2006 School Magazine

educational Resources & Initiatives

educationalResources&Initiatives

The older the book, the more modern the technology Katherine is creating a drama presentationoncomedythroughthe ages and needs a one-act play from the 1920s. Jennifer would like photographicevidenceof erosion to the Sphinx over the twentieth century. Elizabeth wants to make a costume of a Celtic attacker of Hadrian’s Wall for a Latin assignment. A library collection as rich and as old as that of the Beanland Memorial Library holds resources specifically relevant to each of these cases, but how can a student find the best source? Unlessstudentspersonallyknowthe contents of every resource, they would find the collection “locked”. The library staff has been working hard this year to provide a twenty- first century “key” to improve access to that information: digitisation. This means using the best of the virtual to enhance the value of the actual collection, including those held for decades. Online cataloguing details for each new resource are comprehensively recorded, and those for older resources have been progressively enhancedwith the addition of notes and subject headings. Why? To facilitate computer access so that searchers of information can “mine into” resources from any computer and make location an efficient and

technology is being rolled out at our School in four phases. Phase one involved locating and downloading curriculum-related material from educational broadcasters likeRadioNational and ABC Online for storage on the library system and access through the Clickview portal. Phase two is currently providing staff and students with the tools and skills training to develop their own customised educational podcasts. Phase three will provide the vehicle for delivering that content beyond the classroom environs. The final phase will target the installation of utilities that enable direct uploading of podcasts to personal entertainment devices such as iPods and MP3 players. Parents will soon be comforted to know that connection to those ubiquitousearphonescouldactually mean that their daughters are busily reciting French vocabulary or conscientiouslyrevisingthePeriodic table! Special Collections Many important documents, photographs and objects in our Special Collections record details of the School’s history and women’s education in Queensland. For years, countlessbeautifulphotographsand important documents have been locked away under strict systematically begun scanning key images and documents for addition to our evolving Special Collections web site. The Grammar community will then have unprecedented access to and wider appreciation of our wealth of archival resources. Mrs Megan James Head of Research and Development environmentally controlled conditions. This year we have Mrs Robbie Rentz Teacher Librarian

Compulsive viewing from the windows of the Beanland Memorial Library this year has been the steady skywards mushrooming of the Creative Learning Centre. While this scaffolded construction has grown to inhabit Grammar’s airspace, the library has also been expanding — into cyberspace. Increased digitisation has added more comprehensive cataloguing and multimodal resources to Grammar’s own virtual spaces. Dr Kay Kimber Director

Claiming Grammar’s virtual spaces

FrozenMoment:Fanny,Millisent and Robina Cairncross, 1868 MillisentandRobinaCairncrosswere foundation students of the School in 1875 and left the School under Mrs O’Connor at the end of 1877. In the early days of photography children were tied to an armature to keep them immobile during long exposure times: the stands can be seen beneath their feet; dolls hide the waist tie and collars, the neck. It made for very serious subjects! Scenes from Shakespeare In 1902 Brisbane Girls Grammar School presented a concert at Her Majesty’s Theatre, Brisbane. The Headmistress, Miss Millisent Wilkinson,devisedtheperformances, one of which was Henry VIII. Here Cardinal Wolsey is played by May Lahey (second from left), the first womanappointedJudgetoMunicipal Court in Los Angeles’ history. Mrs Pam Barnett Archivist

Emma Fleming (11B) and Sophie Leitch (11R)

purposeful process. Mrs Kristine Cooke Head of Library

Educationally Sound iPods

Podcasting, today’s “buzz”word, describes the content and method of delivery of an exciting, Generation Y technology and we at the Beanland Memorial Library are embracing its potential for our learningenvironment.Thisemerging

20 06

18

19

Br isbane Gir ls Grammar School

school magazine