APO Blog

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.

APO identifier for library catalogues

APO is working towards standardising its metadata putting an APO ‘stamp’ – a unique identifier on each record that credits APO with doing the cataloguing.

APO is working towards standardising its metadata. No, this doesn’t mean we are tapping phones or retaining anyone’s browsing history (search for ‘data retention’ in APO for this policy topic if it is of interest. And then clear your history). By metadata we mean the way that we catalogue the reports, articles and so on in our database. And part of standardisation includes putting an APO ‘stamp’– a unique identifier on each record that credits APO with doing the cataloguing. This is important when APO records are shared beyond the website, for example with other databases or library systems.

To ensure APO is uniquely identified in other database contexts, we have been allocated a unique code by the Library of Congress, Network Development & MARC Standards Office. You can now find APO in the MARC Code List for Organizations. APO needs to be in this list so that when our metadata is shared in library systems, the catalogue indicates that the record was created by us.

And what is the code? AU-HaAPO (normalized: auhaapo). But only a metadata nerd would ask this. 🤓

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 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

New home for regional research and policy resources

A new collaboration between RAI and APO will secure access to regional research and policy resources into the future.

In November 2017, [In]Form RAI’s online library of regional research moved to APO. Since 2012, RAI has gathered over 2500 resources in the [In]Form library. [In]Form has grown into a valuable tool for government, academics and regional communities and has helped to guide RAI’s policy agenda.

Moving to APO will enrich APO’s regional content and allow it to grow into the future. APO is updated daily, moderated by editors and features user-friendly search and browsing. It is used by an extensive audience of policy makers, practitioners and researchers.

Since 2016, APO has employed a Regional Development Editor, based at RMIT University, who specialises in regional resources.

APO and RAI are confident this collaboration will allow us to continue to share knowledge, ideas and practical solutions to improve prosperity in regional Australia.

All [In]Form content will be available at http://apo.org.au/collections/regional-development/

It will continue to be available at http://inform.regionalaustralia.org.au/ for a certain period but will not be updated.

To explore APO’s features or sign up to daily or weekly newsletters, visit http://apo.org.au

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.