Library & Computing News

Special Collections Fossickings 23: True Crime 2. The Carpentaria Downs mystery

noreply@blogger.com (Bronwyn) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 06:12:00 +0000

Have you ever come across a story of some past event and thought, “Why has no-one made a movie of this?” Here is one north Queensland story still in search of an imaginative director.

On 27 September 1908 a 37 year old woman was discovered dead in her bed at a remote north Queensland property, with her throat cut. The crime and its aftermath created a sensation in Australia and mystery and rumour surrounded it for years afterwards. In “The Murder of Nellie Duffy” Stephanie Bennett reveals the events and characters caught up in the story and exposes what she believes was a high level cover-up.

Buggies crossing Einasleigh River at Carpentaria Downs in 1917, a scene which would have changed little in the intervening 9 years. James Atkinson Album, NQ Photographic Collection ID 5653

Murder victim Nell Duffy, confident, resourceful and sociable, was housekeeper at Carpentaria Downs station, managed by Henry Wilson. Although at the time of her death she had been engaged to a young stockman, it appears that Henry, with a history of brutality, cattle theft and womanizing, had been one of Nell’s previous lovers. Henry’s wife, meek-natured Fanny, while a devoted mother to her children and stepchildren, was afraid of her bullying husband. Sharing her fear was the Aboriginal station-hand, Billy, who had been under Henry’s rigid control since childhood. The shadowy figure of Alwynne Wilson, the diffident and emotionally-damaged son of Henry’s first marriage, completes the cast of main characters. Of these it was the two most vulnerable, Fanny Wilson and station-hand Billy, who were charged with Nell’s murder.

The Townsville Court House (photographed in 1906) where Fanny Wilson and Billy were sent for trial in 1908.

J. Mathews Album, NQ Photographic Collection ID 21849

The trials took place in November in Townsville’s Supreme Court. In Billy’s trial the case was adjourned after the jury failed to agree on a verdict. When Fanny appeared the Crown prosecutor announced he would enter a record of “nolle prosequi”, literally meaning “unwilling to pursue”. Although not an acquittal, this meant the charge against Fanny was dropped. At Billy’s second trial, in June 1909, he was acquitted. Nonetheless, the crime left in its wake a trail of several other deaths and a legacy of grief, injustice, shame and family break-up, affecting settlers and Aborigines alike.

Stephanie Bennett makes a convincing case that, despite his alibi, Henry Wilson was the instigator of the crime, manipulating his son Alwynne to do his dirty work, with the latter clumsily involving young Billy Wilson as an accessory. But many questions remain. Could Nell have been acting as a ‘spy’ for the powerful Queensland Meat Exporters and Agency Company, as contemporary reports suggested? Did she have information that would have cost Henry Wilson his job? Was the company involved in obstructing investigation and suppressing evidence? Was the lonely death of boundary-rider and principle witness, William Power, murder or suicide? What did Fanny Wilson know of the night’s events? Is this a story crying out for dramatization on the small or big screen? You bet!

Words of wisdom

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Tue, 11 Jun 2013 02:53:00 +0000

Image source: Blue Bicycle Books

“My two favourite things in life are libraries and bicycles. They both move people forward without wasting anything.

The perfect day: riding a bike to the library.” ― Peter Golkin

Marcus Pedro Guest Speaker: A JCU and Townsville CityLibraries partnership

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 06:43:00 +0000

INSPIRE….In a world where you can be what you want….BE YOURSELF”……..Marcus Pedro.

Marcus Pedro Indigenous motivational speaker, author, businessman, dj and martial artist will visit Townsville for two free public talks.

Booking required for Thuringowa Central Library event please contact Janeese Henaway on 47278317 or book online at CityLibraries events webpage.

This is a free event sponsored by CityLibraries and JCU. JCU staff and students can attend and the general public is invited to come out to the campus.

Event times and contacts are below

Thursday 20 June, 9 – 11am, JCU Eddie Koiki Mabo Library Northern Lawn Area or if it rains at Building 26 Sir George Kneipp auditorium.
Thursday 20 June, 1.30 – 3.30pm, Thuringowa Central Library

Light refreshments will be served after each event.

Booking required for Thuringowa Central Library event please contact Janeese Henaway on 47278317 or book online at CityLibraries events webpage.

JCU Event is not RSVP but contact Nathan Miller at JCU nathan.miller@jcu.edu.au or 07 4781 4941 with queries or large groups.

New in your Library: Group Study Room bookings are now online!

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 05:55:00 +0000

Make your room booking from anywhere and anytime via the Library and Computing Services homepage.

Townsville Mabo Library Western Group Study Room

Click on Group Study Rooms on the Library and Computing Services homepage (lower middle of homepage) to book a group study room in the Library buildings.

The room booking system will be available from 6 June 2013.

Your feedback will be appreciated.

All existing bookings have been transferred into the new system for Cairns students.

This is a new process for Townsville campus and the Western Group Study room pictured is bookable with two projectors with laptop connection, whiteboard and group tables on the 2nd (top floor) for student use.

ABS: National Regional Profile Statistics

noreply@blogger.com (Rachael) — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 05:58:00 +0000

The Australian Bureau of Statistics has released the latest National Regional Profile which includes data from the 2011 census. The contents include Economy, Population/People, Industry and Environment/Energy. Some interesting facts include that since 2007 there are approximately 12000 more people living in Townsville and Cairns and there are now approximately 4200 more cars on the road. Which will explain why there are never enough car parks!!

Queen's Birthday Library opening hours

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 05:18:00 +0000

Don't forget that JCU libraries in Cairns and Townsville will be open from 1-5pm on Monday 10 June.

Go to our opening hours web page to plan your weekend study.

Eddie Koiki Mabo Library: Extended Friday exam hours

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 05:12:00 +0000

The Eddie Koiki Mabo Library on the Townsville campus will be open until 10.30pm on Friday 7 and 14 July. You can check the complete Cairns and Townsville Library exam opening hours web pages to help you organise your time.

Don't forget that the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library has a 24/7 Information Commons computer lab. This ground floor computer lab can be accessed after-hours via your JCU student card.

Good luck with your study!

Special Collections Fossickings 22: True Crime 1. The Con Creek Murders

noreply@blogger.com (Bronwyn) — Sun, 02 Jun 2013 23:00:00 +0000

Driving north from Townsville along the Bruce Highway one soon becomes familiar with the names of the numerous creeks which the road crosses. Have you noticed how somebody always decorates the sign at Christmas Creek in December? Do you wonder what makes the water of Bluewater Creek live up to its name? North of the Cardwell Range, the name Conn Creek probably arouses little curiosity, whereas it was once the site of a double murder with a macabre follow-up.

Conn’s Crossing where William and Elizabeth settled before moving north towards Cardwell. Photo date unknown, possibly 1880s to early 1900s. NQ Photographic Collection ID 22901, Henry Stone Albums

Originally William's Brook, the creek was named for the small farm established by William and Elizabeth Conn in 1873. The Conns had arrived in the district a decade earlier, establishing Conn’s Crossing (across the Herbert River) before moving north as the bridle track between the Herbert River and Cardwell was being established. Known as “The Hermitage” the Conn’s farm produced sweet potatoes, maize and fruit while their slab cottage provided lodgings for travelers passing along the coastal track. Bianka Balanzategui’s “Herbert River Story" reports that the Conns also received Government money to keep the track open. Despite police warnings William maintained that he had excellent relations with local Aborigines with whom he bartered tobacco and other goods for fish.

Tragically in 1875 William’s body was found in front of his cottage, and the location of Elizabeth’s was later revealed to police by three Aboriginal women. According to local historian, Dorothy Jones, who tells the tale graphically in her 1961 “Cardwell Shire Story”, reprisals were ordered by police Sub-Inspector Johnstone – although these seem to have been motivated more by revenge than justice. Some 7 or 8 years after the event explorer and ethnographer Carl Lumholtz heard of it and, with a variation in the name from Conn to O’Connor, recounted it in his book “Among Cannibals”. Local Aborigines told Lumholtz that it was mainly women and children who were slaughtered, while most of the younger men, no doubt including the perpetrators, escaped. Interestingly Jones locates the murder site further south at Conn’s Crossing but “The Queenslander’s” contemporary account suggests Balanzategui’s more northerly location is correct and this is endorsed by John Alm’s 1930s account contained in “Early History of the Herbert River District”.

The first English edition of Norwegian explorer, Carl Lumholtz's book "Among Cannibals" is held in the North Queensland Collection at JCU Library Special Collections.

And the macabre? A coffin ordered for Elizabeth’s funeral was delivered too late to be of use, her body, according to one report, being so decomposed it required immediate burial. Instead the coffin was converted into a makeshift bed and used by those travellers who, undeterred or simply unaware of events, continued to take shelter in the abandoned cottage.

Improvements made since the 2012 Library Client Survey: You Said It, We Did It

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Thu, 30 May 2013 04:50:00 +0000

The 2012 Library Client Survey has allowed the library to respond to our clients desires and needs (that's you students and without you there is just a big empty building).

A short summary below. A full version click here.

You said: More computers, laptop facilities (power), and wireless access!

We did:
Mabo Library Townsville

Designated laptop bar
188 additional power points
30 more wireless access points
A total of 212 computers (PCs and Macs)
24 hour access to computers and other facilities in the Information Commons Library

Cairns Library

Added more power points for a total of 277
13 more wireless access points
Now have a total of 147 computers

You Said: More quiet places in the Library to study and more places in the Library to work in groups!

We did:
Zoned the Library floors in Cairns and Townsville with

Collaboration zone - ground floor designated for conversation, interaction among individuals and groups
Quiet study –first floor designated for quiet conversations and interactions including group work and individual study.
Silent study – second floor designated for silent study and reflection primarily by individuals
New online room booking system will be available for students before end of semester 1, 2013

You Said: Information resources that meet learning and research needs including online and print based resources!

We did:

More than 50,000 new ebooks have been added to the collection for a total of 190,704 titles available in 2013
More than 5,000 streaming videos are available
Now borrow more books for longer periods of time
Free postage for the delivery and return of JCU Library books to JCU students residing in Australia who live further than 50 kilometres from either the JCU Townsville or Cairns Campuses.

Library web site outage 7-8am Friday 31st May

noreply@blogger.com (Alan @JCU Library) — Thu, 30 May 2013 01:20:00 +0000

ITR has advised the JCU community that upgrade maintenance work would affect a number of JCU sub sites - including the Library and Computing site - for approximately one hour between 7.00 am and 8.00 am on Friday 31st May.

All other library services will be normal including:

We have been made aware of occasional availability problems with Content Management System the Library and Computing web site - it's worth remembering that the above links are also listed permanently on libserver, an ancillary server we use for some services, when the main site is unresponsive.
Details of the outage from ITR

Reconciliation Week

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Mon, 27 May 2013 02:16:00 +0000

May 27th to June 3rd is Reconciliation Week which aims at improving relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, reconciling their shared history and improving their futures together as Australians. To read more about Reconciliation go to Reconciliation Australia website and also look at JCU's Reconciliation Statement.

JCU will sign a commitment to creating a Reconciliation Action Plan on Monday the 27th of May. The Eddie Koiki Mabo Library at Townsville has an art exhibition during this period that commemorates the naming of the building after Eddie Koiki Mabo (see our earlier posting).

For those seeking information about Indigenous topics and perspectives the library holds many resources or can help direct you to resources like the Australian Bureau of Statistics items; Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples: Education Data.

VPN Changes reinstate Library Alerting Services & Table of Contents Service Links Remotely

noreply@blogger.com (Alan @JCU Library) — Thu, 23 May 2013 05:14:00 +0000

ITR have made available alternative VPN configurations so that it is possible to view Library subscription material with the same access as if you were on campus - without requiring EZproxy translations.

The old VPN (up to 2013) forced all your internet requests through JCU's network so web services acted as if you were on campus. The new VPN uses GlobalProtect and its default configuration only forces internet traffic through the JCU network if the resource you're accessing is hosted within our network (e.g. network drives, intranets etc). For resources outside the jcu.edu.au domain GlobalProtect routes requests through your ISP.

This is more efficient for many web requests - but ot means some services (like alerting services from publishers and table of contents email from journals) have links that go direct to the resources so the provider cannot tell that you are part of the JCU community.

To overcome this issue you can now change the portal GlobalProtect uses from tvl-portal.jcu.edu.au to tvl-portal-all.jcu.edu.au as shown below:

The portal setting used to force all internet traffic through the JCU network

Full instructions for settng up VPN access

Find a free lab computer in Townsville or Cairns

noreply@blogger.com (Alan @JCU Library) — Wed, 15 May 2013 03:21:00 +0000

You can check to see which GATCF labs are busy using the 'Find a Free Computer' links on the GATCF page of our web site.

You see the current status (percentage of use, total number of computers, number of computers currently being used) for every GATCF lab on the Cairns and Townsville campuses.

There even maps showing which computers are available so you can scrape of that bit of chewy you left there last time - or find a window seat or whatever your preferences are!

Introducing JSTOR global plants database

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Tue, 14 May 2013 22:00:00 +0000

The largest of its kind, Global Plants is a community-contributed database that features more than two million high resolution plant type specimen images from the collections of hundreds of herbaria around the world. Database records are authoritative, and include complementary material such as paintings, photographs and the correspondence of explorers who originally discovered and collected various species.

Libserver system maintenance 6-9am Friday 17th May: some services affected

noreply@blogger.com (Alan @JCU Library) — Tue, 14 May 2013 00:15:00 +0000

Edit: Libserver returned to normal service at 7:23am AEST

Libserver will be unavailable for up to 3 hours this Friday morning. Services affected include:

AskNow chat service
Special Collections Archival Lists
Gadgets
Advanced forms (Reserve Online Requests, Purchase Requests, Intercampus and off campus document requests, Fast Track Cataloguing Requests, Work Experience Applications)

We apologise for any inconvenience.

Reminder: Mabo Day art exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Mon, 13 May 2013 23:03:00 +0000

Each year the James Cook University hosts an exhibition by an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artist to celebrate the official naming of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library and the official launch of the University’s Reconciliation Statement on 21 May 2008.

Nationally significant dates that occur during the exhibition include Reconciliation Week (May 27th to June 3rd), National Sorry Day (May 26th) and Mabo Day (June 3rd).

This year, Eddie Koiki Mabo Library is proud to present an exhibition of the works of

Aicey Zaro

Kara Uteb, Kara Nerkep

My Home, My Heart

(May 21st - June 10th)

The exhibition will be held on the ground floor of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library, and is open to the public during Library opening hours.

Aicey’s artworks and other items from his gallery will be available for purchase.

Aicey Zaro was born in Ayr, North Queensland. His mother is an Aboriginal descendant of the Birri Gubba – Juru (the traditional people of the Burdekin area, North Queensland). His father is from Murray Island (Mer) in the Torres Straits, which is the northern-most part of Queensland situated between the tip of Cape York Peninsula, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Aicey has always loved to draw and paint, and over the years he has created his own unique style. With his Aboriginal and islander heritage Aicey has created a diverse range of art pieces in various media, including hand-painted silks, acrylic painting, hand-painted ceramics, hand-painted jewellery, and public murals. You can find Aicey's murals in Ayr, Home Hill, Giru (in the Burdekin district), Mackay and Sydney. His artworks reflect his love for the flora and fauna of the land and sea of Australia, which God has richly blessed.

Choose your Mabo Library study space

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Fri, 10 May 2013 01:25:00 +0000

In 2012 the library undertook a university-wide survey in regard to library products and services.
Two survey findings were students wanted more silent spaces to study in, and more group study space. In response, the Townsville Mabo Library has made the following changes to the library layout:

The ground floor is the collaboration floor – for group work. The floor is fitted out with computers, power and wireless available for laptop use, group discussion tables, and whiteboards.
The ground floor iLearning rooms – are available for group study when classes aren’t in session.
The first floor is for quiet study – for group work and individual study. The floor is fitted out with computers, wireless and power for laptop use, and has a mix of group study tables and individual spaces.
The second floor is for silent and individual study. The desks are designed for individual use. The protocol for this level is that conversations should be study related, and conducted in whispered voices.

Ask InfoHelp staff on the ground floor for advice on the best area for group discussion, silent study, or individual space.

Check out the Mabo Library opening hours to plan your study.

Improve your academic writing

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Thu, 09 May 2013 22:00:00 +0000

They say, I say: The moves that matter in academic writing. This book demystifies academic writing by identifying its key rhetorical moves, the most important of which is to summarize what others have said ("they say") to set up one's own argument ("I say"). The book also provides templates to help students make these key moves in their own writing. This version includes readings that demonstrate those moves—and provide stimulating conversations for them to enter.

Recent Australian DVD releases

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Wed, 08 May 2013 09:19:00 +0000

Mental
A charismatic, crazy hothead transforms a family's life when she becomes the nanny of five girls whose mother has cracked from her husband's political ambitions and his infidelity.

The Sapphires
It's 1968, and four young, talented Australian Aboriginal girls learn about love, friendship and war when their all girl group The Sapphires entertain the US troops in Vietnam.

Redfern now
The series tells the powerful stories of six inner city households whose lives are changed by a seemingly insignificant incident.

Date claimer: Mabo Day art exhibition

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Tue, 07 May 2013 02:08:00 +0000

Nationally significant dates that occur during the exhibition include Reconciliation Week (May 27th to June 3rd), National Sorry Day (May 26th) and Mabo Day (June 3rd).

This year, Eddie Koiki Mabo Library is proud to present an exhibition of the works of

Aicey Zaro

Kara Uteb, Kara Nerkep

My Home, My Heart

(May 21st - June 10th)

The exhibition will be held on the ground floor of the Eddie Koiki Mabo Library, and is open to the public during Library opening hours.

Aicey’s artworks and other items from his gallery will be available for purchase.

Aicey Zaro was born in Ayr, North Queensland. His mother is an Aboriginal descendant of the Birri Gubba – Juru (the traditional people of the Burdekin area, North Queensland). His father is from Murray Island (Mer) in the Torres Straits, which is the northern-most part of Queensland situated between the tip of Cape York Peninsula, Australia and Papua New Guinea.

Aicey has always loved to draw and paint, and over the years he has created his own unique style. With his aboriginal and islander heritage Aicey has created a diverse range of art pieces in various media, including hand-painted silks, acrylic painting, hand-painted ceramics, hand-painted jewellery, and public murals. You can find Aicey's murals in Ayr, Home Hill, Giru (in the Burdekin district), Mackay and Sydney. His artworks reflect his love for the flora and fauna of the land and sea of Australia, which God has richly blessed.

Special Collections Fossickings 21: What price sea views? History of the Cairns Base Hospital.

noreply@blogger.com (Bronwyn) — Fri, 03 May 2013 07:29:00 +0000

When a friend was transferred to Townsville from the Cairns hospital, she was grateful for the treatment but sorely missed her Trinity Bay views – Mount Stuart just didn’t cut it! For, compared with Townsville Hospital’s nomadic history, the Cairns hospital has led a far more sedentary life, unable or unwilling to tear itself away from its seafront setting.

The hospital’s modest beginnings in 1878, two years after settlement, were not unlike those in Townsville 12 years earlier - just a few small rooms on the Esplanade between Shield and Aplin Streets. Nonetheless, Cairns citizens must have been glad to have had any kind of hospital for, until then, the nearest was a sea-voyage away at Port Douglas.

Within six years this humble building was replaced by something larger constructed a few blocks further north, on the site which was to become the hospital’s permanent home. While the appealing views of the foreshore and waters of Trinity Bay were doubtless considered to be aesthetically stimulating, the hospital’s proximity to mangrove and paperbark swamps was far from health-giving. Perhaps this gave impetus to the research of medical officer Edward Koch into the causes and treatment of tropical fevers. His name lives on in the Edward Koch Foundation, closely associated with JCU’s Cairns campus. Koch rightly made the connection between the fevers and the mosquitoes of the surrounding swamps, even developing an effective quinine-based medicine. Grateful citizens erected a memorial to him on the corner of Abbott and Spence Streets, in 1903, moving it to Anzac Memorial Park in the 1970s. Unlike Koch’s memorial, the hospital stayed put.

Cairns District Hospital in the 1930s, NQ Photographic Collection ID 1609, Wilson Album

Elevated on stumps, the second hospital building was constructed of timber in the Queensland bungalow style with wide verandahs, although some serious shortcomings meant that its office often doubled as an operating theatre. By 1912 a grander building, which became known as the Cairns District Hospital, was opened on the same site and, with various additions and extensions, survived for another 50 years. Today the Cairns Base Hospital is a large modern facility still on the site selected nearly 130 years ago. Although the mangrove swamps, or what remains of them, would be of little concern today, the location still exposes the hospital to the possibility of cyclonic storm surge or tsunami and remains controversial. Evacuation was considered, but avoided, as Cyclone Larry threatened in 2006 and went into force 5 years later with the approach of Yasi.

Screenrights Audit

noreply@blogger.com (Nathan) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 23:09:00 +0000

JCU has been selected as one of eleven universities to participate in the 2012-13 Screenrights television and radio survey. The survey will take place over six weeks from 15 April to 26 May 2013.

Under the University’s Screenrights licence, staff are allowed to copy and communicate (make available online and/or via email) programs broadcast on free to air TV, cable and satellite TV and radio. The purpose of the survey is to collect information to enable payment to be made to copyright owners for use of their work.

The following Schools have been selected to participate in the survey:

Arts and Social Sciences

Business

Creative Arts

Earth and Environmental Sciences

Education

Engineering and Physical Sciences

Law

During the survey period you will be asked to indicate whether you have made or communicated (via email or making available online, eg in LearnJCU, etc) any copies of television or radio broadcasts for educational (teaching) purposes. You will do this through the Nielsen online survey system. Once a fortnight during the survey period you will receive an email containing a link to your survey account. Clicking on the link will take you into the system, where you will be asked a couple of quick questions on your copying and communication activity. If you haven’t copied or communicated any programs the survey will take less than a minute each fortnight. If you have made or communicated copies you will be asked to provide some quick details about the program(s) so that payment can be made to the copyright owner(s).

The survey is compulsory and you will have received your first email from the Nielsen Survey Team on 29 April, covering activity in the first two weeks of the survey period. You will receive in total 3 emails to cover the 6 week reporting period. If you miss a reporting period, Nielsen will send you a reminder email.

Your cooperation is appreciated.

Heather Gordon

Director of Library & Information Services

JCU Copyright Officer

Feature database: Sage research methods

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Tue, 30 Apr 2013 03:05:00 +0000

Getting started with your research?

Do you know which method you want to use to answer your research question?

Try using SAGE Research Methods Online (SRMO) to work out which research method is best for you. SRMO is an online resource for users in the social and health sciences. SRMO helps researchers obtain reliable information about research methods, including the theory behind various methods and examples of how they have been applied in research settings.

SRMO is available from the Databases link on the Library and Computing Services home page.

Special Collections Fossickings 20: From ocean to mountain – the Townsville Hospital journey

noreply@blogger.com (Bronwyn) — Wed, 24 Apr 2013 05:19:00 +0000

Have you spent time in the Townsville Hospital? And was that the new or the old one? How many public hospitals have there been in Townsville? It seems that the very first structure to serve in that capacity was a modest, four-roomed weatherboard cottage at the south-east end of the Strand. With a name almost bigger than itself the “Burdekin and Flinders District Hospital” lasted less than a year here, being destroyed by a cyclone in 1866.


Hospital on Ross Island, NQ Photographic Collection ID 348, Willmett & Wyeth Album.

Several locations in North Ward were considered for a new hospital building before a site on Ross Island was selected in 1867 and tenders called in February 1868. By August it was almost complete, making it probably the first building on this now vanished feature of the South Townsville landscape.

With a frontage of 50 feet, wide verandahs and 4 wards, each containing 5 or 6 beds, this was certainly an advance on the Strand cottage but it was not long before the deterioration of the buildings, no doubt exacerbated by the collapse of the roof in 1875, prompted demands for a replacement. In 1878 tenders were called for the next “new” hospital, to be constructed on the northern slopes of Stanton Hill.

Hospital on Stanton Hill in the early 1900s, NQ Photographic Collection ID 4317, Townsville Albums

By 1881 hospital patients had moved into the reportedly “handsome two storey building overlooking the Bay [which] certainly for salubrity of position could not be rivalled at any other site”. Within a few years 70 beds were available and, as new wings were added, the re-named Townsville Hospital was clearly serving a wide area. Despite major damage, incurring the loss of nine lives, in Cyclone Leonta (1903) the hospital continued to grow over the following decades until the last but one of Townsville’s “new” hospitals opened on the Eyre Street site in 1951. It was to remain here, gradually outgrowing the site and its buildings, for the next half-century.

New hospital takes shape on Eyre Street site approx.1950, NQ Photographic Collection ID 252, W.J.Laurie Album

Just as Townsville itself started life anchored to the sea, so did the various incarnations of its public hospital remain within sight of it until its most recent move in 2001. From a 4-roomed cottage on the Strand to the present major facility in the shadow of Mt Stuart it has been a long and challenging journey.

Kay Jaumees History of the Townsville General Hospital 1861-2001 is held in the North Queensland Collection.

New title by JCU author

noreply@blogger.com (Claire Ovaska) — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 23:30:00 +0000

Edited by Prof. Bob Stevenson
Tropical Leader (Education for Environmental Sustainability)

Research on environmental education
The environment and contested notions of sustainability are increasingly topics of public interest, political debate, and legislation across the world. Environmental education journals now publish research from a wide variety of methodological traditions that show linkages between the environment, health, development, and education. The growth in scholarship makes this an opportune time to review and synthesize the knowledge base of the environmental education (EE) field. The purpose of this 51-chapter handbook is not only to illuminate the most important concepts, findings and theories that have been developed by EE research, but also to critically examine the historical progression of the field, its current debates and controversies, what is still missing from the EE research agenda, and where that agenda might be headed.

This book is available for loan from JCU Library.