APO’s research and Feature Collections act as knowledge hubs for key publications, data sets and other resources, bringing together both new materials and building up an archive that can be searched and analysed.
With our extensive database of research we can quickly pull together the key research on a particular issue from the APO archive as well as seeking out essential resources to add to the collection. In 2018 we have continued to grow our Special Collections supported by Major Partners, Australian Research Council (ARC) project partners and a range of other organisations.
Swinburne University of Technology is an APO Major Partner and host organisation for APO with a strong interest in design, social innovation, health and technology and their policy implications. The Design Innovation Collection considers how design affects society and vice versa from new product design, and the design of our built environment, to innovative service design and delivery. This collection is developed in collaboration with the Centre for Design Innovation at Swinburne University.
Digital inclusion is another key area for Swinburne researchers and the Digital Inclusion Collection includes resources on digital engagement, telecommunications, equity and access, eGovernment, libraries and services and much more. This collection was initiated by the Australian Digital Inclusion Index, NT Remote Aboriginal Cyber Safety project and the Dynamics of Digital Inclusion project.
The Social Impact Collection is curated in partnership with the Centre for Social Impact at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), the University of Western Australia (UWA) and Swinburne University. This collection contains nearly 1,000 resources covering the latest research on social issues, the social purpose sector, collaboration and measuring outcomes.
The University of South Australia (UniSA), another APO Major Partner, is supporting a number of key collections that have been set up in 2018.
The Cultural Policy and Creative Industries Collection, with 800 resources focuses on work by and about the cultural sector, including galleries, libraries, archives, museums, publishers, film and performing arts, organisation and arts funding, and advisory bodies. Additionally, the collection considers the broader creative economy including advertising, arts, television, music, crafts, fashion, research and development, radio, journalism, games, software and artistic expression more generally.
The Good Design for Health, Wellbeing and Care Collection is a new collection that brings together key policy-relevant resources relevant to the role of design and planning in supporting good health and the prevention of illness, workplace wellbeing, and the delivery of personalised care and health care services. It includes policy and research reports, presentations, guides and summaries, editorial and opinion articles, infographics and multimedia, and datasets which are pertinent to current deliberations in Australia, New Zealand and internationally.
The Ageing Society Collection is a feature collection that has been supported by UniSA since 2015 and includes nearly 900 key resources on topics such as: retirement and superannuation; nursing home care; ageing well; advanced medical directives; elder abuse and other issues concerning older people, human rights and social services. The Child Protection Collection also continues to grow as a key collection supported by UniSA with nearly 1,200 carefully curated resources.
The Australia and New Zealand School of Government (ANZSOG) has a major focus on Indigenous policy issues and as an APO Major Partner is supporting the development of an Indigenous policy collection to be launched in 2019. This collection will be based on APO’s already extensive repository of policy documents and resources. More on this next year.
LIEF LSP project collections 2018–2019
Funding via the Linkage Infrastructure, Equipment and Facilities (LIEF) Linked Semantic Platforms (LSP) project has enabled the establishment of multiple new APO collections, curating the latest and most valuable digital resources in hot topic policy areas.
A new collection Work, Learning and Wellbeing in the Digital Economy is collating and curating the latest thinking and evidence around the transformation of work and learning as we face what has become known as the ‘4th Industrial Revolution’ with the digital economy promising to transform society.
Digital challenges are also explored in a new collection Digital Health Systems which looks at local and international experience in delivering health, social and economic benefits from big health data and new digital technologies – tapping into relevant issues such as what researchers and advisers are really saying about MyHealthRecord.
APO is also supporting those working in complex social policy spaces. The new Family Violence: Policies, Evidence, Communities and Actions Collection follows the Victorian Royal Commission into Family Violence and the publication of 227 recommendations in 2017. This APO collection is focussed on evidence, evaluation and information sharing to support the next steps.
An Open Knowledge Collection is being established, building on an existing collection initially supported by APO and the Australian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG) on Innovation in Scholarly Communication. A curator for this collection will be based at Western Sydney University (WSU) working with CI Kerry London in collaboration with other LIEF partners and the WSU Digital Humanities Research Group and the Canadian Australian Partnership for Open Scholarship (CAPOS).
Cities, built environments and low carbon living – the search for evidence and solutions
APO also works with a range of organisations wanting bespoke collections and research services. A major project has been working with the CRC for Low Carbon Living for the last two years to develop a collection of policy research and resources on sustainable cities, built environment, transport, energy and other related topics. This is available on APO as the Low Carbon Living Collection and also on a new website called Built Better.
Another bespoke collection was developed for the Global Building Performance Network and delivered through a new website called the Building Policy How-to hub. This collection focuses specifically on supporting municipal policy advisers to develop sustainable building policies.
Contact us about Collections
If you would like to know more about setting up a research or resource collection on a topic of interest you can find more information here or contact Michelle Zwagerman mzwagerman@apo.org.au.
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