The Innovation in Heritage Services Award was announced at the QPLA LEaD Conference Dinner on Thursday 27 March in Townsville 2025. This new award provides recognition for the high-quality heritage programs and services provided by public libraries, IKC’s and RLQ’s across Queensland.
The objectives of the award are to:
- To recognise the diversity of heritage services provided by public libraries
- To encourage libraries to be innovative in the heritage services they provide
- To acknowledge, celebrate and share the diversity of heritage services provided within communities across Queensland
- To reward and acknowledge library services for providing heritage services within their communities
This Award has two categories and is proudly Sponsored by Accessible Formats Australia. The Awards were presented by Shane Clancy and Steven Oliver. Congratulations to both category winners!
The winner of the Over 35,000 population category was:
Ipswich City Council for their Defining Tulmur | Ipswich project.
The concept for Defining Tulmur | Ipswich was developed in 2023, with the framework created early 2024. The framework includes “Tulmur: Deep time” (including First Nations Peoples), “Convicts & Colonials 1827-1859”, and then sets of decades or periods up to “The Future 2030s and beyond”.
Existing collection items from Picture Ipswich were re-assigned to the framework and contextual histories added in the second part of the year.
The year-long project included collaboration between Ipswich Libraries’ Picture Ipswich and Council’s City Design Branch Heritage Program, culminated in the launch of Defining Tulmur | Ipswich in December 2024.
Defining Tulmur | Ipswich, an interpretative framework, overlays the existing Picture Ipswich website. It is designed to improve accessibility and understanding of the collection and Ipswich’s history for residents, students and teachers, researchers, homeowners and renovators, and community groups. Internally, it is being used to identify areas of needed research, such as our Indigenous and migrant stories, unique architectural character, and the lived experiences of Tulmur | Ipswich residents over thousands of years.
Our second award in the category was the Under 35,000 population category with the winner:
Western Downs Regional Council for their Picture Western Downs Project
Picture Western Downs is a Community-Driven, Digital-First Approach
In 2024, Following a transition to a new platform, designed specifically for digital heritage collections, Western Downs has been able to digitise, organise, and preserve historical materials with high-resolution images and detailed metadata in a wide range of file formats and metadata standards, ensuring the digital assets are preserved in the best possible quality.
Enhance community engagement has been achieved by making it easier for people to explore, contribute, and interact with the collection. The platform’s intuitive interface and interactive features, such as tagging and commenting, have significantly increased user participation.
Additionally, the collection has expnded to include a wider variety of historical images from local heritage groups and community members. This expansion has enriched the collection, providing a more comprehensive view of the region’s history.
The new Picture Western Downs website provides a dynamic and interactive space for both locals and those outside the region to engage with our history.
By addressing the limitations of the previous platform and leveraging the capabilities of the new, Western Downs has significantly improved the accessibility and engagement of the Picture Western Downs collection. The efforts have not only preserved the region’s rich history but also made it more accessible and engaging for future generations.
