Curtin Library’s Creative in Residence program got off to a colourful start in May, with eco-dyeing workshops led by artist Allira Sinclair.

Across the multiple sessions, students and staff came together in the Library Makerspace to experiment with natural dyeing techniques, using eucalyptus leaves and other locally sourced botanical materials to create unique textile prints. Alongside the creative process, participants shared stories and reflected on their connections to Curtin Library, sparking conversations about place, community and belonging.

The workshops attracted a great mix of staff and students, creating a welcoming and collaborative environment where creativity and conversation flourished. Participants also generously donated some of their finished textile pieces, which will be incorporated into a larger collaborative artwork by Allira as part of the 2026 Creative in Residence program.

Thank you to everyone who attended and contributed to this exciting project. We look forward to sharing the completed artwork when it is unveiled later this year.

Jesse Galea recently joined the Library as Library Technician in the Library’s Learning Success team. We spoke to Jesse to learn more about his background, work experience and role.

“I’m fairly new to the world of libraries, having only completed my Graduate Diploma in Information and Library Science early last year. One of my genuine motivating factors for studying that course was being frustrated by my local library’s inconsistent subject headings and wishing I could be the person to fix them. Around the same time that I graduated, I started working as a Library Officer in a public library, where I still work on the days I am not at Curtin. Before that, I studied a Bachelor of Arts (Creative Writing major, Professional Writing and Publishing minor), where I developed more of an interest in topics like copyright and plagiarism, censorship and how the so-called rules of writing and publishing aren’t as concrete or neutral as they might seem.

I recently joined Â鶹ֱ²¥ Library as a Library Technician in the Learning Success team. My role is quite varied, which I love. Some of my responsibilities include buying or digitising materials academics have requested for their reading lists, helping locate suitable alternatives to unavailable textbooks, doing detective work to track down working links whenever students report a broken link in a reading list, and working on a bunch of behind-the-scenes projects that most people won’t notice but will hopefully improve experiences with reading lists. A lot of my work feels like solving a puzzle, which is incredibly satisfying.

At first, the main challenge in my work was the amount of information I had to learn in this new academic library context. Things like how copyright works for an academic institution, what our responsibilities are in terms of accessibility, and how different publishers operate. Now, there is still a lot I don’t know, but it’s not overwhelming. I can feed my insatiable curiosity about how everything works and how I can help make things better. My favourite part of the role is doing the kinds of methodical, meticulous tasks that other people might find tedious or boring in the service of improving the experience of staff and students; it’s rewarding knowing that I’m helping people without them having to specifically ask for it.

Outside of work, I’m a huge reader, mostly of queer coming-of-age books, and I’m an unashamed spreadsheet enthusiast. I’m also a young adult literature writer, though I never seem to have as much time to write as I’d like.”

Written by Jesse Galea, Library Technician

When generative AI (GenAI) took off, universities were left to figure out, in real time, how to prepare students to use it well. Â鶹ֱ²¥ Library’s response was practical: build a resource that gives students what they need, from the ground up. That resource has been supporting students since 2023, and a significantly updated version went live in December 2025.

The Gen-AI Guide, available on UniSkills, is a free, self-paced learning module that assumes no prior knowledge. It takes students from a critical understanding of how GenAI works through to confident, responsible use in their studies. It works best completed in order, but each of its five sections also stands alone as a reference students can return to at any point.

What’s inside

The module opens with Understand, covering what GenAI is and how it works, including why it hallucinates and where bias creeps in. From there, Use introduces the Gen-AI Checkpoint, a practical framework for deciding whether and how to bring GenAI into a given task. Unpack zooms out to examine the broader implications of the technology and its likely future impact. Upskill gets hands-on, with an overview of common tools and a prompt library for practice. Finally, Declare and Reference walks students through how to properly acknowledge GenAI use in their assessments.

More than prompts and hallucinations

A working knowledge of GenAI goes further than most people initially expect. Knowing that a GenAI model can hallucinate is useful, as is knowing how to write a decent prompt. But genuine GenAI literacy, particularly for university students, means something more: understanding how you learn, what your assessments are asking of you, and making strategic decisions about when GenAI will support that process and when it will shortcut it in ways that cost you. It also means understanding the capabilities and limits of specific tools well enough to evaluate their output critically, something even experienced professionals are still working through.

The guide is designed to build that kind of reflective, transferable competency, not just tool familiarity.

Part of something bigger

The guide runs alongside a semesterly , giving students the option of self-paced learning, live facilitated sessions, or both. Together, they aim to build confidence and reduce the anxiety many students feel around the topic.

The technology will keep evolving, and so will this resource. If you work with Curtin students, we encourage you to share the guide with them. The more students who engage with it, the better equipped they will be to use GenAI in ways that genuinely serve their learning.

The Gen-AI Guide is free and open to all via :

Written by Emily McNamee, Project Coordinator

On Tuesday 2 June, Curtin Library was proud to host a special celebration of Indigenous excellence, spotlighting the Library Homeland exhibition and Whadjak Malayin Mia, a dedicated study space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

The Library Homeland exhibition is a collaboration between Library and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff, showcasing creative works and research outputs from Indigenous students, staff and Alumni. It also incorporates an art trail highlighting works from the John Curtin Gallery on display in the TL Robertson space.

Congratulations to our Indigenous Learning Advisor Eytahnyia Scott and Library Exhibitions and Programs Coordinator Jayne Cleave, whose dedication, creativity and leadership were instrumental in bringing the exhibition to life. The celebration commenced with a Welcome to Country by Nick Abraham, followed by remarks from Professor Jonathan Bullen, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Indigenous, and University Librarian Kylie Percival. Guests were also treated to creative performances from guitarist Rhys Bedford and Binar Dance Crew Binar Futures.

It was a beautiful celebration that brought people together to connect and engage in meaningful conversations about identity, belonging, culture and connection to Country. Aptly scheduled during National Reconciliation Week, the evening invited attendees to reflect on our shared history and the resilience of Indigenous culture. It was an opportunity to commit to the call to be All In for reconciliation.

Thank you to everyone who attended, contributed and helped create such a warm and welcoming atmosphere. If you haven’t had a chance to visit the Library Homeland exhibition yet, there’s still time. The exhibition remains open until Thursday 25 June.

The migration of Curtin’s Institutional Repository from DSpace to Figshare has now been completed.

Our commitment to open scholarship remains strong, and we’re pleased to take this opportunity to rebrand the Institutional Repository from espace to .

°Â³ó²¹³Ù’s&²Ô²ú²õ±è;²Ô±ð·É 

CURATE is now live and accessible at 

During this time, some features may continue to be adjusted as issues are identified and resolved. If you notice anything unexpected or have questions about your content in CURATE, please contact curate@curtin.edu.au. 

The first theses from recent HDR graduates are deposited in CURATE and available in the  

°Â³ó²¹³Ù’s&²Ô²ú²õ±è;±è±ð²Ô»å¾±²Ô²µ 

There is currently a temporary delay to the deposit integration between Elements and CURATE following the migration. Curtin Library is testing and validating this integration as part of post-migration checks to ensure deposits flow correctly and metadata is applied as expected. Deposit functionality in Elements will resume once this work is complete and the integration is confirmed as stable.

°Â³ó²¹³Ù’s&²Ô²ú²õ±è;³¦´Ç³¾¾±²Ô²µ 

Migration of the Curtin Research Data Collection will be our next focus.  

Guidance on depositing to the repository  including what research outputs are , is available through the Research Toolkit.  

Further updates and enhancements to repository workflows will be shared as additional features and improvements are rolled out.

Curtin Library is delighted to celebrate the publication of Senior Lecturer Grant Cooper’s open book, .

This is the first Curtin-authored Open Educational Resource (OER) published on our new Pressbooks platform. Released under a Creative Commons licence, the book can be shared, adapted, and built upon, provided appropriate attribution is given. Learn more about .

Fostering a Sense of Belonging in Science explores how students’ social, cultural, and economic backgrounds shape their participation, achievement, and sense of belonging in science. With a focus on underrepresented groups, including Indigenous Australian students, those from low-SES backgrounds, girls and women, and regional and remote learners, the book unpacks systemic barriers and offers practical strategies, case studies, and reflective tools for educators.

The Library congratulates Dr Cooper on this achievement and his contribution to Open Access publishing. You can browse other Open books via the .

Open Educational Resources (OERs) are a powerful tool for improving textbook affordability for students, ensuring authors’ rights to their work, and contributing to an equitable educational landscape.

Curtin’s Open Scholarship Policy encourages staff and students to publish OERs, and the library is here to help. Curtin Library has a new platform for creating and hosting Open Textbooks, via Pressbooks.

To learn more about adopting existing OERs into your reading lists, adapting an OER to suit your instructional needs, or creating your own open textbook from scratch, contact the Library: libraryhelp@curtin.edu.au

Written by Sarah Lucas, Learning Success Coordinator

This semester, the Library is proud to present Library Homeland, a new exhibition celebrating our Indigenous community. Created in partnership with Indigenous students, academics and researchers, the exhibition affirms the Library as a welcoming space that honours the Nyoongar Country on which we stand and fosters a strong sense of belonging for Indigenous students, staff and the wider community. Showcasing artworks, sculpture, poetry, research and cultural artefacts, the exhibition also invites visitors to follow an art trail highlighting Indigenous artworks and installations throughout the building.

We invite you to come and experience the exhibition on Level 3 of the TL Robertson Library. Library Homeland will be on display until the end of Semester 1 – drop by, explore the art trail and take some time to reflect, learn and connect.

Event details

Date: Open every day until the end of Semester 1, 2026
Time: Open 24/7
Venue:
Cost: Free (No RSVP required)

John Curtin came from a humble family and left school at just 13. How did this Western Australian become one of Australia’s greatest prime ministers, leading our nation through the Second World War with courage and wisdom? What lessons does his leadership offer today, and how did his era shape modern Australian society?

These are some of the questions explored in Â鶹ֱ²¥â€™s new free online credential,

Curtin Vice-Chancellor Professor Harlene Hayne said the free course was designed for professionals working across the private and public sectors to further their professional development.

The John Curtin Prime Ministerial Library (JCPML) is proud to have partnered with the Faculty of Humanities to develop the credential. The course content is led by lecturer in history Dr Andre Brett and JCPML’s special collections librarian and archivist Dr Nathan Hobby.

Using objects once owned by John Curtin from JCPML’s collections, Nathan appears in a series of videos telling the story of John Curtin’s life. The textbook for the credential is . Originally released as JCPML’s first publication in 1998, we have revised the book and published it as an ebook for the first time. The revised edition features references for all the quotations used, new photographs, and new formatting; it is now available through

The credential also draws on digitised primary sources from the JCPML catalogue and our webpages about different aspects of John Curtin’s life and career. It is free and open to the general public.

Photograph: John Curtin working at his desk on a Sunday morning, Lodge study, Canberra, 1942, JCPML00376/6.

Emily McNamee was recently appointed as Project Coordinator in the Learning Success team at Â鶹ֱ²¥ Library. We spoke to Emily to learn more about her background, work experience and her role.

“I began my professional journey as a language teacher after completing a Bachelor of Secondary Education and Linguistics. While my intention was to teach German in the United States of America, I instead had the opportunity to teach English abroad through the Fulbright Program in the beautiful alpine town of Innsbruck, Austria. This is where I met my partner, who is from Perth, Western Australia â€“ so after four years of English teaching in Europe, I moved to Australia with him. 

Since being in Perth, I have held a variety of roles, from bartender in the city to bike hire assistant on Rottnest Island, and later as an English Language Intensive Course for Overseas Students (ELICOS) teacher. It was while working as an English teacher at the language college Navitas that I became interested in the impacts of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) on education. I undertook a year-long action research program under the guidance of Professor Anne Burns and English Australia, looking into AI literacy and critical thinking. It was this research that ultimately led me to join the Â鶹ֱ²¥ Library as a Learning Success Advisor.

At the start of this year, I stepped into a newly created Project Coordinator role focused on supporting the development of AI literacy for students and Library staff. The goal of the role is to build genuine confidence and capability with continually evolving technologies through workshops, self-help resources, and hands-on teaching content. Alongside that, I will be managing project timelines, building connections for collaboration with other areas of the University, and quality-checking GenAI tools the Library may endorse. I’m really looking forward to the journey — and to collaborating with all of you along the way!

One of the most rewarding aspects of this role is helping people navigate what can feel like a moving target. GenAI is developing so rapidly that it’s easy to feel overwhelmed by the noise. Being able to cut through that and offer some genuine clarity feels like meaningful work.

What I’m perhaps most excited about, though, is tapping into the information science and digital literacy expertise already here in the Library and applying it to GenAI. I can’t wait to help shape that into concrete, shareable resources and advice that benefit the whole university community.

In my free time, I enjoy time in nature, whether that’s sitting outback with my three cats or going camping and mountain biking. I also like to get lost on the pottery wheel or in the streets of a new city with my partner. Our next stop is Bali, as seems only fitting after settling into life in Perth.”

Written by Emily McNamee, Project Coordinator

The , located within the John Curtin Precinct on the western side of Â鶹ֱ²¥, recognises the contribution to Australian society of wartime prime minister and international statesman, John Curtin (1885-1945). It is Australia’s first prime ministerial library and is situated on the Perth campus of Â鶹ֱ²¥ in Perth, Western Australia.

JCPML resides in an iconic building (Building 200A) with significant Curtin heritage.ÌýIt is a landmark building located at the entrance to Curtin University’s Bentley Campus, containing a dedicated archive and research space focused on the life and legacy of John Curtin.

Building 200A is about to undergo an extension and upgrade to accommodate additional Â鶹ֱ²¥ activities. This project will also include renovations and a new entrance to the JCPML.

The project is expected to take approximately 12 months, with works commencing shortly. While access to the physical JCPML space will not be available during this time, a large portion of the collection will remain accessible .Ìý