About the Australian Studies Network

22 March 2002: Time for a routine update on the ASN site. I do try to keep up with all the associations and centres dealing with Australian Studies. The list on our homepage seems reasonably complete and very accurate. Please let me know of any other sites that should be entered.
As I suspected, the folks who took over the Australia WWW Virtual Library have apparently let it go. I can no longer find it online anywhere and no attempt was made to formally change the ownership of the site. I wonder if that is a reflection of the interest in world-wide Australian Studies at present....
Also, I am still the editor of the New Zealand WWW Virtual Library (NZVL) - which has fallen badly out of date. If anyone is interested in taking over that project, please get in touch. ([email protected])

18 January 2002: The Australian Studies Network continues to contract. I have removed the link to the World Wide Web Virtual Library for Australia. Unfortunately the folks who took over the editing of the library have let it drift away. While I try to keep the basic set of links to "off-shore" associations and programs, the areas with original content (research sources, historical references, etc) remain static, although still of some value.

11 August 2001: Just a brief update. Although the Virtual Library has been transferred, the new editors have been a bit slow getting it moving. Please, do not send me request for changes in the VL.

All is going well with my new job here in San Antonio, Texas - forgot just how hot the summers were!

I am trying to keep the basic elements of the Australian Studies Network operational. Most of the links to the centers and associations are accurate. If you know of other sites that should be listed, please drop a note.

For those who really follow this network, you will notice that the "flagship" site we have operated for the last five years is now moved. The official World Wide Web Virtual Library is now edited in ///// - appropriate that it be run from Australia. There is no way I could do justice to the project now that I am working outside the field of Australian Studies. I'm sure that /////// //// and his team will do a great job with the project.

In mid-1995 the Australian Studies Network was created. It grew out of the ambitious project placing Australian studies on the internet started at the Australia-New Zealand Studies Center at Pennsylvania State University. The Network was the first of its kind and remains predominant in the field.

The intent was to provide a means through which academics from around the world with an interest in Australian studies could find a central point of contact. From this one site all centers, associations, programs, etc, etc would be easily located on the internet. In addition, the site housed the official World Wide Web Virtual Library for Australia. From the start, the Network has avoided becoming involved with any on-shore Australian programs. It is intended to bind together those working outside of Australia.

One primary goal of the project was to allow Australian studies groups to have a presence on the internet. Web sites were created and served through the Network for any group requesting help. This was done for free - at no cost to the requesting program (although the Australian Education Office and AAALS were generous in their financial support). Many groups from around the world took advantage of this service. Programs getting their internet start through the Network include: major centers such as Menzies in London and Georgetown in Washington, the North American, European and Asian Australian Studies Associations, smaller groups such as the Sydney University Graduates, the Western Social Studies Association, and the Singapore center.

Once launched and maintained by this Network, the idea was for those programs to eventually take over operation of their own web sites as they obtained the knowledge and funding. It is encouraging that many have done so and now have active independent sites.

Another goal of the Network was to establish several new sources of information. An attempt was made to set up an international directory of academics working in the field of Australian studies. A major project involved listing primary and secondary resources available online for research in the field. And there was to be a current listing of events and announcements of importance.

After five years, results are somewhat mixed. The site has become the premier Australian studies location on the internet. Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of visitors from every country in the world contact the site daily. The volume of email indicates vast usage. The awards given to the site are many and it is listed by the important media agencies as a primary resource for information. Its value to the international community can not be questioned.

However, there are problems. Although the Network is of obvious value to the Australian community, repeated efforts to gain even minimum funding from the Australian government have met with complete indifference. The few full-time academics involved in Australian studies around the world are generally so desperate to insure their own survival that they are unable to provide support to an outside project such as this. The business community has been unable to see profit related to this non-profit academic endeavour.

The Australian Studies Network has been a "one-man operation". For the last fifteen years Australian studies has been my life. First as a post-graduate student helping to create and run the University of Texas center, then completing my PhD at the University of Sydney for four years, next at the Penn State Center for three years, followed by a year at Open Learning Australia in Melbourne. From there a period of eighteen months of unemployment followed by my current position working for the United States Government in a field completely unrelated to Australia. Throughout this time I have managed to keep up (in varying degrees) with the Network and the Virtual Library (and, also, the Virtual Library for New Zealand).

I'm not ready to quit - yet. I do want to maintain my involvement with Australia and I do believe that the volume of traffic to the Network indicates that it is serving a valuable purpose to the public. However, it is necessary to limit my ambitions. Readers will note that some aspects of the project have been curtailed. The database of academics is no longer updated. The support information to help K-12 teachers has been removed - it is back to requesting help from the Australian embassy. The detailed directory of world-wide publications (journals and newsletters) available online has been removed. I'm pulling the plug on the mirror sites in Australia and in Europe. And I will be unable to answer most of the email question that come in from all parts of the world. (The volume and scope of questions and requests from the public is beyond belief!)

The Network will remain as long as possible. And the Virtual Library, although not as vast and as current as it should be, will continue. I'll do what I can, but I hope the reader will understand my situation. Please feel free to contact me about any serious issues or suggestions - I can always be reached at [email protected].

Cheers,
Dr Frank B Poyas
19 November 2000