Society for Caribbean Studies Post-Doctoral Essay Prize

Researchers are reminded that the Society for Caribbean Studies Post-Doctoral Essay Prize deadline is February 28th 2009.

The SCS annual essay competition is open to postdoctoral scholars undertaking original research in the field of Caribbean Studies. The competition is funded by the British Academy Learned Societies Programme and forms part of the Joint Initiative for the Study of Latin America and the Caribbean (www.jislac.org.uk). The winning author will receive a cash prize of £500 and the paper will be published on the Society website. The winning paper may also be considered by the Editors for publication in the Bulletin of Latin American Research.

Papers should be submitted electronically to Clare Newstead at clare.newstead@ntu.ac.uk by 12 noon, 28th February 2009. Alternatively, three hard copies can be mailed, post-marked before noon on February 28th, to Clare Newstead at the address below.

Conditions of the competition:
* The subject of the paper should contribute to the advancement of Caribbean research * The author must have gained a PhD by the time of submission of the paper* The paper should not have been published or submitted for publication elsewhere * Previously submitted papers will not be accepted and former winners of the prize are not eligible to apply * Papers should be double-spaced and no more than 8,000 words in length (including notes, but excluding the bibliography). There are no strict rules about the format and style of the essay, but it should follow standard academic conventions.

The prize winner will be announced at the 2009 annual conference of the Society for Caribbean Studies at the Wilberforce Institute for the study of Slavery and Emancipation, University of Hull, July 1-3.

Information is also available on the SCS website: http://www.caribbeanstudies.org.uk/bursariesPrizes/scsEssayPrize.htm

Snow update

All buildings of the University including the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library will be open as normal today. Do take care if coming in as the snow is compacted in many areas coming in to the Institute and can be slippery.

ANZLAG workshop

The annual ANZLAG (Australia and New Zealand Library and Archives Group) workshop will be held on Friday 8th May 2009, and hosted by the Menzies Centre for Australian Studies at Kings College London. This is both advance notice and a call for presentations and papers.

We are interested in presentation on the following themes:
· Labour history
· Exploration and maps
· Notable library and archive collections in the UK and Europe

With relevance to Australia, New Zealand and/or the Pacific

Researchers, librarians and archivists are all encouraged to contact David Clover at the Institute of Commonwealth Studies (david.clover@sas.ac.uk) with suggested topics – and we would encourage anyone interested to get in touch.

Further details of programme and cost will be sent out once available

Snow

Owing to the adverse weather conditions and staff shortages, the Institute of Commonwealth Studies Library (and the Senate House Library) will close to users at 2.30pm today. We hope to be open tomorrow but please check our website or phone 020 7862 8842 before travelling.

Opportunity at the British Library - Australia and New Zealand Curator

Australia and New Zealand Curator
British Library
St Pancras
London
£29,332-£34,237 p.a.

An exciting opportunity has arisen for a specialist curator to take responsibility for developing and exploiting the BL's extensive collection of books and serials published in Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands. As the sole curator for the Pacific area, you will also answer queries, liaise with external organisations and promote greater awareness and use of the collection by scholars, researchers and general readers. Ensuring that acquisitions from the region are maintained to the highest level will be crucial to your success.This challenging post calls for an enthusiastic and well-organised curator with a degree preferably related to Australian or New Zealand studies, and / or ideally a professional qualification and/or experience in library or information science. You will have specialist knowledge of some aspects of the area’s literature, history, economics, politics and arts, and will be keen to use, increase and share your expertise by taking on the role of the Library’s expert on the Pacific region.To apply, please visit www.bl.uk/recruitment
Ref: S&C00157 • Closing date: 9 February 2009

Archive Cataloguing project: Catholic Institute for International Relations

The ULRLS commences an exciting new archives cataloguing project this week, which will provide improved access to the papers of the Catholic Institute for International Relations. These papers relate to Southern Africa, Sri Lanka, and Latin America, and were recently deposited with the libraries of the Institute of Commonwealth Studies and the Institute for the Study of the Americas. A one-day conference is planned as part of this project, looking at the role of NGOs in development and resources for the study of such NGOs. The ULRLS is grateful to the Vice Chancellor's Development Fund, which has funded this project.

We are therefore delighted to welcome Jane Kirby who has taken up the archives cataloguing post for this project. Jane joins us having just completed a project at the Wellcome Library.

Titles received in December

Click to view all additions to the Reference Collection for December