This exhibition marks the International Year for the World's Indigenous Peoples. It includes some fifty early books each opened to display original illustrations of the Aborigines from the time of Captain Cook to the end of the nineteenth century. The earliest book shows two Tasmanians, and was published in the account of Captain Cook's third voyage (1784).
There are copies of two of the "First Fleet Journals", written by Governors Phillip and Hunter. These show somewhat idealised views of the Aborigines, and are examples of the late eighteenth century attitude toward the "noble savage". Many of the nineteenth century representations form part of explorer's journals, including those of Grey, Eyre, Mitchell and Leichhardt; these appear to be quite realistic.
Among the most interesting of the illustrations are several showing corroborees.
Early works of ethnography and anthropology are also included. Most notable among these are the works of Curr, Brough Smyth and Howitt.
The Exhibition is on display on the first floor of the Main Library, Clayton Campus, and can be viewed at any time while the Library is open. Entrance and a detailed catalogue accompanying the exhibition are free.
For further information, contact the Rare Books Librarian, Richard Overell, 565 2689.
The pilot project has been funded by the Department of Employment, Education and Training as a means of improving the quality and range of library information available to the university community. The pilot project will run until September 1994. The Current Contents Service database will be updated weekly and allow individual or collective searching of all seven editions.
Current Contents appears weekly in seven different subject-related editions: Agriculture, Biology and Environmental Sciences; Clinical Medicine; Engineering, Technology and Applied Sciences; Life Sciences; Physical, Chemical and Earth Science; Social and Behavioural Sciences; and Arts and Humanities. Current Contents has been published since the 1960's by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). The CAUL Current Contents Service will cover information from March 1993.
The Service is hosted by the National Library and is available free and via AARNet. To access CAUL Current Contents Service a password is required.
If you are interested in:
or any further information, contact your Subject Librarian.
Campus-wide information systems have gained wide acceptance in the United States and are now being installed by a growing number of universities in Australia. A CWIS provides electronic access to a range of data that are of immediate practical utility to the staff and students of the institution.
In late April 1993 agreement was reached with the Library, the Computer Centre and several other interested parties on the installation of a Monash Campus-Wide Information Server (CWIS) as a joint Computer Centre/Library project. With the aid of a consultant from the Australian National University, The CWIS was set up over a three day period in May.
The Computer Centre has provided the host computer (UNIX platform) to act as the gopher server and is also providing technical support. The Library has provided staff for data base maintenance. The setting up of the core data base and its maintenance are currently under the supervision of Sue Steele, the Systems Librarian.
With the help of several groups, including the Library's Publications and Research unit, the CWIS already provides, in a conveniently retrieved format, information on a rapidly growing range of matters relevant to the Monash University community. These include the telephone directory, faculty and staff handbooks, news, Computer Centre and Library information, and information about short courses, scholarships and grants, etc. All Monash publications will eventually be placed on the system.
The CWIS is constructed around the Internet Gopher client/server distributed information system and it acts as a global information service, linking similar Gophers around the world. In this way it provides a very convenient means of accessing very rich and constantly growing information resources, such as electronic books and journals, catalogues of libraries all over the world, bibliographies, news from such varied organisations as NASA, Chinese News Agency, the CIA, and thousands of other information sources.
The CWIS is available to any member of the Monash Community connected to the University's local area network.
There are a number of ways to obtain access to the CWIS, it depends very much on what kind of system you are using for your everyday network activities, such as Email.
For more information contact Sue Steele, Systems Librarian,
Phone: 565 2663
Email: sue.steele@lib.monash.edu.au
Christine Cooze has been appointed to the position of Deputy Branch Librarian Humanities and Social Sciences Library/Lending Services Librarian. Christine Cooze's professional qualifications include a Bachelor of Arts from the ANU and an Associate Diploma of Librarianship from RMIT. Christine is currently a MA Cultural Studies candidate at Monash.
In a professional career spanning the private and public sectors Christine's previous positions have included Manager, Development Services and then Acting Chief Librarian, at the Peninsula Library Service (1991 - 1993); Chief Librarian at the Herald and Weekly Times (1983 -1990); Selection Librarian, Department of Foreign Affairs, Canberra and Librarian at the Australian Embassy, Washington (1978-1981). Christine also worked for some years in the Parliamentary Library, Canberra.
Christine Cooze has replaced Karen Tang who has returned to Western Australia.
The project allows imaging of past examination papers into electronic form so that they can be accessed from computer laboratories all over the University. Past examination papers are always in demand and will now be accessible from workstations attached to the network.
The present systems will also serve as a pilot for further projects in the electronic storage and retrieval of full-text library materials.
For further information contact Hans Groenewegen, Deputy University Librarian, 565 2672.
x| + y| = z|
where | is an integer greater than 2, there is no solution in
positive integers. Fermat wrote in the margin of a book, "I
have found a truly remarkable proof which this margin is too
small to contain". He lived until 1665, but never wrote down
his proof. Known as Fermat's Last Theorem, it has tantalised
mathematicians ever since.
Over 300 years of speculation came to an end in June 1993 when Andrew Wiles, an English mathematician based at Princeton University, announced his proof.
As a tribute to one of the great mathematical feats of this century, the Hargrave Library will host an exhibition on Fermat's Last Theorem. The exhibition will run from 4 - 31 October 1993 and display some of the classic attempts to prove the theorem, correct proofs of special cases, and others simply incorrect, together with some of the recent research on which Wiles based his proof.
A catalogue of the works on display will be available.