Monthly Archives: December 2010 Back

New Year's Eve 2010

Posted on 31 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

On this last day of 2010 the staff of the State Library of Queensland would like to wish you all a Happy New Year for 2011.

2010 was a great year for the John Oxley Library with beautiful new additions to the collections, enriching learning programs, school visits, exhibitions, talks, symposiums and a host of events that brought researchers, students, members of the public, and Oxley staff together.

Whether you visit us in the Reading Room on level 4 next year, or access our website to view historic Queensland images, or digitised manuscripts and books, or online exhibitions…we look forward to helping you online and in person.

Feliz Año Nuevo

Bundaberg in flood

Posted on 30 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

Major flooding of the Burnett River is relatively infrequent but when heavy rainfall pours down, resulting from low pressure systems over the catchment, significant river rises and floods have occurred, such as those in the years 1875, 1890, 1893, 1928, 1942, 1954, 1971 and presently in 2010. The following John Oxley Library images record some of these.

Today Bundaberg, like a number of other Queensland towns including Theodore, Dalby, Alpha, Jericho, Emerald and Rockhampton, is flooded with 400 people evacuated overnight as the Burnett River reached 7.9 metres, the highest since 1942 when it reached 8.4 metres.

Bundaberg resident Scott Coleman sent through the images above to be added to the John Oxley Library as a lasting eyewitess record of the floods of 2010. Mr Coleman took these photographs today at 12.30pm.

This recent deluge has caused wide scale damage and devastation throughout Queensland and Northern NSW and, when the waters do eventually recede, images and accounts recorded by those who experienced this natural disaster will form a continuing memory of the events of December 2010.

The John Oxley Library houses photographs, maps, newpapers, diaries, letters and films that record the effect of floods on the people and places of Queensland.

The Whiskey Au Go Go File

Posted on 30 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

Online newspaper databases have been around for quite a while now providing users with an historic treasure trove of press articles from a wide variety of titles and from different periods in time.

The State Library of Queensland enables access to these subscription only newspaper databases via its website for e-service card holders. They include the Times Digital Archive 1785-1985 searchable by key word and including all articles, advertisements and illustrations and photos, Newsbank providing acces to full text articles from more than 230 Queensland, Australian, and international titles from 1998 onwards, Library Press Display which provides a full-colour, full page collection of today’s newspapers from over 70 countries around the world in 37 languages, and National Library’s wonderful Historic Australian Papers, 1803 to 1954 which includes The Courier Mail and The Queenslander.

Before the advent of online databases librarians in the John Oxley Library clipped articles of interest on a daily basis from Queensland newspapers placing these in folders with various subject headings. We still add to these files although the need to exhaustively cut from hardcopy papers is not as pressing as it was prior to the existence of the above mentioned digital resources.

On December 18, 2010 in the Sydney Morning Herald’s Good Weekend Magazine, journalist Frank Robson contributed an intriguing feature article “Family Secrets” on the subject of the 1973 firebombing of Brisbane’s Whiskey Au Go Go nightclub in Fortitude Valley. This firebombing resulted in the deaths of 15 patrons and staff making it one of the worst mass murders in modern Australia until the Port Arthur massacre in 1996.

John Stewart and James Finch were tried and convicted for the Whiskey Au Go Go murders and sent down to Brisbane’s Boggo Road Gaol were they continued to proclaim their innocence. Stuart died in prison in 1979.

In the article Robson interviews Danny Stewart, nephew of John Stewart, who claims that his uncle was innocent of the crime.

I’ve added this to the substantial clippings file we have on the “Whiskey Au Go Go Fire, 1973″ as the latest instalment on this horrific event and its aftermath. The pictures in the article do not appear in Newsbank, although the text does. If you see the pictures they certainly contibute to the story and this is one of the reasons I’ve added this article to our clippings file. It also complements the other articles in the file from titles like The Sun, The Bulletin, The Toowoomba Chronicle, The Courier Mail, and many others. Most of these articles are from the 70s and 80s and are not available online.

Newspaper clippings are of great value to researchers as they bring together articles on the same subject from different periods in time resulting in a greater variety of perspectives. The John Oxley Library collection also includes newspaper cuttings books and all Queensland newspapers. You can find out more about the State Library’s newspaper collections here.

Simon Farley, Heritage Information Services.

State Library of Queensland images on Wikimedia Commons

Posted on 22 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

50,000 copyright-free Queensland images from our collections are now available through Wikimedia Commons.

This State Library of Queensland image is Wikimedia’s newest banner.

This is the largest collection donated by an Australian cultural institution and the fourth largest collection made available on the site since the establishment of Wikimedia Commons, an online repository of free-use images, sound and other media files. The Wikimedia Foundation has been actively seeking content from the Galleries, Archives, Libraries and Museums (GLAM) sector to provide more high quality content for the Commons to increase the quality and scholarship of other Wikimedia projects such as Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia. Other content donors from the GLAM sector include the German Federal Archive, the Tropenmuseum in Amsterdam, the National Portrait Gallery in London, and the Bibliotheque Nationale de France.

Each month, 400 million people visit Wikimedia projects providing State Library images with a major worldwide audience. Digitised State Library content available in Wikimedia Commons provides a forum for Wikimedia community creators to use their knowledge and expertise to add value to information about our photographs and enables new content to be created from our Queensland images.

This is the first of a series of collaborative projects with Wikimedia Foundation in 2011 exploring further opportunities to work with the Wiki community to help describe, identify and transcribe images from our digitised content.

Available on www.wikimedia.org.au, the selected images were chosen by Foundation staff for their regional Queensland focus and to enhance the present Wikipedia content.

Home designs from the past online

Posted on 21 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

The Queensland bungalow style arrived in Australia around the time of the 1914 -18 Great War and, aside from the occasional earlier example; our bungalow style belongs to the between-Wars period, this publication will inform homeowners about characteristic features of the interior and exterior detail of original homes. The State Library of Queensland has recently digitised a series of publications now available online.

See the digital copy and we would welcome your tags, comments or reviews about Queensland Bungalows.

There are other designs created by builders, architects and the Queensland Housing Commission, which illustrates a variety of drawing and floor plans of house designs, which include post-war homes, and also housing that was available through the Queensland Housing Commission’s Home Purchasing Scheme. Take a nostalgic look back to the past and see the cost of building a home in the 1930’s and 1950’s.

View the digital copy and post tags, comments and reviews about Home Designs.

Who Do You Think You Are

Posted on 20 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

Some readers might have seen the recent Who Do You Think You Are episode on the singer Tina Arena. Tina’s father migrated to Queensland from Italy in 1955, arriving in Cairns and working as a sugar cane cutter in the area.

Queensland State Archives holds records relating to Italian immigrants in its collection.

Some examples are:

Dossiers on Assisted Immigrants 1909 to 1941: Queensland State Archives Series ID 13090

These dossiers consist of forms and some correspondence relating to intending immigrants who applied for and were granted assisted passages to Queensland. The forms consist mainly of applications for assisted migration and include personal details and advice of passage bookings with names of ships and dates of departure. They may also include related documents such as medical certificates and certificates of identity, along with photographs of the intending migrants.

Examples of documents from the files for: Andrea, Pasquala, Giovannina and Maria RIZZO along with Guiseppe and Concetto PUNTURO (on Left); and Margherita, Angelo and Valerio ROMANO (on right).

This register records the registration of firms on the Ingham petty sessions district 1934 to 1937. Details noted include the certificate number; the registered name of the firm; full names of firm members; date of registration; fee paid; description and location of the business; private address and description of any other occupation of the firm’s members, year of registration renewal and any remarks regarding the firm, such as the dates on which it commenced and ceased business. Queensland State Archives Item ID 282270

This is one of three registers of Liquor Licences issued in the Ingham courts covering 1913 to 1974. They provide details for each licence including date of hearing; name and address of licensee; type of licence; whether the license is new, transferred or temporary; name, description and locality of premises for which the license is granted; details of previous convictions against licensee; and transfers of the licence. Queensland State Archives Item ID 282294. In this example page you can see the various Italian names listed and the associated hotels.

Niles Elvery
Manager, Public Access
Queensland State Archives

Christmas Shopping

Posted on 20 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

Are you are still trying to catch up on your last minute Christmas shopping? Why not get some inspiration from our 1921 McWhirter’s Xmas Shopping Guide? It’s been fully digitised and we’d love to share it with you. Just click here: http://hdl.handle.net/10462/comp/1536

Items to tempt you include table delicacies and delicious sweets – pure, wholesome and palatable. There are plenty of books on offer and quite a range of children’s toys from nice dollies to splendid mechanical toys. The ladies may be tempted by some jewellery, a handbag, a suede handkerchief case or perhaps a xylonite glove stretcher. The men are not forgotten with a good choice of leather collar boxes, razors and shaving requisites. Household items are on offer including fancy linens and we are assured that “a present of china or glassware, a metal vase, or a copper kettle, would please the recipient immensely.”

We wish you all the joy of the Christmas season.

Craig Munro – 2011 ‘Johnno Award’ recipient

Posted on 15 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

I recently spent an enjoyable evening at the Queensland Writers Centre’s Christmas break-up. The highlight of the evening was the announcement of the recipient of the 2011 ‘Johnno Award’. This award was established by the QWC and named after David Malouf’s seminal novel. Whereas the novel brings Queensland alive in Australian literature, the award honours individuals who have shaped literature in Queensland and who have provided support to its writers.

This year the award went to Craig Munro who served as Publishing Manager of UQP from 1981 to 2005. He was responsible for attracting such influential authors as Hugh Lunn, Murray Bail, Ray Evans, Olga Masters, and Barbara Hanrahan to UQP. Craig has also mentored emerging Queensland authors as well as editors. Not least, he was responsible for establishing the QWC in 1990.

QWC Secretary, Kevin Gillespie, said that it was fitting to honour Craig with the award on the twentieth anniversary of the QWC.

Queensland Writers Centre CEO, Kate Eltham, congratulates Craig Munro on his achievement

During his acceptance speech, Craig expressed warm approval of the Queensland Writers Centre’s current accommodation. He said:

‘The QWC has finally found its true home – here at State Library – right in the heart of the city’s world-class cultural precinct.’

He delighted the audience with his reminiscences:

‘Before moving to its former Metro Arts location, the QWC occupied a decommissioned medical laboratory on Wickham Terrace, which Errol O’Neill and I remodelled with crowbars – as if editing a manuscript for publication…’

He recounted a favourite memory of his first reading of Malouf’s manuscript of Johnno back in 1974:

‘it had no title and David had been working on it for ten years, polishing it to perfection. Apart from the lack of a suitable title, the only problem I could see was the central character’s name – Johnny Milner. David’s novel had started life as a memoir and still featured the real name of his old school friend so I suggested changing the surname to Johnson – Johnno for short. At last we had our title . . . and a quintessentially Australian one at that.’

Editor of WQ, Jodi De Vantier and volunteer, Mel McMahon greet guests.

The evening provided a valuable opportunity to meet writers as well as QWC executive staff, other QWC members and volunteers. As usual, I took advantage of the opportunity to promote my role as State Library’s Queensland Authors Librarian. I am always keen to hear from Queensland authors who have published imaginative writing so that I can obtain a copy of their work for State Library’s Heritage Collections. My email is: Leanne.Day@slq.qld.gov.au

Volunteers' Christmas Lunch 2010

Posted on 10 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

Today the State Library recognised the great contribution made by its dedicated volunteers by hosting a delicious Christmas lunch in The Studio to thank them all for a tremendous year.

Certificates of service were presented to a number of volunteers including the John Oxley Library’s John Wilson for ten years service and Jean Stewart for 20 years.

John has done a lot of work making the Oxley’s photographic collection more accessible and is currently working on ordering and describing a rather large collection of Queensland related postcards. John took over the postcard project from long time volunteer Joan Miles who moved to Toowoomba earlier in the year.

Jean Stewart OAM worked as a volunteer at the State Library for 20 years. Jean was President of the Royal Historical Society of Queensland from 2004 to 2007. In 2009 she was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia for service to the community through the preservation and promotion of local history and heritage.

Jean has written a range of journal articles and books, including Kenmore Park: the land, the house and the people and Scribblers: A Ladies Literary Society in Brisbane. In the course of researching her book on the Scribblers Jean facilitated valuable donations of papers relating to the society to the Oxley collection.

Congratulations to all of our wonderful volunteers!

Queensland Historical Atlas

Posted on 09 Dec 2010| by JOL Admin |

The new Queensland Historical Atlas website was launched on Tuesday night at Brisbane’s Customs House. The website is a collaborative project between the Queensland Museum and The University of Queensland. Planning began in 2006, resulting in a grant from the Australian Research Council Linkage Scheme for 2007-10.

The website contains writings about the past, present and future history of the Queensland landscape in an innovative and flexible format to provide ample scope for the varied styles and expertise of the many contributors who come from a wide range of backgrounds. the digitised primary research material is arranged in 14 broad themes with an easy to use and intuitive format. Scholars from each of Queensland’s universities contributed essays on the various themes including Quintessential Queensland, Distance, Division, Dreaming and Development. Material is presented by format essays, maps, photos, art and object, and presently includes over a thousand maps and images and over 200, 000 words of text.

To give you an idea of the breadth of the collection, the current Random Selections under maps include an 1848 Map of Mitchell’s advance to the Maranoa, return to St George’s Bridge and the quirky Tea-towel: Barrier Reef Pleasure Islands.

The current edition is the first of a potentially limitless number, with regular updates and new installments to come. The project welcomes contributions form interested participants with their own interesting or unusual map of Queensland: essays or topics suggestions can be submitted under the ‘feedback’ function on the website.

Wonderful to see the multitude of John Oxley Library images used on the site.