Wednesday August 20, 2008
New microfiche/film reader for Mosman Library
Mosman Library recently purchased a state of the art microfiche and film reader/printer. Housed in the Local Studies Collection, it makes it much easier to view items from our archives.
Newspapers, family history records and Council Meeting minutes can all be viewed on the same machine.
Plus, records can be printed out for a small fee.
Tuesday August 19, 2008
They work for you
For all its faults and foibles, our democracy is a profound gift from previous generations. Yet most people don’t know the name of their representative, let alone what they do or say in their name.
We aim to help bridge this growing democratic disconnect, in the belief that there is little wrong with Parliament that a healthy mixture of transparency and public engagement won’t fix.
Have you visited OpenAustralia.org? They take the Hansard, the official Parliamentary record, and make it more accessible and easier to use for all Australians.
Friday August 15, 2008
2008 Children's Book of the Year winners announced
Looking for a book for your child or teen? Have a look at the winners of the CBCA Book of the Year award.
The Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) is a volunteer run, not for profit, organisation that was established in 1945 and is comprised of individual members who are passionate about children’s and young adult literature.
Friday July 11, 2008
Good Reading Online
Mosman Library has recently acquired access to this unique and exciting new Australian resource that contains a wide variety of interesting information on everything about books; including reviews, author profiles and stories, bookshops, short stories, book trivia and much more.
The online edition is an exact digital copy of the print edition but has the added benefits of links to more information, interesting websites and email addresses. You will also be able to browse and keyword search the current issue and growing library of back issues.
Good Reading is available in the library or at home via our website.
Thursday May 1, 2008
ARROW Discovery Service
ARROW is an exciting new research tool provided by the National Library of Australia to provide instant access to scholarly resources for students, academics and members of the public.
This service provides access to the research outputs of Australian universities: many are unpublished theses, preprints or post prints, as well as published journal articles, images, working papers and technical reports.
The majority of items discoverable through the Service are available online at home, and also contain statistics, including tables of the most popular authors and institutions.
It currently contains more than 137,000 records harvested from 23 university repositories and 12 other research collections, including the Australasian Digital Theses program, and several e-journals.
As an example of how it works, a search on “climate change” returns a relevance-ranked result set of 722 records from 21 different university repositories, plus the Australasian Digital Theses Program and an e-journal from UTS.
These results can then be refined to zero in on specific subjects such as climatology resources, or to those dealing with conservation and biodiversity.
Monday April 21, 2008
Community Directory upgraded
Our Community Directory is the best way to find contact details for community services and facilities in Mosman and around Sydney.
Mosman-area information is maintained by our Community Information Librarians as part of LINCS (Local Information Network for Community Services), a partnership of over 30 local councils, state government departments and community organisations.
Access the Community Directory.
Thursday April 17, 2008
Darwin's private papers online
For decades available only to scholars at Cambridge University Library, the private papers of Charles Darwin, one of the most influential scientists in history, can now be seen by anyone online and free of charge. This is the largest ever publication of Darwin papers and manuscripts, totaling about 20,000 items in nearly 90,000 electronic images.
This vast and varied collection of papers includes the first draft of his theory of evolution, notes from the voyage of the Beagle and Emma Darwin’s recipe book.
Darwin Online – the complete works of Charles Darwin online.
Friday March 28, 2008
Exciting News
Mosman Library has a new way to view back issues of the Sydney Morning Herald.
Fairfax Digital Editions contains every page, article, photo, table, advertisement, crossword and cartoon featured since January 2006.
The paper is shown in a true to print format so it is just like looking at the real thing, and when you want to view an article it enlarges it for you!
Searching is easy with the new interface or you can simply browse through the full colour pages at the touch of a button.
Ask at the reference desk.
Wednesday March 26, 2008
Got a legal problem?
The State Library of NSW has a great site that answers everyday questions about the law in NSW.
Is that broken down fence between you and your neighbour’s property your responsibility? Can anything be done about those barking dogs?
Find Legal Answers can help.
Easy to read, this site has been designed as a support to the LIAC (Legal Information Access Centre) collection available at Mosman Library.
This specialised collection is a service provided by The State Library of NSW to offer access to information about the law for all members of the NSW community.
Friday February 1, 2008
Postcards from Mosman's past
We recently came across some historic postcards of Mosman’s Bay and Clifton Gardens on the photo sharing website Flickr. They date from the beginning of the last century, roughly 1900 to 1920.
The Mosman’s Bay set features views of the Harbour, its ferries and houses, the wharf at the bottom of Avenue Road and the footbridge across what is today Reid Park.
In the Clifton Gardens set you see the ‘The Clifton Arms’ at Chowder Bay, the first licensed hotel in Mosman, and the very popular ‘pleasure grounds’ that incorporated the Marine Hotel with its dance hall, wharf, pool and accommodation, ‘unsurpassed in the Southern Hemisphere’. The hotel was demolished in 1967. You can also see the Submarine Mining Depot, now accessible to the public.