I find it inherently representational of cultural practices with a strong dose of inquisitiveness and confrontation. You can learn a lot about a culture, and cultural attitudes, by reading the fiction.<br />
In my latest stories to read I have learned a little more about depression, media intrusion (see <em><a href="http://www.loathinglola.com/">Loathing Lola</a></em> for more on this), disability attitudes, bullying and resilience. <br />
I chose <em><a href="http://www.wakefieldpress.com.au/product.php?productid=842&cat=0&page=&featured=Y">Australia Dances</a></em> from <a href="http://reviews.media-culture.org.au/">M/C</a> because it is completely outside my comfort zone. Nonfiction, and about dancing. I respect the form, it's not as if I'm reviewing a rugby league biography! I danced as a child - ballet and jazz ballet - but I hardly think doing the 'scarecrow dance' will have prepared me for this book. So I will read it with a fresh perspective.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Librarians, teachers and parents, and readers in general are the people who read reviews to find out what's worth buying. It's important to me to write a real review and not some gushing adjectival dump of praise. If the reviewer doesn't like the book they ought to say so, but constructively. Similarly, if the book's good, articulate why and how. It may be the tipping point in the customer's decision.<br />
I was disappointed with Steven Herrick's <em><a href="http://www.stevenherrick.com.au/slice.htm">Slice</a></em>, so I'm going to have to justify that opinion. Because <a href="http://bookworm-megs.blogspot.com/2010/06/review-slice-by-steven-herrick.html">some people</a> will love it. Was expectation a factor? Yes. I think his verse novels are beyond brilliant. This was his first YA prose novel, second prose novel overall. But it was more than it not being a verse novel. I'll explore all the issues in my review for <a href="http://amlib.det.wa.edu.au/">CMISFF</a>*<br />
<br />
* update 3/6 - in writing the review I realised the strength of <em>Slice</em> is the strong father-son dynamic. The title and blurb do the book no favours.<br />
<br />
Read Rob Rimmer's <a href="http://reviews.media-culture.org.au/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=4164">balanced review</a> of Slice on M/C.<br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">I chose <em><a href="http://www.amazon.com/Shark-Girl-Kelly-Bingham/dp/0763632074">Shark Girl</a></em> because it's a <a href="http://the-storyspace.blogspot.com/2008/06/verse-novels.html">verse novel</a> from an author I hadn't read before, and <a href="http://www.harpercollins.ca/books/Worst-Thing-Ever-Did-Alice-Kuipers/?isbn=9781554680207"><em>The Worst Thing She Ever Did</em></a> because I knew nothing about the plot and was incredibly curious. What did she do?? Both great books, and I'm very pleased I've read them. <br />
<br />
There are some common desirables in a review which I use to best illuminate the quality of the story - mentions of viewpoint, intended audience, character and plot development, setting, stylistic devices, authenticity, comparisions to other similar tales (if these exist), points of difference, and presentation (particulary for picture storybooks and nonfiction).</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">But, inject your own personality into the review too. Just don't let it overshadow the review - like this grandfather about <a href="http://www.themorningnews.org/archives/reviews/lone_star_statements.php">Lewis' The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe</a>: <br />
<em><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br />
“I bought these books to have something nice to read to my grandkids. I had to stop, however, because the books are nothing more than advertisements for “Turkish Delight,” a candy popular in the U.K."</span></em></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">Is there a particular reviewer you follow? Or a brilliant review you've read? Share it here.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-12551745004279547072010-06-22T19:01:00.000+10:002010-06-22T19:01:17.233+10:00in brisbane june 19-22<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurilpa_Bridge"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Kurilpa Bridge</span></a><br />
<a href="http://qag.qld.gov.au/exhibitions/current/ron_mueck"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Ron Mueck</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> exhibition at GoMA</span><br />
<a href="http://www.ourbrisbane.com/suburbs/chapel-hill"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Chapel Hill</span></a><br />
<a href="http://www.pics.com.au/pdf/Leading_Library_Teams.pdf"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Leading Library Teams</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> workshop at the </span><a href="http://www.mercurebrisbane.com.au/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Mercure Hotel</span></a><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.airtrain.com.au/">Airtrain</a></span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">... and I put the finishing touches to my Brisbane poem on the plane on the way home. now i have to send it out in the world.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-61346504104294625242010-06-14T08:00:00.001+10:002010-06-12T16:49:42.824+10:00not before time<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i've finally organised myself to add photos to my flickr <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/alisontsv">space</a>. </span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-88542228501426136792010-06-11T17:00:00.005+10:002010-06-11T17:00:08.712+10:00slice<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL92mW8Z7VrrJQWIGw0hz79DxtxUEMvp6ABINKCOqd_rdkyOB5woiDLnUcDG7YPDDQVKFKMLVvViVTHplafWHHvDbCsvs6e0vVEfL5v7-x7Lb0n6s-X5hzdv5-PF9O-0vXY57yJzKP5qGQ/s1600/herrick.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" qu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiL92mW8Z7VrrJQWIGw0hz79DxtxUEMvp6ABINKCOqd_rdkyOB5woiDLnUcDG7YPDDQVKFKMLVvViVTHplafWHHvDbCsvs6e0vVEfL5v7-x7Lb0n6s-X5hzdv5-PF9O-0vXY57yJzKP5qGQ/s200/herrick.jpg" width="125" /></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">this cover could only have been more perfect if steven herrick's new YA novel was a verse novel, because <a href="http://the-storyspace.blogspot.com/2010/03/and-i-guest-blog-sally-murphys-about.html">here</a> I blogged about verse novels in summer watermelon moments, and of course mentioned steven herrick.</span></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">but, read anyway. it's <a href="http://www.stevenherrick.com.au/">steven herrick</a>.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-7751697603722279822010-06-06T15:30:00.011+10:002010-06-26T12:36:24.803+10:00oscar<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman;"></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Life is too important to be taken seriously -- Oscar Wilde</span></div>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-90761465417711633932010-06-05T15:35:00.011+10:002010-06-06T15:27:49.660+10:00one year in townsville<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">i</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> arrived back in townsville to live a year ago today.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">things i like about townsville -</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* the sultry wet season (and the resulting literature)</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* the tropical palms and gardens</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* cycle/walking tracks everywhere</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* the sunny winter</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* view from the strand</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* choice of restaurants from a variety of cultures, especially thai</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* fresh made sushi from cherry blossom</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* calm looming mountains and the colours of Castle Hill</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* so many events, plays, festivals...</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* the university</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* three libraries<br />
* the incredible people i work with </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">* our place</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><em><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: xx-small;">you will live in townsville indefinitely (at least until you forget how ghastly packing and unpacking is)</span></em></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Arial;">what do you love about your town?</span></div>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-28754420046925053022010-05-31T20:34:00.001+10:002010-05-31T20:36:23.999+10:00the benjamin andrew footpath library now in brisbane<a href="http://footpathlibrary.org/index.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://footpathlibrary.org/index.html</span></a><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I first heard about the Footpath Library earlier this year so was excited to hear that it had now branched out to Brisbane. Immediately after I sent an email to colleagues about it two came up to me to say what a wonderful idea and if it ever branches out to Townsville they'll be there to help. I had mentioned the TBAFL to another colleague a while ago when she had discussed her idea of setting up a bookclub for homeless people. We have very caring library staff.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">So the TBAFL is in Brisbane now, as well as Melbourne and Sydney, with Bernadette </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Franzoni on the management team. Bernadette has been a young people's librarian and worked on the Summer Reading Club project, so many would know her.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Fiona Crawford, TBAFL Communications Manager, has let me know that in Brisbane TBAFL installs and stocks bookshelves in hostels and community organisations. They have enough volunteers at the moment but Fiona said that they <em>would always appreciate if people wanted to run book drives.</em> Book donation guidelines are on the website. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Knitters alert - The TBAFL will also happily accept knitted scarves and beanies.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><strong>Can you support the TBAFL's work with donations of books or knits?</strong></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Check here for a simple knitted beanie pattern: </span><a href="http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/hats/footyhat.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.knitting-and.com/knitting/patterns/hats/footyhat.htm</span></a><br />
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And, stay warm. It's cold outside.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-89624666302577461912010-05-31T20:20:00.003+10:002010-05-31T23:38:27.747+10:00M/C<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhfCs1pRZA2p3tpAXCQrkPihKYOoW2nb0_Y5EoXIL1ClVJVR2CfX4p01s25M1ls1yfAumEttq73seJxZwFIyBqo-ObajBkbQfA0yUae8cqtIvZf7VzUIxeHjc7xEgZnxM1L1twxnq6Lcd/s1600/wordslogo.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" gu="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVhfCs1pRZA2p3tpAXCQrkPihKYOoW2nb0_Y5EoXIL1ClVJVR2CfX4p01s25M1ls1yfAumEttq73seJxZwFIyBqo-ObajBkbQfA0yUae8cqtIvZf7VzUIxeHjc7xEgZnxM1L1twxnq6Lcd/s320/wordslogo.gif" /></a></div><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I've signed on as a reviewer at <a href="http://reviews.media-culture.org.au/">M/C</a> through QUT Creative Industries - </span><a href="http://thewordygecko.wordpress.com/cv/2-reviewing/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Sue Bond</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> is the <em>words </em>editor. Sue reviews for The Courier Mail, among many other publications, and it was she who put me onto </span><a href="http://www.api-network.com/main/"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">API </span></a> <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">years ago. My review links will be posted on this entry: </span><a href="http://the-storyspace.blogspot.com/2009/12/reviews.html"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Reviews</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Still writing for </span><a href="http://www.det.wa.edu.au/education/cmis/eval/curriculum/publications/FictionFocus/index.htm"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">CMIS Fiction Focus</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> too, because Alison and Jean are awesome!</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-27941736144522741972010-05-31T09:45:00.001+10:002010-05-31T09:45:00.341+10:00826 valencia pirates!<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I am seriously impressed with Dave Eggers' pirate shopfront for writing workshops and tutoring for young people: </span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.826valencia.org/">http://www.826valencia.org/</a> via <a href="http://twitter.com/cmisevalff">@cmisevalff</a> via <a href="http://bit.ly/ayN2si">@GuardianBooks</a></span><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.fightingwords.ie/index.php"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">http://www.fightingwords.ie/index.php</span></a><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"> - Sean Love & Roddy Doyle's Fighting Words in Dublin</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Katie Waldegrave's <a href="http://firststory.co.uk/default.html">First Story</a> in London and Oxford.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">in Australia - westside <a href="http://www.fclc.com.au/">Fremantle Children's Literature Centre Inc</a>, and eastside <a href="http://theedge.slq.qld.gov.au/home">The Edge</a>.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-44816280087019060142010-05-28T17:01:00.094+10:002010-05-28T20:15:59.344+10:00writing real lives<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">can historians write literary narrative? can writers write history if they're not historians? do you have to know your real subject to write about them? what methods are used to capture the real life on the page? </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">three queensland writers opened up to their audience last night at thuringowa library to reveal the essence of creative nonfiction and their work within the genre. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">Bob James spoke about his oral history project for his masters' at James Cook University on the Gugu Badhun people. Over a three year period he conducted many interviews, attended many camps, and took many photographs to produce a historical work with the voices of the people involved faithfully recorded.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.uqp.uq.edu.au/author_details.php?id=153">Deborah Carlyon</a> spoke about her journey to realisation of her book <em>Mama Kuma: One woman, two cultures -</em> an exploration of her Papua New Guinean grandmother's tribal life. This book was awarded the Queensland Premiers Literary Awards (2001) for an Emerging Queensland Author. Deborah interviewed her grandmother while she was still living, and then interviewed family members from their PNG village, as well as researching in libraries and archives to establish facts and dates to satisfy a western audience's demand. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">She noted that the PNG villagers were not so concerned with pinpointing dates and ages. <br />
She had asked 'how old was Mama Kuma when that happened?' and received the response, 'she didn't have breasts then, she was still a girl'. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;"><a href="http://www.randomhouse.com.au/authors/Default.aspx?Page=Author&ID=Simpson%2C+Lindsay">Dr Lindsay Simpson</a> spoke about her path to nonfiction writing. She has written about famous and infamous people, some she has met, others she has not. Coming from a journalistic background and working as a court reporter, Dr Simpson developed a love for finding out more. she said that a newspaper feature was not big enough - she needed to move into books.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial;">she has interviewed prisoners in jail, researched, learned to dive when she was writing about a diver, and has co-written with other authors. Dr Simpson is currently Head of Journalism at James Cook University.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial;">An inspiring evening, organised by the fabulous Lifelong Learning Team at CityLibraries Townsville.</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6570693095513251729.post-52697147865825386342010-05-24T23:18:00.000+10:002010-05-24T23:18:10.799+10:00free rice<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">Have you played <a href="http://www.freerice.com/totals.php">Free Rice</a> lately?</span>alisonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05238210270003350994noreply@blogger.com0