Already in my street the neighbours have put up Christmas lights. Of course, the supermarkets had Christmas displays in the aisles months ago.

There is a caricature about the Festive Season.  It is a family time. It is a time we’re winding-down at work.  In particular historical contexts that makes sense, but for many of us the caricature is plain nonsense.  Some may indeed have family around for Christmas Day but for the rest of the season it is the usual solitary existence. For a few, there is simply no family. As for winding-down, that’s much less likely for the professional classes, especially in today’s economic climate. For academics, and for many non-academic professional historians, the Christmas-New Year period is the time to get on with the book-writing or that research project.  Yes, the Festive Season is a change of pace, but usually it involves speeding-up, not slowing down.

(more…)

Here we are reading the October 2012 edition of the Professional Historians Association (Queensland) e-Bulletin, three weeks after the Annual General Meeting. Time is moving on. It is hard to imagine the whirlwind of activity that led up to our reformation for this very start of the 2012-2013 business period.  We needed to catch our breath, and digest the immense issues that were discussed at the AGM.

(more…)

Management Committee Annual Report 2011-2012

Welcome everyone to the 2012 Annual General Meeting of the Professional
Historians Association of Queensland and thank you for your attendance here this
evening. It has been a busy year and it is my pleasure now to present the 21st
Annual Report of the Management Committee of the Professional Historians
Association of Queensland.

(more…)

Can you help with finding Queensland’s significant gardens and landscapes?

Gardens are under-represented in heritage registers.

The Australian Garden History Society (AGHS) is undertaking a survey of
Queensland gardens and landscapes as the first step in a national strategy to
recognise and conserve heritage gardens.

The society has commissioned a team comprising Catherine Brouwer Landscape
Architects, Riddel Architecture and Nissen Associates to develop a statewide list
of gardens, landscapes or plantings with historical significance.

(more…)

Work by ACPHA delegates over the past year to advance the cause of
professional history at a national level included:

• (more…)

Report on e-Hive Workshop
For the Professional Historians Association (Queensland)
Dr Neville Buch, e-Bulletin Editor
25 July 2012

Introduction

On Monday 24 July I attended the e-Hive Workshop organised by Vernon Systems Ltd, held at the Queensland Museum by Zoe Hill. Vernon Systems Ltd is a company that produces collections management software for museums, galleries, and other cultural heritage institutions. Established in 1985 and based in Auckland, New Zealand, it manages the collection system for the Queensland Museum.  eHive is a web-based software as a service application, which means it  provides an online collections management system to the public,  allowing free use initially for low levels of use, and then graded charges depending on usage.

(more…)

By Dr Jonathan Richards
Vice President, Professional Historians Association (Queensland)

The 2012 Annual General Meeting on 26 September will be a watershed for the Professional Historians Association (Queensland). The Association has reached a point in its natural development where new roles need to be taken on, and where there will be a partial “changing of the guard.” Geoff Doherty is retiring as our Treasurer, the role being one of the three Executive positions.

(more…)

Tribute by Jeff Hopkins-Weise

In the local Pine Rivers/Moreton Bay Region history and heritage scene, it is sad to note the passing of well-known and respected local historian and former council librarian Leith Barter (1947-2012). Leith lost his battle with cancer on 9 July, aged 64. He had only recently retired from his position as Local Studies Librarian at the Strathpine Library in late 2010, after holding that position for some 14 years.

(more…)

Let’s face it. As critical scholars we don’t like the corporate language of achievement and success. We understand the hidden motivations and power structures in play. Witness the Australian popular debates recently with a less-than-gold standard in our country’s Olympic performance in London; before the welcome home parades. On the radio, television, and internet blogs, it seemed everyone had a pet theory on why Australian sports men and women were under-performing. There was plenty of blame to share around and the assumptions were over-bloated within the expectations of the Australian Olympic Team and organisers.

(more…)

By Dr Neville Buch, PHAQ e-Bulletin Editor

In this very uncertain economic climate, the best thing that the Professional Historian Association can do is get out into the marketplace and explain to the general public who are professional historians and what we can do. If there is fewer dollars flowing from government and corporate coffers, because of downturn in the economy, and because the electorate voted for a government to reduce debt, than we must communicate our value to the community in the strongest terms.

(more…)