ed-online http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/ed-online/

Dear friends and colleagues,

Welcome to the third Museum Victoria 'ed-online' newsletter and the first
for the YEAR 2000.

We hope your celebrations for the year 2000 were enjoyable.

In this quarterly newsletter:

1. Learn how to subscribe to ed-online
2. New Screensavers available!
3. New online student project, FLYING COLOURS
4. Melbourne Museum opens in 2000
5. Scienceworks catalogue
6. Lake Mungo Field Tour
7. Raising the Mammoth! The excavation of a pre-historic woolly mammoth.
8. Immigration Museum catalogue

All measures for our ed-online site are showing enormous support for the
resources that we have online.

Over the summer (southern hemisphere) we have been working on some new
projects and some new features that will be launched progressively over the
next six months, watch out for these great new additions!!

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1. Learn how to subscribe to ed-online
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If you take a few minutes to register in full, you will have access to the
ed-online community newsletters and forums, competitions and specific
giveaways for fully registered users only. All it costs is a little of your
time!

http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/ed-online/registration/


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2. New Screensavers available!
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New Macintosh screensavers are now available at
http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/ed-online/forums/ssavers.htm

More screensavers will be online shortly.  If you have any suggestions,
please feel free to drop us a line!

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3. New online student project, FLYING COLOURS
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This is an early announcement for a new project that will be launched in
early May of this year.

The project is called flying colours and will be an online project that will
allow students to monitor and record their observations of butterflies in
their local areas and compare them to the Museum Victoria BIO-INFORMATICS
database.

The current bio-informatics project can be found at:

http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/bioinformatics/

This project will be a unique partnership between a number of very large
scientific and cultural institutions, providing students and learning
communities with unique opportunity to match online resources with some good
old field work!

Lots of activities, games and learning resources will be made available to
assist all involved in better understanding their environment.

Watch for a special bulletin and call for 'leader schools' later next month!

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4.  Melbourne Museum opens in 2000
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http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/melbmuseum/

Later this year, Museum Victoria will open the fourth of its world class
museums with the new Melbourne Museum!

It will be a storehouse of ideas, promoting public debate on issues relating
to the natural environment, new technology, and other changes occurring in
our society. People outside Melbourne will increasingly have electronic
access to the Museum's superb collections, research, exhibitions and
educational packages.

The Museum will incorporate Bunjilaka, the Aboriginal Centre; a Children's
Museum; a Study Centre to provide information access for the public; a
forest environment (Gallery of Life); excellent education facilities and a
state of the art storage facility for the Museum's collections. IMAX
Melbourne opened its doors on site in May 1998. This new partnership with
Museum Victoria is a really exciting innovation for the new museum.

Watch out for further announcements and offers online!

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5. Scienceworks catalogue
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Here at the Scienceworks shop we offer a great range of educational
merchandise. We have, over the past year, greatly expanded our range of
teachers' resource material with a particular emphasis on the Australian
setting.

Our selection of 'Practical Science' books from Dellasta caters from P-6,
with teacher's book and student's log priced from $4.95. We stock a range of
colourful and educational posters suitable for the classroom and much of our
stock focuses on hands on learning. Purchase orders may be phoned/faxed or
e-mailed through, with teachers receiving a special 10% discount.

We are open 7 days a week from 10am to 4.30pm. Entry to the shop is free and
we also have ample parking.

http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/scienceworks/

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6. Lake Mungo Field Tour
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http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/lectures/mungo/index.htm

A four day expedition to the Mungo National Park focusing on the significant
cultural and environmental heritage of the area, led by Professor Jim
Bowler, School of Earth Sciences, The University of Melbourne.

The field trip will focus on significant sites in  Mungo National Park,
located in the Willandra Lakes region of south-west NSW.  The enigmatic past
of this unique Pleistocene landscape will be explored. Members of the local
indigenous communities will also provide valuable insights into the
Aboriginal heritage of the region.

Field notes and relevant reading materials will be provided for each
participant. The field trip is limited to 20 participants to ensure personal
comfort.

Cost is $495.00. This includes expert tour guides, all catering, transport,
accommodation and reference material.

To make a booking and for further information telephone 61-3-9651 8124 or
email: [log in to unmask]


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7. Raising the Mammoth: The excavation of a  pre-historic woolly mammoth.
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http://www.museum.vic.gov.au/lectures/mammoth/index.htm

Free public lecture presented by Discovery Channel in partnership with
Museum Victoria.

Guest speaker: Dick Mol, leading Netherlands palaeontologist. Member of the
mammoth excavation team.

When

Thursday 24 February 2000, 6.30pm - 8.00pm. Light refreshments will be
served after the lecture.

Where

Swanston Room, Melbourne Town Hall
Main Entrance, Cnr Swanston and Collins Street
Melbourne Vic 3000

Bookings are essential.

Telephone (03) 9651 6112 or email: [log in to unmask]

In October 1999, the first fully preserved woolly mammoth was excavated by
an expedition team of international scientists led by Bernard Buiges. Found
on the Taimyr Peninsula, not far from the Arctic Ocean, the carcass of the
male woolly mammoth was airlifted from its frozen resting place of 23,000
years to an ice cave in Khatanga, Siberia.

The mammoth was first discovered in 1997 by a nomadic reindeer herder who
brought the site to Buiges attention. The site was x-rayed and revealed
bones, hair and soft tissue. Scientists hope that by examining the remains,
they will be provided with clues into why the species became extinct.
Scientists also hope to extract DNA from the 3.35 metre animal for possible
cloning.

The Discovery Channel funded and filmed the excavation. This two hour
documentary will air worldwide on the 12 March 2000. For further information
about Raising the Mammoth visit:

http://www.discovery.com/exp/mammoth/mammoth.html

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8. Immigration Museum catalogue
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"The Museum Shop at the Immigration Museum offers a  range of titles
focussed on current issues and Australian Social History, specifically,
Melbourne, Multiculturalism, Family History Research and the influences of
culture on contemporary society.

Purchase Orders may be phoned or faxed in with schools receiving a 10%
discount.

The Museum Shop is open 7 days a week, 10 am to 5pm.

Entry is free to the Ground Floor which includes the Shop, Discovery Centre
and Cafe.


http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/immigration/

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ed-online newsletter is a quarterly online newsletter distributed to
registered members of the Museum Victoria "ed-online" community: You can
register or update your details by pointingyour browser to:

http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/ed-online/registration/

No part of your details are distributed or aggregated in any way.
All personal details are kept strictly confidential by Museum Victoria.

For feedback please contact: [log in to unmask]
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The ed-online team!
Museum Victoria
http://www.mov.vic.gov.au/ed-online/