Emily Silvester

APO Workshop – Systematic Reviews for the Social Sciences

APO held its first workshop following the APO Annual Forum in October at Swinburne University of Technology. The workshop was facilitated by Dr Julia Littell, Professor of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College (US) who also works with the The Campbell Collaboration, an organisation dedicated to evidence synthesis for evidence-based policy and practice.

‘It was wonderful to see such highly engaged participants from a broad range of sectors at APO’s first workshop. The diversity in the room allowed for unique sharing of experience and ideas – not only by our knowledgeable workshop leader Julia, but from the participants themselves.’
APO Director Amanda Lawrence

Dr Julia Littell’s Systematic Reviews for the Social Sciences slides are now available to view. We’d like to thank Julia for her brilliant systematic reviews thought leadership on the day and for allowing us to make this resource publicly available.

Congrats to our 2018 work placement students

Work placement student Grace Coleman filming APO Director Amanda Lawrence at the APO Forum 2018

APO is delighted to report that several of our 2018 work placement students have recently gone on to find fantastic professional roles.

Grace Coleman accepted a Policy Analyst role at FPL Advisory in November. She joined APO in July when she was completing the final semester of her Bachelor of Politics, Philosophy and Economics at La Trobe University and worked under the guidance of APO’s Marketing Coordinator, Emily Silvester.

Grace worked on a range of projects, including the creation of a ‘What is Policy?’ article and video, a ‘How to Contribute a Resource to APO‘ video, analysis of the APO’s most popular reports from 2017, as well as interviewing, filming and producing APO Forum 2018 testimonials.

‘Grace was a fantastic addition to our small team. We quickly released that she had a talent for both policy analysis and producing media. She has an extraordinary ability to understand complex ideas quickly and was very motivated to create outputs that could be utilised by APO in our Marketing activities. All while maintaining a contagiously upbeat attitude,’ said Emily.

Julia Pham, who started her APO work placement in February, has accepted a role at multinational engineering firm AECOM. Julia – who was in the final year of her Arts (International Studies) and Commerce (Economics) degree at Monash University while she was at APO – said that she applied because she had found the APO website useful during her studies. ‘I applied for an APO placement because I have found the APO site incredibly helpful in the past,’ she said.

‘I’ve recommended APO to my fellow colleagues and we’re all using it now!’
Julia Pham

APO attends Oceans and Islands Conference

*Oceans and Islands Conference : APO Collections Editor Penelope Aitken, Dr Jackie Tuaupiki and Prof. David Robie*

In late November APO Collections Editor Penelope Aitken travelled to speak at the New Zealand Institute of Pacific Research’s Oceans and Islands Conference in Auckland.

While she considered the niche and nerdy topic of ‘The catalogue as a cultural practice’ she was delighted to share a panel with the ‘impressively young’ senior lecturer, Dr Jackie Tuaupiki from Waikato University discussing the reclamation of ancient Māori navigational knowledge as well as the extremely eminent former Rainbow Warrior crusader, Prof. David Robie speaking of the Pacific Media Centre and a concerning turn against media freedom during Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) being hosted in Papua New Guinea.

‘These and many other speakers were inspiring to learn of and to seek out for inclusion in APO’s Pacific Research Collection as it navigates into its second year on APO,’ said Penelope of her trip to New Zealand.
APO Collections Editor Penelope Aitken

APO Forum 2018 wrap up

The second APO Annual Forum took place on the 25th of October at Engineer’s Australia – a venue which never fails to impress with its stunning high rise views over Melbourne – where delegates were joined by an impressive array of speakers from around Australia and abroad.

Theme and topics

This year’s theme: ‘Redesigning the Public Knowledge System: New Tools and Strategies for Research, Policy and Practice’ addressed the global crisis in the production, use and management of publicly funded research and information across all industries.

Held during International Open Access Week in partnership with the Australasian Open Access Strategy Group (AOASG), the second APO Forum responded to the OA Week call to ‘Design the equitable foundations for open knowledge’. The purpose of this objective was to examine issues affecting research publishing and use in public policy, practice and industry, and to look at how we can change aspects of the system to ensure public knowledge is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable (F.A.I.R.), both now and into the future.

The Forum discussions broadly covered:

Business models and strategies for reinventing and supporting the public value of knowledge;
Innovative publishing and social data platforms;
The challenges and opportunities for research engagement and impact, knowledge mobilisation, equity and access, and open government; and
The potential and dangers of new technologies and automated decision-making.

Forum Sessions

Note: Videos and slides of the sessions will be made available shortly.

Kicking off the day’s proceedings was Professor Jane Farmer, Director of the Social Innovation Research Institute at Swinburne University and Chair of the APO Advisory Board. Jane also presented APO’s new brand video ‘It’s Good Policy’. Watch the video here:

APO launches new visual branding

You may have noticed that APO has some new branding across its collateral and website. APO Marketing Coordinator Emily Silvester has worked with brand design agency Studio ALTO to roll out the new branding across APO channels.

“We were looking for something bold and vibrant for our new branding. A design suite that really pops – yet is loyal to our digital library roots. ALTO delivered on that briefing one hundred percent.”
Emily Silvester, APO Marketing Coordinator

Keep an eye out for further appearances of the new branding as we roll out our 2019 marketing campaigns.

Watch our new APO ‘It’s good policy’ APO brand video.

APO Events – October 2018

APO Forum 2018: Redesigning the Public Knowledge System – Thursday 25 October

The APO Annual Forum is being held next week. To redesign the public knowledge system is a group effort, so there will be time for discussion and we will be filming and writing up the results of the day for publication. This is a very special event which we hope will lead to further advocacy and action on the issues raised. You can download the Program here. It’s not too late to Register!

This year we are also hosting a free networking event and film screening, and a workshop with US based academic Julia Littell on systematic reviews and evidence-based policy. See below for details.

Introduction to Systematic Reviews for Evidence-Based Policy: One day workshop – Friday 26 October

Systematic reviews are an increasingly popular approach to evaluating research and evidence across health and social science disciplines and now being used in many policy areas. The aim is to ensure your research and analysis is planned, structured and logical.

Dr Julia Littell

This workshop will be presented by Dr Julia Littell, Professor of Social Work and Social Research at Bryn Mawr College (US) who also works with the The Campbell Collaboration, an organisation dedicated to evidence synthesis for evidence-based policy and practice. Introduction to Systematic Reviews for the Social Sciences will be held on Friday 26 October at Swinburne University. This full day workshop is only $50/25 with lunch and slide printouts included. Book tickets

Paywall The Business of Scholarship: Networking drinks and film screening at ACMI X – Wednesday 24 October

Paywall In support of Open Access Week APO is hosting a FREE screening of Paywall: The Business of Scholarship on Wednesday 24 October. Join us for networking drinks from 6pm and film screening at 7pm at ACMI X, behind the Arts Centre on St Kilda Road. This documentary is essential viewing for anyone involved in academic research and publishing, or open science. Register here

Paywall image — Paywall: The Business of Scholarship

Get in touch

If you have questions about any APO events you can email us at event@apo.org.au

Guest Blog: The Stolen Generation: Eliminating intergenerational trauma in our nation – by Richard Weston

APO will be attending the Global Evidence and Implementation Summit (GEIS) 2018 this October – in the lead up, we offer a taste of some of the speakers. Richard Weston, CEO of The Healing Foundation, Canberra Australia, is a keynote speaker at the Global Evidence and Implementation Summit (GEIS) 2018, being held from 22-24 October in Melbourne, Australia. In this blog post, Richard describes how The Healing Foundation is using evidence to better understand and respond to intergenerational trauma for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Richard will present more about the organisation’s work at GEIS 2018.

The Healing Foundation in Australia, a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Organisation, is focused on eliminating intergenerational trauma and supporting our people to heal. We are not inherently ‘bad’ or ‘criminal’ people, although we make up disproportionate numbers in the child protection, juvenile justice and adult corrections systems in Australia. For example, we comprise almost one-third of the adult prison population but are only 3% of the overall population of Australia. Continue reading “Guest Blog: The Stolen Generation: Eliminating intergenerational trauma in our nation – by Richard Weston”