December 2002 Editor: Suzanne Mulligan 17 Pallinup Street approach to presenting an oral history RIVERHILLS QLD 4074 project in DVD format. Elisabeth Gondwe Email: [email protected] and Tracy Ryan gave a delightful presentation on their North Stradbroke Seasons Greetings Fellow Members! Island Oral History Project which involves the whole community. Dr Greg Mallory The last few months have been very busy discussed his views on Brisbane rugby for our committee, particularly for league’s decline mirrored by the decline in Secretary, Lesley Jenkins, as she organised local community spirit. Norman Sheridan our State Conference held at the State gave a presentation on Institution of Library on 16-17 November 2002. Engineers’ project. Kay Cohen asked Congratulations to Lesley on a very whether there was a difference between successful conference! interviewing powerful people and “ordinary” people. Leith Barter presented More than 50 people attended our a very interesting paper/video on his conference which was formally opened by ongoing Pine Rivers project where an State Librarian Lea Giles-Peters who enlightened Council has recognised the introduced our keynote speaker, Robin value of oral history in documenting the Hughes. Robin gave a fascinating and history of that area. Margaret Klaassen informative presentation. She was a very entertained us with a challenge to improve approachable and easy-going person who our voice quality to make our interviewing was happy to field questions and share her more effective. experiences throughout the weekend. All who attended her presentation and This newsletter contains most of the papers workshop greatly benefited from the presented at the conference or summaries obvious passion she has for her craft. of my own notes as a record of what was an outstandingly interesting and successful Other speakers included Denis Drouyn conference. We came away inspired to who presented a paper on an innovative look for new opportunities to put our newfound knowledge into practice. CONTENTS Dynamics of Interview ................................................ p.2 That’s all for now. Very best wishes for a Queensland Voices ...................................................... p.3 Merry Christmas and a Happy 2003 filled Federation Muster ....................................................... p.4 with lots of oral history interviews. North Stradbroke Island Project .................................. p.7 The Brisbane Rugby League ....................................... p.9 How Engineers Made It Happen ................................. p.13 Suzanne Mulligan Is There a Difference ................................................... p.16 Editor Two Centuries ............................................................. p.19 Workshop with Robin Hughes .................................... p.23 Membership Form ....................................................... p.24 Page 1 DYNAMICS OF INTERVIEW Speaker – Robin Hughes Robin Hughes is a producer, writer and television presenter who has won many awards. She was Head of Film Australia from 1985-1989 and in 1993 became an Officer of the Order of Australia. She has been a producer and interviewer for the SBS documentary series “Australian Biography” since it began in 1991. She saw there was a need for a visual recording of the lives of our “major national treasures” when she was head of Film Australia and novelist, Christina Stead died. She discovered that no one had done a screen interview with her. A few years later, Robin was asked to do the interviews for the “Australian Biography” series. These were to be very different to the usual celebrity interview. The person being interviewed was the main focus with the primary purpose being archival. The complete interview extends over three days where the interviewee is given the opportunity to reflect on their life in detail. “We wanted a collection of stories that cover the 20 th century, the historical and social life of the century to give us a collective impression of what the century was about.” Over the three days – the first day found the interviewee telling the “tried and true stories.” On the second day there was a different level after the interviewee has thought overnight and remembered new things. Robin also had time to reflect and think about questions for the second day. On the third day, a deep level of emotion came to the surface - “I usually go back and pick up on what I see as patterns or links.” The half-hour version presented on television is edited from about 10-12 hours which is, of course, very difficult. The full interview is archived. Robin does not appear on screen so that the focus remains on the interviewee. Photos and film are used to cover cuts in the interview. Each series of seven people are selected from all over Australia and includes one indigenous person. They have wide political and social backgrounds that include ordinary people as well as the “great and famous.” All interviewees are over 65 (indigenous younger because of life expectancy). The first series has gone “one line” with the National Library. There is also a book of the series Australian Lives published by Harper Collins. Robin spends a lot of time on research where she accesses written, audio and film material on the interviewee and the area in which they were involved. She advised that when researching a person who is not well known, you should read about the circumstances that attracted you to interview them. “I am the navigator and it is important not to forget areas of the map. I prepare a mental map so I can take them through it. The interview is about the whole way in which you relate to the person. I really try through the reading and the thinking to get as much inside their head as I can, at the same time being objective.” “I have never been involved in a project that gave me so much pleasure and satisfaction, contributing to something that outlasts you.” Presentation summarised by Suzanne Mulligan. Page 2 QUEENSLAND VOICES Speaker – Niles Elvery Niles Elvery is the Acting Curator of the Original Materials Unit at the John Oxley Library. The Oral History section sits within the Original Materials Unit along with Photographics and Archives. Niles started at the John Oxley Library in the 1980s and at that time did not know anything about oral history. He learned from other collections around Australia – Mitchell Library (NSW), Mortlock Library (SA) and J.S. Battye Library (WA), the oldest. The John Oxley Library collection was established in 1992. Niles has retained responsibility for the collection and is available to provide advice on oral history. The collection has not developed as well as it has with other libraries but that will change when the new library is built in 2005 and a dedicated Oral History officer position is established. The new area will have facilities for the storage of collections in an appropriate atmospheric environment. There are 122 collections with over 900 tapes with the projects including university interviews and community groups. There is a recent acquisition from Family Planning Qld with nine recordings. The web site has more details: http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/jol/collections/oralhistory.htm Donated tapes are copied at real time with bulk of interviews being on 60-minute cassette tapes. Everyone is encouraged to donate collections to the John Oxley Library. Presentation summarised by Suzanne Mulligan. -ooOoo- Page 3 FEDERATION MUSTER Speaker – Denis Drouyn Celebrating Stories of Remote Learning Centenary of Federation Project by Nudgee College Old Boys' Association. Introduction - The Program says we are going to have a Case Study featuring rural and remote communities and how the collected oral histories were edited and converted to DVD. However I would like to comment on the Business of Multimedia - its impact on Project Management, Planning, Organising, Understanding and Communicating Context, Building Trust and Delivering Good Community Outcomes. The Interactive DVD takes about 70 minutes from beginning to end so we will have to be selective and some of you may be wondering can I really use this technology anyway ... what to do? Edwin Land, the inventor of the Polaroid Camera once said ... "My view of business and the ordinary business world's view of business are quite antithetical ... (My essential concept is) that the role of industry is to sense a deep human need and then bring science and technology to bear on filling that need". Land's view in mind, could we take a "back to front" approach? Let's look at OUTCOME first. I suggest we explore the DVD for about 12 minutes, then throw the program open to your questions and hopefully vigorous discussion as to how we might use the new technology to identify and fill “deep human needs”. Raison d’être - A little over a century ago five Colonies agreed by referendum to join together to form the Commonwealth of Australia. In Alfred Deakin's words a Nation for a Continent a Continent for a Nation. So, as you probably noticed, last year 2001 marked the Centenary of Federation. In 1999, calls for Expressions of Interest were advertised by Commonwealth and State Governments for community organisations to undertake suitable projects. Funding was offered to those meeting prescribed criteria. Nudgee College was established by the Irish Christian Brothers in 1891 to provide Secondary Education for country boys. The need was great, enrolments grew rapidly and by 1901 founder Br Treacy claimed Nudgee was the largest boarding school of its kind in Australia. The College has an active past students’ organisation, the Nudgee College Old Boys Association Inc. Having supportive research data, I was able to persuade the Association we could meet the criteria and to sponsor an application. Project Description - A community based history muster to collect, conserve and celebrate stories of remote learning. Supervised students will interact with regional communities to develop skills and technological resources for the collection of oral history. The collection will be stored and published in digital format and celebrated in storytelling, festivals and displays.