2011 WA Premier’s Book Awards

Visit our new site: Premier’s Book Awards – http://pba.slwa.wa.gov.au/.

Last night Premier Colin Barnett announced Fiona Skyring’s Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia as winner of the 2011 Premier’s Prize worth $25,000.

Highly acclaimed Western Australian author Tim Winton was inducted into our Hall of Fame.

2011 Western Australia’s Premier’s Book Awards Category Winners

• Non-Fiction:  Alice Pung, Her Father’s Daughter
  Published by Black Inc.
• Fiction:  Anna Funder, All That I Am
  Published by Penguin Group (Australia)
• Scripts:  Tim Winton and Ellen Fontana, Cloudstreet: The Screenplay
  Published by Penguin Group (Australia)
• Children’s Books:   Michelle Gillespie and Sonia Martinez, Sam, Grace and the Shipwreck;
  Published by Fremantle Press.
• Poetry:  Tracy Ryan, The Argument
  Published by Fremantle Press
• Young Adults:  Penni Russon, Only Ever Always
  Published by Allen & Unwin
• State Library of Western Australia WA History:  Fiona Skyring, Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia
  Published by UWA Publishing
• Digital Narrative Award:  Max Barry, Machine Man
  Published by Scribe Publications
• People’s Choice Award:  Anna Funder, All That I Am
  Published by Penguin Group (Australia)
• Premier’s Prize:  Fiona Skyring, Justice: A History of the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia;
  Published by UWA Publishing

Congratulations to all of the winners & publishers.

Ancestry talk at Toodyay

The State Library’s family history subject specialists Tricia Fairweather and Leonie Hayes will be visiting Toodyay this Wednesday 22nd June to give a seminar on how to search the genealogy database Ancestry.com: what you can find and the best ways to search.
Tricia and Leonie will also show you how to explore the State Library’s website to discover digitised resources including directories, indexes and guides.  They will advise on effective use of the catalogue, how to find free websites to further your family history research, electronic resources available from home, events, workshops and more. Tricia and Leonie are also happy to offer advice on your own research.

For further information, please contact Toodyay Library on 9574 2323.

Heritage Perth Heritage Days 13 – 14 November 2010

Palace Hotel, Perth, c1989 by Richard Woldendorp

In 2010, Heritage Perth Heritage Days will be held on Saturday 13 and Sunday 14 November.

An exciting program of activities is planned, which aims to make the weekend Perth’s biggest ever heritage event that will showcase the City’s history going back many thousands of years.

The expanded 2010 program will include numerous exciting new venues including; Council House, the Perth Mint, West Australian Club, the Supreme Court, Government House and the Royal Perth Hospital Museum (source: Perth Heritage website, 2010).

Visit the Heritage Perth website and download a program.

Photograph of the Palace Hotel by Richard Woldendorp, available in the State Library of Western Australia pictorial collection

More Western Australian newspapers online

 We now have the Western Argus from 1896 – November 1916 available through Australian Newspapers Online. Once completed the Western Argus will be available online from November 1894 to June 1938. This goldfields newspaper is a wealth of information containing local social news, mining news including annual reports, Australian and world news and much much more. This newspaper is a great resource for researchers and family historians alike. The Brennan - Maher Wedding in 1899 for example not only provides a picture of the wedding party but gives a complete list of both attending guests and presents.

Western Argus 30/11/1899

Coming soon…..The Sunday Times and Western Mail!

Original Western Australian Acts of Parliament now online

We’ve all been able to access current Western Australian legislation online for some time now at the State Law Publisher’s website – however this already valuable source now has added depth with the addition of a listing of Original Acts As Passed.  These acts are optically scanned and searchable and available as printable PDFs.  Of course you can still access the print copies here at the State Library.

All the Western Australian news that’s fit to print (or is that upload)!

You may have noticed some fanfare in the press about Fairfax’s new WA news site… This is only one of several sites specialising in Western Australian News.  For lots of News about WA you can go to:

• WAtoday.com.au - the new site from Fairfax
• thewest.com.au - the West Australian’s online site
• perthnow – “powered by the Sunday Times”
• ABC News – Western Australia
• WA Business News
• Online WA newspapers  – extensive listing in the National Library’s Australian Newspapers Online

(Print copies of the West Australian, Sunday Times and WA Business News are available at the State Library)

Need overseas or interstate news?  There’s much more online than Google News Australia!  Try the State Library’s subscription newspaper databases accessible in the Alexander Library Building, use your WA library card to log on to Australia/New Zealand Reference Centre via our Databases From Home, or find out what newspapers are available in Australian Libraries via the National Library of Australian Newspapers Online.

 

Nyungar culture website

The Yelakitj Moort Nyungar Association has created a website you can look at which provides information about aboriginal activities and culture in Western Australia.  

Yelakitj Moort Nyungar Association is an Australian Indigenous Organisation, made up of members of the Nyungar people who are the traditional, recognised people of the south west of Western Australia.

The Yelakitj Moort Nyungar Association is named after William Thomas Bennell, whose Nyungar name was Yelakitj – “Man of Good Hearing”. Yelakitj was the story teller – he was the minder of the Nyungar story. His stories are recorded in oral history (available in the State Library of Western Australia), video and book.

Reverse marriages: What are they?

 Western Australian marriage records are listed in an microfiched index with a person’s name, year of marriage, registration number and locality. It’s tricky to find the name of a spouse in the records as you need to look through many marriage records to find the same registration number for a given year.

A database matching up Western Australian marriage records from 1906 is available online for people researching their family history, and has been growing year by year. It is currently up to 1965.

You will find it online at www.wamarriage.info

Birth, marriage and death records prior to 1906 continue to be available on the W.A. Justice Department website at the Registry of Births, Deaths and Marriages in Western Australia.

Woodman Point

WOODMAN POINT: Digging up the past at Woodman Point

Did you know that bubonic plaque had touched Australia? The victims of this and other infectious diseases are buried at the cemeteries of Woodman Point Quarantine Station. A quarantine area since 1830, Woodman Point Quarantine Station was formally gazetted in 1879 and has two known cemeteries, both lost to bush. Hear the social history of this fascinating site and the archaeological trials and tribulations of wresting the secret of the grave locations from this enigmatic site by attending talks and touring the site with archaeologist, Gaye Nayton. 

A recent project funded by Lotterywest has physically located the cemeteries, mapped the surface remains in the 1918 cemetery and located and mapped grave shadows. Check out the Friends of Woodman Point webpage at www.woodmanpointquarantinestation.com to view the ongoing project in pictures and text.

On the 7th June 2008 join the Friends for a program which includes talks and a tour of the site. The program will consist of site visit, talks and a second site visit to allow visitor flexibility.

Where: Woodman Point Recreation Camp
When: Saturday 7th June 2008, 12 noon to 4pm
Cost: Free event but a sausage sizzle with drink will be available at $5; and a gold coin donation will cover afternoon tea.
RSVP Essential – Contact: Friends of Woodman Point at gaildodd@iinet.net.au for more information

[Source:  WAGSnet mail list]

Looking into the law – legislation on the net!

People like to talk, and even whinge, about the law but how often do we go to the source and check what it actually says…

The State Law Publisher of WA has just revamped their Western Australian Legislation database – you can search for Acts and Regulations, open the documents as pdf, word or html and subscribe (click on notify) to get notification of updates.

 So if you need to find out what’s in the Road Traffic Code (for example) it’s all at your fingertips!

 Not from WA?  Most states and countries now have their law online – you can find Australian and other  material linked to on our Law Information Gateway or more specifically U.N., U.S. and U.K. documents in our Government Information Gateway.