Contents

Special Collections are what you make of them.
What you don't see is what you get
What's New - Sciences
Using the Internet for Research
Royal Society Collection
Curators of the Library's Special Collections
What's New - EHPS
New England Collection
What's New - Arts
New Electronic Services - AusStats Update
Earlier Issues
Your Contacts at Dixson Library

SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

This issue of Shelf Life is devoted to the Library's Special Collections, with the aim that staff and researchers will make use of them in their own research, or in helping Honours and higher degree students develop theses.

Acquiring Special Collections has been an inescapable joy for academic libraries through the generations. What hunters and collectors, serendipity and researchers and professors bring together, meek libraries inherit and preserve beyond a single lifetime. Most Special Collections are conceived and bred by a researcher, and only come to libraries in their maturity. Others are profiled and built by librarians, based on a geographical area, or institutional associations, or publication formats and rarity.

In an internal working paper of 1981, Special Collections - Dixson Library: a Development Proposal, Karl Schmude then Deputy University Librarian, saw the importance of Special Collections as twofold: firstly they provide, in themselves, resources of distinct value for study and research; and secondly they serve to symbolize a prime role of the university library, namely the gathering, preservation and provision of significant materials. Special Collections signify the library's commitment to scholarly research and academic purposes, and they help give the library - and sometimes the parent institution - personality.

Part of the personality UNE wanted to project was a strong connection with the region, as expressed in the collection and microfilming of New England regional newspapers and the geographical focus of UNE's Archives - then part of the University Library - as well as the significant collections conferred on the Library by University staff members such as Campbell Howard and Keith Richmond (see the article in this issue on individual collections). Reinforcing regionalism, the New England Collection borrowed the boundaries of the New State movement, and aimed to collect publications from the upper Hunter Valley to the Queensland border.

Karl's efforts in the early eighties saw the Library focus attention on Special Collections - particularly regarding collection strengths, physical facilities, policies and staffing, and publicity and customer service. He detailed Dixson's existing areas of thematic collecting activity, and drew on the work of colleague Peter Beaton,

who had identified collection strengths in natural history, early atlases and voyages, and nineteenth century English magazines, to recommend a consolidated Rare Books Room. As for physical facilities, when Stage 3 of the Library was completed in 1983, what is now the Bishop Moyes Room was made available for closed-access Special Collections. The former photocopying room, next to the administration suite above the Library's entrance, was converted into the New England Room, which would serve until 1999 both as a University meeting room and a special collection secure in lockable bookcases.

Staffing was - and still is - on the basis of designated curators for each collection, a responsibility taken by individual librarians on top of regular duties. In 1988 a forum for these curators, the Special Collections Committee, was inaugurated. In 1990 the Newling Special Collection, including numerous rare Australian monographs, came under Dixson's wing and has since been incorporated. In 1995 a dedicated and partitioned area, the Special Collections Reading Area, was established behind Dixson's Information Desk, so that use could be monitored and supervised. In 2000, following the donation of the Saunders Collection in War and Peace, the room that houses six of our formed collections was refurbished, and was this year officially opened as the Karl Schmude Special Collections Room in recognition of Karl's central role in the history of the Library's Special Collections.

WHAT YOU DON'T SEE IS WHAT YOU GET

The Library's Special Collections are listed below, and their web site is at http://www.une.edu.au/library/menu/special.htm Researchers and supervisors are encouraged to use them for original research and as source material for UNE theses. Most of the collections are housed in the Moyes area on the lower ground floor of the Library.

Australian League of Rights Collection

Originally collected by Dr Keith Richmond, formerly a UNE lecturer in Politics, while researching his Master of Arts (Hons.) thesis on the League, a right-wing movement that retains a following in some New England and Southern Queensland areas. The collection, housed in the Karl Schmude Special Collections Room, brings together a significant range of often elusive and ephemeral League publications.

Campbell Howard Collection of Australian Plays in Manuscript

Wanting to understand the theatrical seedbed from which Lawler's Summer of the Seventeenth Doll sprang in 1955, Campbell Howard - then Assistant Director of Adult Education - tracked down and collected hundreds of unpublished plays from the period 1920-1955. This significant collection is in steady demand and has provided source material for scholarly books and articles, as well as Honours and higher degree theses. It too is housed in the Karl Schmude Special Collections Room.

Atkinson Collection of Manuscript Letters from 19th and 20th Century Literary Figures

Geoff Atkinson, a former English Department lecturer, donated this prized collection of literary letters between the author and anthologist A. T. Quiller-Couch and many writers, including Joseph Conrad, Thomas Hardy, Henry James and W. B. Yeats.

Gordon Athol Anderson Music Collection

Professor Anderson held a Personal Chair in Music at UNE from 1977 until his death in 1981. A leading medieval musicologist, he built an extensive library of books, journals, sheet music, manuscripts and microfilm on the subject. The Anderson Collection has a dedicated room in the Moyes area.

Hoddinott Collection

Bill Hoddinott, former member of the English Department, built this collection of journal articles and sound recordings on Australian Aboriginal languages, written and recorded by himself and associated researchers during 1965-1984. The original recordings are held at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Studies, while Dixson holds copies in the Karl Schmude Special Collections Room.

New England Collection

The New England Collection is a large beast that includes both UNE and general New England books across the various subjects on the open shelves, and materials in the New England Room on the ground floor. It incorporates publications from the Hunter valley to the Queensland border. Curator Irena Niedzwiecki describes it in detail in this issue.

Rare Books Collection

As with most research libraries, the Dixson Library possesses a catch-all collection of materials too valuable, scarce or frail to be placed on open access. It is a treasury of early printed works, first editions, valuable illustrated and limited editions, and Australiana. While most subject areas are represented, Rare Books is particularly strong in natural history, early atlases and voyages.

Royal Society Collection

The Royal Society of New South Wales was established in 1821 and developed a major collection of scientific periodicals. In 1983 the Society donated its library to UNE, the older parts of which are now housed in the Royal Society of NSW Room on the lower ground floor. Curator Sylvia Ransom describes the collection in this issue.

R. S. Neale Collection

Ron Neale was Professor of Economic History from 1974 till his untimely death in 1985. Ron built an "historical collection" around themes of English social and economic history, particularly since the Industrial Revolution. Special strengths include women's history, agrarian and labour history, and the local histories of Bath and Bristol.

Saunders Collection in War and Peace

This three-part collection was donated in 2000 by Malcolm Saunders, formerly of the University's History Department. The first section features a unique collection of newsletters, pamphlets, and other ephemeral material on the anti-Vietnam War Movement in Australia; the second section offers secondary sources on the history of the Australian Peace Movement; and the third section covers Australia's participation in the Sudan conflict in the late nineteenth century. The Saunders Collection resides in the Karl Schmude Special Collections Room.

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USING THE INTERNET FOR RESEARCH

Increasingly, researchers are finding information on the World Wide Web, sharing ideas by email and listservs, even conducting surveys and gathering data using web technology. Dixson Library has several books that can help you to get started; build on your current skills; or advise students. The books listed below discuss such topics as search techniques, evaluation strategies, how to participate in online conferences and citing online resources, to mention a few.

Call No : 025.04/M281i
Mann, C. and Stewart, F. (2000). Internet communication and qualitative research : a handbook for researching online. London : SAGE.

Call No : 001.4/H517d
Henninger, M. (1999) Don't just surf : effective research strategies for the net. 2nd ed. Sydney : UNSW Press.

Call No : R025.04/A671u
Archer, H. (2000) Untangling the Web : an Australian research guide to Internet sites. Frenchs Forest, N.S.W. : New Holland.

Call No : R025.04/A182i
Ackermann, E. C. (1999) The information specialist's guide to searching and researching on the internet and the world wide web. Chicago ; London : Fitzroy Dearborn.

ROYAL SOCIETY COLLECTION

In 1983 more than 30,000 volumes comprising the Royal Society Collection came to Dixson Library when the Society's library closed and Dixson Library agreed to house it. The Library had been operating since 1875, and much of the collection was built on arrangements of gift and exchange, many of which continue today. Part of the collection is housed in the Royal Society Room on the Lower Ground floor of Dixson Library, but active subscriptions are on the open shelves, identified by a special bookplate and coded information in the cataloguing record.

The collection is strong in mathematics, astronomy, physics, chemistry, geology and palaeontology. Its contents are listed in the National Bibliographic Database and items are supplied on inter library loan throughout the country.

A catalogue of the Royal Society Collection, shelved in the Reference Collection at R017.1/U58c, details the extent of the collection, much of which is unique in Australia. Some unexpected titles include the Report of the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition 1902-1906; L'Aeronaute, the French aerial navigation journal from 1868 - 1907; and numerous museum bulletins from round the world. Material housed in the Royal Society Room can be accessed by enquiring at the Information Desk.

NEW ENGLAND COLLECTION

The New England Collection enables publications by the staff of the university, and those relating to the New England region, to be collected and preserved in a systematic way and to be identified as such in the UNE Libraries catalogue.

What is collected?

Material authored by UNE staff during their tenure here, or published by UNE.

Material from all sources relating to the New England region.

Material by authors with a significant and recognised connection with the area; e.g., being born in the area, residing in the area or by having written about the area. The Oxford Literary Guide to Australia is a major reference for determining the relevance of the author to the regional collection.

One special strength is the collection of regional newspapers on microfilm.

What is the New England region?

The region is defined from 1988 as the local government areas within the New England and Holiday Coast regions, with Bourke, Brewarrina and Walgett Shires in the west and Murrurundi, Scone, Gloucester and Greater Taree Shires or local government areas in the south. This differs from the original definition of the region, which was based on the New England New State as proposed by the Nicholas Commission (NE342.94/R888r).

Where are these materials held?

The material is located either in the Dixson General Collection or, for those items which are rare, ephemeral, or vulnerable to theft or damage, in a closed collection on the ground floor of Dixson Library.

How are these items identified?

All items which belong to this regional collection have a special tag in the Marc entry in the catalogue, and those items held in the closed collection have an NE prefix to their call number. Use of the online catalogue will provide details of all material held.

How are the materials in the closed collection accessed?

Patrons complete a Restricted Loan Card and submit it to the Information Desk. These materials are then retrieved and the patron uses them in the Special Collections Reading Area. Any photocopying that needs to be done is carried out by the Photocopy staff in accordance with the procedures appropriate to preservation.

The New England Collection provides a wealth of monographs, journals, newspapers and ephemera related to the area and preserved for the region.

NEW ELECTRONIC SERVICES - AUSSTATS UPDATE

UNE subscribes to AusStats, the ABS Web-based information service. AusStats provides UNE students and staff with electronic access to a range of ABS products.

AusStats is not just a source for high quality statistical information. It also offers articles and commentary relevant to a wide range of studies.

Recent releases include special articles on The Health and Welfare of Australia's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and measuring the impact of the new tax system on the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The AusStats site is found at http://www.abs.gov.au/

To access AusStats from outside the UNE network, you will need a UNE username and password and to change your browser settings according to the instructions at: http://www.une.edu.au/library/external/elecres.htm Further advice on the use of the AusStats site is available from the staff at the Information Desk at Dixson Library on 02 6773 2458.

YOUR CONTACTS AT DIXSON LIBRARY

General

Information Desk ............... +61 -(02)-6773-2458
Telephone Renewals .......... +61 -(02)-6773-2167
Document Delivery ............. +61 -(02)-6773-2184
Technical Services .............. +61 -(02)-6773-2030
Photocopying ..................... +61 -(02)-6773-2785

Faculty Librarians

Arts - Berenice Scott.................+61 -(02)-6773-3111 ...... Email: bscott3@une.edu.au
EBL - Kim Harris .................... +61 -(02)-6773-2209 ...... Email: kharris@une.edu.au
EHPS - Sylvia Ransom ............ +61 -(02)-6773-3774 ...... Email: sransom@une.edu.au
Sciences - Greg Kelleher .......... +61 -(02)-6773-3038 ...... Email: gkellehe@une.edu.au

Shelf Life Editorial Staff:

Sandra Rothwell ............. Editor
Lisa Gurney .................... Editorial Assistant and design
Tracy Cooper ................. Web version
Peggy McCleneghan ....... Photography

Compiled by Tracy Cooper. Last revised 08 January 2002
Email:tcooper@une.edu.au
© 2002 University of New England, Armidale, NSW, 2351
This URL is: http://metz.une.edu.au/~tcooper/shelf/shelfs1.htm