Change in a culture often occurs in fits and starts, in confusing whirls of ideas and protest followed by quiet periods where old orthodoxies percolate through society again but in a different guise. Reform digs in its heels. New form orthodoxies flex their muscles and then we find the times of protest, ideas and reform are upon us again. As we cycle through complacency, … [Read more...] about Maybanke Anderson: suffragist and social reformer
New South Wales
‘Thank you to my wife’ – unpaid work by women
Research and writing involves a lot of repetitive time-consuming tasks such as typing, editing, transcribing and formatting data. All the public hears about is the amazing discovery. The bulk of the work is essential but it can be rather monotonous and certainly not news-worthy. Over the last few of days #ThanksForTyping has emerged on Twitter to recognise the wives of … [Read more...] about ‘Thank you to my wife’ – unpaid work by women
A Digitisation Scandal That Isn’t
A few days ago I woke to some startling news, “NSW state library to turn $3bn collection over to private sector: In exchange for free digitisation” the headline from ITNews screamed. I started huffing with indignation about this scandal but I read the article which followed very carefully, then downloaded and read the tender documents as well as the Library’s most recent Annual … [Read more...] about A Digitisation Scandal That Isn’t
Presenting at a Conference in the Social Media Age
In many respects the format of academic conferences has not changed much over the years. There will be some plenary sessions with keynote lectures but the hive of the conference is the parallel sessions where many presenters stand up, read their paper and answer a few questions afterwards. Once upon a time presenters may have used overhead transparencies. These have been … [Read more...] about Presenting at a Conference in the Social Media Age
“Genealogists are becoming the new social historians” says professional historian
“Australian history has been transformed by the contributions of family historians”, says Dr Tanya Evans, historian at Sydney’s Macquarie University. Her new book Fractured Families: Life on the Margins in Colonial New South Wales, is the result of collaboration between Tanya Evans and some of the many family historians who have worked with the archives of Sydney’s oldest … [Read more...] about “Genealogists are becoming the new social historians” says professional historian
