A couple of things to do this summer
|
Try out Cinemedia's new digitised film service
|
|
Monash University Library has been selected to trial a public access
site for the SWIFT Cinemedia digital library.
Cinemedia, previously the State Film Centre of Victoria Film and Video
Library (also incorporating the National Library of Australia’s film and
video lending collection), is developing a tailored solution for the storage
and delivery of film and video titles in a digital environment. The project,
entitled SWIFT (Screen Windows into Film Titles), has been under development
since 1996. Cinemedia have been working in conjunction with Silicon Graphics
and ANSPAG, Faculty of Engineering, Monash University. The system is now
at the test stage with a number of public access sites established throughout
Victoria including the State Library of Victoria and Bendigo Secondary
College. The site consists of a Multimedia PC with ATM connection to enable
clear and fast delivery of digitised film. Access is easy and user friendly
through the Cinemedia Internet homepage.
|
| Visit the Humanities and Social Sciences Library
to select a title from the extensive catalogue of Australian film and video
titles, including short and full length films, documentaries, and other
educational films. The trial ends in July 1999 and academic staff are especially
encouraged to try out the service, as there are many titles which could
be used in their first semester teaching programs. Staff in the Music and
Multimedia Section of the Humanities and Social Sciences Library are available
to demonstrate access to you and then leave you to enjoy the clarity and
flexibility of digitally delivered films. For enquiries about the SWIFT
public access site contact Georgina Binns, Music and Multimedia Librarian,
Humanities and Social Sciences Library. Phone 9905 3236, email georgina.binns@lib.monash.edu.au
|  |
...or visit the French Theatre exhibition
 |
The Monash Rare Books collection has extensive holdings of early
French books. Every year it has been the custom to hold an exhibition
drawn from this part of the collection. In 1998 the emphasis is on
the works of the French dramatists. On display are early editions
of Moliere, Corneille, Racine, and many other 17th and 18th century
writers. Also exhibited are a number of first editions of notable
names of the 19th and 20th century. Engravings of 18th century stage
machinery, and the interiors of some early playhouses can be seen.
These come from the Library’s first edition of the 18th century French
Encyclopedie of D’Alembert and Diderot, and from other plate books.
Some of the material from the travel collection is also being shown
in this exhibition. It is said that everyone who visited Paris went
to the theatre, and the exhibition catalogue is enlivened by accounts
of their experiences there.
A virtual exhibition is also available |
 |
Library’s Book Sale Success Enables Major Purchase
|
| Most readers on the Clayton Campus will be aware that the
Library held a large and successful booksale in October. Material sold comprised
mostly multiple copies of titles that had been in low use for many years.
While the Library retains at least one copy of all books added to the collection,
adding another forty thousand each year inhibits retention of multiple copies
in perpetuity. The sale, which was held in the Matheson Library throughway,
ran over two and half days and raised $9600; more than ten thousand books
were sold. The money raised, together with other donated funds, has enabled
the Library to purchase a major research collection of 250 nineteenth century
travel books. These are accounts of English men and women travelling in
Europe. All countries are covered from Scandanavia to the Caucasus, with
an emphasis on France and Italy. |
This purchase considerably strengthens our holdings in the area. The
collection is important for teaching and research in the History department
and also in the departments of English and Visual Arts. It may also be
of interest to those teaching and researching in tourism. The genre of
travel writing is of growing interest to those concerned with studying
the culture, and the social attitudes of the period. The fact that so
many of the writers visited the galleries and antiquities of the countries
through which they passed makes the books important primary source documents
for the study of the aesthetic perceptions of the Victorian era.
|
|
|
 |
Thank you for your support this year.
The staff of Monash University Library wish you seasons greetings
and a safe holiday.
|
|
New Library
Hours [on a separate page]
Try
out Cinemedia's new digitised film service 
Other
issues of The Information