Friday February 5, 2010
Hot or not?
January’s fierce heat roused Carole of the Genealogy in NSW blog to write a great post on weather – and not to forget it when writing up your family history!
We talk about global warming and so we may assume that the weather was different in our ancestors’ day than it is now, but look at any newspaper of the period and you can see that generally it was much the same. Perhaps it rained more but that goes in cycles. They had drought, fires, floods, too much rain, not enough rain, and days that were just too hot to bear.
Just like us.
Some resources you could access for weather in Mosman over time include:
- The Bureau of Meteorology’s Climate Data Online – the most local north-side Bureau stations (Mosman Council and Manly Dam) have discontinuous data available, but the Observatory Hill station offers records for every year back to 1858
- Search Historic Australian Newspapers, 1803 to 1954 – on Thursday 24 January 1935, the Sydney Morning Herald reported HEAT WAVE. PEOPLE COLLAPSE. and there were bush fires in Mosman
- Browse the local newspaper The Mosman Daily – the microfilm archive at Mosman Library goes back to 1920
- Check Council meeting minutes – there are many mentions of weather affecting things like guttering and street trees; Council business papers are also available at Mosman Library, on microfilm and CD-ROM
- Anecdotal mentions can be found in local histories – Ted Pethebridge remembers they used to have to shovel the sand off the tramlines at Balmoral after heavy winds and rough seas
- Check Mosman Council’s State of the Environment reports – on Council’s website, reports back to 2003/2004 are available
Carole’s blog is “about genealogy in New South Wales and beyond with tips and techniques to help you understand your ancestors better.” Visit heritagegenealogy.com.au
Tuesday January 5, 2010
Plain language guides to the law
Mosman Library is part of a statewide initiative of the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW and the State Library of NSW that provides free access to legal information for the community. In our reference section you have access to a regularly updated collection of plain language books about the law.
Now some of the most well used and useful Tool Kit titles have been put on the Find Legal Answers website in full text:
- Defend yourself: facing a charge in court
A practical guide to defending a criminal charge in court which covers arrest and questioning, bail, dealing with lawyers, court procedure, how to plead, hearings and trials, preparation, evidence, proof, examination in court, sentencing, and appeals. - Guilty your honour: representing yourself in NSW when charged with drink driving
A practical guide to defending a drink driving charge. Examines the offence and penalties, whether to plead guilty, whether to get a lawyer, how to prepare for court, and what happens on the day of court. - Guide to wills and estates
A practical guide to the creation of wills, changing, revoking, or challenging a will, rights of creditors and beneficiaries to a will, probate and intestacy, and legal fees.
Having these books online is a great step, as it allows you easy access to some fantastic legal resources.
Monday January 4, 2010
Teen blog hits refresh
We took the opportunity of a new year (is it a new decade?) to give the Wired 4 Teens blog a refresh.
And it really did need to update its look… the site is 5 years old this month!
Eve, then our dynamic customer services librarian, kicked off the blog with a post on February 3rd, 2005. Amy followed Eve as host on the site, and now Darren is coordinating teen activities and resources.
Teens are invited to participate in the space – you can post a review online, discuss a post in the comments box or just RSVP for an event or suggest a book, CD or DVD for the library collection.
Darren is also calling for digital artworks – we’ll soon be adding a widescreen showcase to the blog home page that will feature e-art from local teens.
Tuesday December 15, 2009
Hot mags
Mosman Library subscribes to a number of magazines on your behalf. They’re all available on the main floor, conveniently by the couches, and can be loaned for three weeks.
We asked the librarians and staff what they liked to read…
Friday November 27, 2009
Follow Scott's Last Expedition
So. Polar Expedition – Capt. Scott and his exploration ship: TERRA NOVA (LOC) by The Library of Congress, on Flickr
The University of Cambridge are publishing day by day the expedition diary of polar explorer Captain Robert Falcon Scott, RN. It’s from this diary that we know of Lawrence Oates and his selfless act of sacrifice. Aware that his injuries were jeopardizing the lives of the party, Oates left the tent and walked to his death. Scott wrote that Oates’ last words were, “I am just going outside and may be some time.”
The Scott’s Last Expedition blog is a chance to relive the daily events of the Terra Nova Expedition, as recorded by Robert Falcon Scott in his famous journal. By republishing the entries as a daily blog, we hope to give the reader new insights into the scale and scope of Scott’s experience.
Dividing the text into daily blog entries – combined with a twitter account and RSS feed – and linking to the famous photographs held in the Scott Polar Research Institute, means that the latest communication technology will add an extra dimension to a well known text: the dimension of time. We will follow the expedition’s progress day by day, over many months, beginning with its departure from New Zealand, and ending with its tragic and heroic conclusion.
This form of publishing is not new. Phil Gyford serialised Samuel Pepys’ London diary as a blog, with the entry of 1 January 1660 posted on the corresponding day in 2003. But it’s an effective and engaging form and we won’t be surprised to find more books and written works published like this in the future!
Friday November 27, 2009
SWITCH: Public Libraries in a Changing Environment
Surry Hills Library by Helen K, on Flickr
This week Mosman Library attended the 2009 NSW Public Libraries Conference and Exhibition hosted by the Public Libraries NSW Metropolitan Association.
The theme was ‘SWITCH: Public Libraries in a Changing Environment’.
The “S” in SWITCH refered to sustainability: economic, social, cultural and environmental, and the role that public libraries, in partnership with governments, businesses, educational organisations and community groups, will continue to play in social inclusion, community development and community sustainability.
Some highlights from our librarians…
Tuesday November 24, 2009
Discovery & serendipitous search
Children playing in the sand at the Mick Simmons’ Radio Club picnic, Balmoral Beach – Sam Hood (State Library of NSW)
Search the National Library of Australia’s new online catalogue and you’ll find not only books but photos, newspaper articles, journal articles and conference papers, music scores, biographies, pictures and archived web pages. It’s a holistic view of materials located in libraries, museums and archives all around Australia.
The NLA has called this new service Trove “as in ‘treasure-trove’, being a collection of valuable or delightful things. Trove is derived from the French verb trouver, meaning to find or discover. Thus, the name encapsulates the concepts of a collection, of treasured and valuable collection items and of the process of discovery” (Gateways, October 2009).
Trove provides a single point of access to places like the Australian National Bibliographic Database, the Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts, Music Australia, Picture Australia, Australian Research Online, Australian Newspapers 1803-1954 and PANDORA (the national web archive).
Try a search on Mosman, Balmoral Beach or Clifton Gardens.
Wednesday October 21, 2009
Nextreads is a hit with Mosman
Launched in January this year Nextreads is an email newsletter service that showcases the great new books we are buying in your library. In addition we send you a few of the books we have enjoyed just in case you missed them.
We offer thirteen exciting newsletters to choose from including General fiction, Biography and memoir and Kid’s books. that come monthly, bimonthly or weekly. There is also a handy link to your library catalogue so you can check if the item is available and place a hold if it is not.
Over one hundred and fifty people are taking advantage of the service and most are signed up to multiple newsletters.
If you would like to have the latest books sent directly to your inbox join Nextreads at Mosman Library.
Monday September 7, 2009
Social Media Mob goes Ning
It was a good turn out for the Social Media Mob on Thursday.
Colin and Fred were the veterans, joined by Lynn (Probus), Graham (Probus), Hans (Mosman Camera Club), Linda (Mosman Orchestra) and Warren (councillor). As we were light on volunteer champions (just me this month) we had a wide-ranging round-table discussion!
But at Graham’s suggestion, we might look at focusing on a specific tool in the near future – maybe a WordPress session – as well as an introduction to audio and video editing and uploading. (Any champs want to put up their hand?)
There was also a fair bit of discussion about Google, search engines and how people find you on the web. We looked at the excellent sites for Mosman Orchestra, Probus Club of Neutral Bay and Mosman Camera Club.
But how to get people there?
- Optimise your website for search engines – see Google’s Search Engine Optimization Starter Guide (PDF) – and;
- share content on networks like YouTube, Twitter and Facebook (some interesting stats).
At our first Social Media Mob meet-up in August, Colin, who is part of U3A and Probus, suggested that local groups band together to promote their organisations and attract new members. We discussed how this might be done online – specifically, going beyond web sites to build web networks.
On Thursday, we kicked this along a bit further. The idea of a community web space took shape, and Life in Mosman is the result. It’s built on a free third-party application called Ning, took minutes to set up and allows anyone who registers to add events, post information and contribute to discussions. Over to you!
Bernard D
Friday September 4, 2009
Book banning delights author
Jerrold Mundis, author of the book Slave Ship that was banned in Australia in 1971, emailed Mosman Library after finding himself featured in Round 1 of our search engine challenge.
“Damn, I wish someone would have told me back then when it happened. I could have enjoyed it through all of these past nearly forty years.
“Well, at least I have the satisfaction of it now.”
Mr Mundis – who describes himself as “a pussycat, really” – said he was delighted to find out that his book had been banned in Australia and was keen to read what the censors had to say.
Naturally, we accessed AustLit for him! This database is available free from Mosman Library PCs.