ISSUE # 98 AUGUST 2000

Are the residents of Claremont older than theirneighbours in Nedlands? And are they more likelyto cycle to work than the inhabitants of Subiaco?The answers to these questions can be discoveredthrough AusStats, a new web based service fromthe Australian Bureau of Statistics.

AusStats is now available at no charge to Universitydepartments under a licence agreement negotiatedbetween the AVCC and ABS. Access is throughthe ABS web site (www.abs.gov.au) and isrestricted to computers connected to a UWA server.All information is downloadable and manipulable.

AusStats provides access to:

• All ABS publications from 1998 onwards;

• Over 2,000 spreadsheets, including timeseries data;

• Census Basic Community Profiles to theStatistical Local Area (SLA) level;

The website is updated daily with new materialavailable at 11.30am (EST) on the day of release.Australian Social Trends 2000, released on the 4thJuly, was available online immediately.

Dr Catherine Lees of the Organisational and LabourStudies Department:

I noticed a TV news item on figures, released thatday by the ABS, highlighting unemployment andretrenchment of older workers. As we were doingsome research on employment of older workersthis seemed worth following up, but I could not findthe reported details anywhere. The BusinessLibrary alerted me to the AusStats service and wefound the report in Australian Social Trends. Thefigures provide useful insights into the demographicdistribution of long-term unemployment. This ishelpful to our research, suggesting that the focus

should be on the recruitment and selection phasesof the employment of older workers.

The AusStats agreement permits universities tofreely copy, distribute and print ABS content sourcedfrom AusStats in support of their academic andteaching programs, including support of distancelearning programs and off campus access. Theinformation provided is not available for thosepursuing any income-generating or commercialventure.

And the answers to those questions: The medianage of people living in Claremont is 38; Nedlands is39. 43 people ride to work from Claremont (1.5%);215 people ride from Subiaco (3.7%).

An ABS representative will demonstrate AusStats.The session will cover -

• Background of AusStats• Copyright issues• How to access AusStats• Publication availability• Spreadsheets• Datasets• Introduction to Supertable• Search Facility• Help• Future of AusStats

Monday 21 August 2-3pm, Library Training Room,Reid Library building.

RSVP to the Business Library 9380 1589 orbuslib@library.uwa.edu.au

Australian Statistics Online“There are two kinds of statistics,the kind you look up and the kindyou make up”

AusStats demonstration

.... new on CygNET online ....

AGSTATS: Small area agriculturalcommodity data

AgStats has been an excellent acquisition for theBiological Sciences Library. This CD-ROM profilessmall area agricultural commodity statistics forWestern Australia. Local areas can be cross-referenced with more than 800 data items coveringarea and production of crops; pastures; livestocknumbers; irrigated areas; use of fertilisers and issuesrelating to land management practices.

Available at BIOL Audio Visual 630.994 1998 AGS

Why can’t I access databases from home?If you wonder how to solve this problem, here arethe answers - it’s all about ‘IP masking’.

CygNet - How to use the Library - How to connectto electronic resources

National Database of Electronic Finding Aids forAustralian Literary Manuscript CollectionsSix Australian libraries, led by UWA, arecollaborating to build this database. The EncodedArchival Description (EAD) format will form the basisof this service.

CygNet - About the Library - Library programmesand operations

Diseases charted

The Medical Library has acquired the completemeeting papers of the National Health and MedicalResearch Council (NHMRC), dating back to itsinception in 1937. The Library already holds theminutes of Council meetings, but these volumesinclude reports and minutes from all thesubcommittees of the NHMRC. They chart thecourse of diseases such as leprosy, tuberculosis,poliomyelitis and measles in the Australiancommunity, as well as the development ofquarantine services at airports, legislation onradioactive substances and dietary standards. Thedocuments will be valuable for researching thehistory of public health or medical research inAustralia.

Available at MED P610.6 P8a.

New CygNET terminals

The Library replaced all the public access CygNETterminals in time for second semester, ensuringspeedy access to all web resources. The markedimprovement in performance has drawn manycompliments from students, many of whom wereexperiencing frustration with the inefficiency of theold computers.

MPSL Automatic DoorsAutomatic doors were installed at the Mathematicsand Physical Sciences Library. The new doors allowfor unassisted disabled access to the ground floorof the library.

After-hours return chutes were added to the MPSand Undergraduate Physical Sciences Libraries.

Australasian Medical IndexNew! Produced by the National Library of Australia,AMI indexes and abstracts articles from over 100Australian health and medical serials not found onMedline.CygNet - Fastlane - ERL

SciFinder Scholar - Chemical AbstractsAccess to Chemical Abstracts, a database ofchemical literature and patents, CASREACT, andthe Registry database from the Chemical AbstractsService.

CygNet - Web Resources by Subject - Science -Indexing Databases

Recent acquisition in the Map Library

Regional Forest Agreement – VegetationComplexes coloured 1:250.000

Six maps: Perth, Pinjarra, Collie, Busselton/Augusta,Pemberton and Mount Barker

This series depicts the projected pre-1750distribution complexes, using current distribution oncleared land, and extrapolated interpretation ofcleared land using pockets of remnant vegetationand information from soil and landform systems.

I

After working at the Library for over 15 years and in the University for nearly 26 years, Jane Hughes hasretired. Jane started out in the Library working part-time as the Clerk in the Administration section and in July1990 became the full-time Administrative Officer.

Jane was a Jack-of-all-trades and master of many, includingstaff security and evacuation procedures, down to the finerpoints of toilet plumbing and duck biology.

Her extensive knowledge of Library and University workinglife always enabled her to ‘get the job done’.

Well known for her friendly, outgoing and chatty personality,Jane will also be missed for her humour and never endingsupply of ‘tall, dark and handsome’ stories. Much knowledgehas been lost to the University on her retirement.

On 28 June, Jane and husband John set off for three monthsholiday in Europe. Jane plans to shop and send John out towork to keep her in the manner to which she has becomeaccustomed.

The Library wishes Jane all the best.

In response to the changing methods of coursedelivery at UWA, the Library has revised its deliveryof services to remote students. UWA students livingoutside the Perth metropolitan area need to accessappropriate Library resources and services tocomplete their studies or research. The Library staffhave been working with academic staff to coordinateservices for students studying at the Albany Centre,other regional areas in Australia and overseas.

Students studying off campus now have a flexibleservice and a single point of contact with the Library:the toll free telephone number that students inWestern Australia can use to contact the Coordinatoris 1 800 263921.

Those students living interstate or overseas can usethe Ask a Reference Librarian form on CygNETOnline (http://www.library.uwa.edu.au/requests/asklib.html).

Remote students - just call us!

The Library has also contributed to course bookletswritten for UWA students studying at overseascentres. This is part of the Library’s strategy toensure that all UWA students are aware of theLibrary services available to them.

Kerry Bedford is currently coordinating the deliveryof Library services to remote students. Contact Kerry(kbedford@library.uwa.edu.au) if you have anyquestions about how your students can access theLibrary’s resources and services if they are livingoutside the Perth metropolitan area.

An overview of the Library’s services for remotestudents can be found on CygNET Online at:

http://www.library.uwa.edu.au/aboutlib/services/albany_remote_index.html

Jane Hughes Retires – Shopping Heaven

Albert Facey’s A Fortunate Life: the Library’s original manuscripts ofthis work, together with works by local artist, Robert Juniper, areexhibited at The Lawrence Wilson Art Gallery until 17 August. BillDunstone read from Facey’s text to open the exhibition. Also presentwas the Shadow Minister for the Arts, Hon Tom Stephens MLC.

This picture, taken by Don McSkimming, shows Bill Dunstone andthe Minister in front of Juniper’s painting A fortunate life which wasused as the cover for the Fremantle Arts Centre Press edition ofFacey’s book.

Fortunately ...

Editorial Team:Kael Driscoll: EditorErin FraserRobert HymusLouise PearceLiz TaitLayout:Liz Tait

Contributions:Kerry BedfordGeorgina HodgeSimon LewisDon McSkimmingScott NichollsGeraldine Stewart

A new news sourceFinding current worldwide news information isalways a challenging prospect. Now that the Libraryhas a subscription to Dow Jones Interactive - oneof the premier electronic sources of news informationavailable - this task has been made much easier.

There are two main components to the new service:

The Publications Library provides access to over80 million full text articles from more than 6,000global sources. It has strong Australian content andincludes the full text of:

• Australian Financial Review• Sydney Morning Herald• West Australian• Australian Stock Exchange company

announcements

Partnership between the Library and the Faculty ofEngineering

Information Literacy classes were held at the startof second semester for first year engineeringstudents undertaking the unit Introduction toProfessional Engineering. The library component ofthis new course was developed to give students thenecessary information skills to assist them in theirfuture studies and their professional careers.

Prior to the commencement of the unit, referencelibrarians William Hamilton and Simon Lewisconducted five information literacy sessions for thetutors from all the engineering departments. The

Internationally, the Publications Library includespopular titles such as the Wall Street Journal, TheStraits Times, New York Times and The WashingtonPost.

The Business Newsstand allows you to browse thelast 90 days of major newspapers. Also availablefor electronic browsing are the latest issues of someweekly magazines such as Business Week, Fortuneand the Far Eastern Economic Review.

Access is available on any computer connectingthrough a UWA server. You do not require apassword. We have licences for three simultaneoususers, so if you are unable to connect, please tryagain a little later.

To access this resource through the UWA LibraryCatalogue do a title search on Dow JonesInteractive.

sessions outlined the content and format of thelibrary tutorials, including assistance with CygNETOnline and selected databases.

The student information literacy sessions were heldin computer laboratories throughout the EngineeringFaculty and were supervised by reference staff fromthe relevant subject libraries. The studentsinvestigated the North West Power Feasibility Studyproject, using a relevant search strategy to negotiatedatabases, and compile an annotated bibliography.

The development of this course has strengthenedthe teaching and learning partnership between theLibrary and the Faculty of Engineering.

Building Bridges in learning….

Simon Lewis training the trainers at theBiological Sciences Library