The story of how a son of Irish immigrants, R. H. Matthews, became one of Australia’s most significant early researchers of Aboriginal language, culture and history, has won the $25,000 National Biography Award, Australia’s richest prize for biographical writing and memoir, the State Library of NSW announced today (Monday 14 May 2012).

The Many Worlds of R. H. Mathews, In search of an Australian Anthropologist by historian Martin Thomas, has brought to light the largely forgotten but immensely important contribution Mathews made to anthropology and Australia’s cultural history in the nineteenth century.

The prize for the winning author has been increased this year from $20,000 to $25,000.

See the full media release attached.

Media inquiries:
Vanessa Bond, Media & Communications Branch, State Library of NSW
(02) 9273 1566, 0411 259 898, vbond@sl.nsw.gov.au

The State Library of NSW today (14 May 2012) announced the opening of nominations for the 2012 NSW Premier’s Literary and History Awards.

According to NSW Premier Barry O’Farrell, “These prestigious awards are an important part of our state’s cultural landscape, and have been strengthened by my recent decision that the State Library of NSW will now manage the awards.”

“The awards have been further enhanced with a new focus on regional promotion and involvement to ensure they get the attention they deserve,” Mr O’Farrell said.

The winners will be presented at an awards ceremony held in the State Library’s historic Mitchell Library Reading Room in November 2012.

See the full media release attached.

MEDIA CONTACT:  
Vanessa Bond, Media & Communications Manager, State Library of NSW
(02) 9273 1566, 0411 259 898, vbond@sl.nsw.gov.au

With the new school term underway, the State Library of NSW is taking the stress out of assignment time for students and parents by providing free, 24/7 access to amazing online resources that a general internet search won’t find!

“The State Library of NSW is bringing the library to the students, whether that be at home or somewhere else, and connecting them with primary sources and quality information in all school subject areas,” says NSW State Librarian & Chief Executive Alex Byrne.

In fact, every NSW resident with a State Library card, regardless of geographic location, has access to the multitude of resources offered at www.sl.nsw.gov.au/eresources. Membership is free.

“Our eresources cover all areas, including family history research, business, fashion and film, so all NSW residents are sure to discover links related to their own personal interests. Plus, there’s over 2,500 ebooks available free to download,” says Dr Byrne.

See the full media release attached.

CASE STUDY: I was helping my daughter do some research for her Personal Interest Project on ‘Slacktivism’. Before she asked me for help she spent a lot of time looking for articles on Google and came up with odd quotes without any background information which could be referenced. To my surprise I found a number of articles on what I thought to be an invented topic on the State Library of NSW’s eresources web pages. Not only did I find some great articles in full text, but I found one that could be converted to an MP3 file so she could listen to it on her iPod rather than read it. All I did was a simple keyword search. That’s one less headache. Now she just has to write it.

For more information and interviews please contact:
Vanessa Bond, Media & Communications Manager, State Library of NSW
(02) 92731566, 0411 259 898, vbond@sl.nsw.gov.au