More than a reader and less than a critic: literary authority and women`s book-discussion groups

The phenomenon of women reading books collaboratively is largely invisible, and certainly under-researched. This study, based on extensive circulation figures and on a small sample of members of four Council of Adult Education reading groups in metropolitan Melbourne, argues that such groups have a reading repertoire which is seriously middlebrow, far removed from the “wish-fulfillment” or “lazy reader” stereotypes purveyed by some who would scorn such groups. The study finds that such groups are sensitively served by the institution which hosts them. While such groups do not question the aesthetic assumptions that underlie their practice, they are combative with some manifestations of the literary establishment. Their powerful preferences for contemporary Australian women's fiction and their participation in global debates via identity politics suggests they warrant closer examination, both within Australian culture, and to find out if such groups have counterparts in other cultures.

Comparison of brood size and juvenile weight between a blue strain and normal-coloured strains of the Australian freshwater crayfish Cherax Destructor Clark (Decapoda: Parastacidae)

A blue strain of the yabby Cherax destructor albidus was compared to two normal-coloured strains of C. d. destructor and C. d. albidus for brood size and juvenile weight. Reproductive performance of the blue strain was found to be significantly poorer than the two normal-coloured strains. Similarly, the weight of newly independent juveniles was also found to be significantly lower for the blue strain. No differences were detected between the two normal-coloured strains in either reproductive performance or size of newly independent juveniles. The phenotypic differences between the blue strain and normal-coloured strains are most likely genetic. However, further studies are needed to investigate whether these differences are due to pleiotropy or inbreeding effects.

Performance of juvenile Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii peelii (Mitchell), fed with diets of different protein to energy ratio

The results of a 56-day experiment on juvenile Murray cod, Maccullochella peelii peelii, an Australian native fish with a high aquaculture potential, of mean weight 14.9 ± 0.04 g, fed with five experimental diets, one a series of 40% protein content and lipid levels of 10, 17 and 24% (P40L10, P40L17 and P40L24), and another of 50% protein and 17 and 24% (P50L17 and P50L24) lipid are presented. The specific growth rate (SGR) (% day−1) of fish maintained on different diets ranged from 1.18 to 1.41, and was not significantly different between dietary treatments, except P40L10 and the rest. However, there was a general tendency for SGR to increase with increasing dietary lipid content at both protein levels. The food conversion ratio (FCR) for the 40% protein series diets were poorer compared with those of the 50% protein diets, and the best FCR of 1.14 was observed with the P50L17 diet. The protein efficiency ratio (PER), however, was better in fish reared on low protein diets. The net protein utilization (NPU) also did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) in relation to dietary treatment. As in the case of PER the highest NPU was observed in Murray cod reared on diet P40L24 and the lowest in fish fed with diet P50L24. The carcass lipid content reflected that of the diets, when significant increases in the lipid content was observed in relation to dietary lipid content at both protein levels. However, body muscle lipid content did not increase with increasing dietary lipid content, and was significantly lower than in the whole body. The fatty acids found in highest concentration amongst the saturates, monoenes and polyunsaturates (PUFAs) were 16 : 0, 18 : 1n-9 and 22 : 6n-3, respectively, and each of these accounted for more than 60% of each of the group's total. The muscle fatty acid content was affected by the dietary lipid content; for example the total amount (in μg mg−1 lipid) of monoenes ranged from 72 ± 5.1 (P40L10) to 112 ± 10 (P40L24) and 112 ± 2.8 (P50L17) to 132 ± 11.8 (P50L24) and the n-6 series fatty acids increased with increasing dietary lipid content, although not always significant. Most notably, 18 : 2n-6 increased with the dietary lipid level in both series of diets.

Preliminary study on the use of synthetic substrate for juvenile stage production of the yabby, Cherax destructor (Clark) (Decapoda: Parastacidae)

Juvenile Cherax destructor (commonly called the yabby) (mean weight 48.3 mg) were cultured intensively (stocking density 360/m²) under controlled conditions for 48 days. The animals were provided with a combination of food (high protein pellets and/or natural feed organisms attached to a conditioned synthetic substrate) and refuge. Fastest growth and highest yield was recorded when both pellets and the conditioned synthetic material were provided. Although the yabbies sheltered in the synthetic substrate, it did not increase survival. Juvenile yabbies (< 200 mg) were able to graze on small organisms attached to the synthetic material but this ability appeared to decline as the yabbies grew to a larger size. The use of artificial substrates in the intensive nursery phase production of juvenile freshwater crayfish is discussed.

Voluntarism, salvation, and rescue : British juvenile migration to Australia and Canada, 1890-1939

This article explores the relationships between governments and selected voluntary organisations involved in British migration to Australia and Canada from the 1890s to the Second World War. Prior to the Great War, there was considerable ill feeling by Dominion governments, especially Australian, towards philanthropic organisations, which appeared to undermine official immigration schemes through their attempts to reclaim and transplant the unwanted. Although voluntary associations were later subsidised by the British government and came under the group nomination schemes of the 1922 Empire Settlement Act, they were still viewed with suspicion. Organisations focusing on 'salvation', 'redemption' and 'rescue' in their migration work, however, provide us with an alternative ideology to the idea of building up 'fit populations' in the Dominions, where the notion of 'fitness' was perceived in a number of ways, not least in terms of class.

Fakes, literary identity and public culture

The fake presupposes the genuine. The fake author implies the real author, and fake literature presupposes real literature. But literature itself is often about— perhaps fundamentally about—successfully faking it. However, the concern and hostility with which literary public culture has responded to fake authors and what is deemed to be their “fake” literature suggests that the notions of real authors and literature remain centrally important.

Literary concepts and the plea in mitigation

The article focuses on the plea in mitigation, one of the most common occurrences in the criminal justice system. Methods of approaching the plea in mitigation typically emphasize the need for the advocate to address the circumstances of the offence and offender. Typically, such matters are put forward as items on a list which the advocate must ensure are addressed during the plea in mitigation. Whilst it is important for those matters to be covered in providing the factual background, or context, of the offender and the offence, it is contended that in a plea in mitigation it is not sufficient nor adequate to simply present such matters to a judicial officer at sentencing and to allow those matters then to be assembled and interpreted by the sentencing judge.

The unhallowed art : literature and literary fakes in Australia

The fiction of Peter Carey is peopled by the unhallowed; by ghosts and the ghostly. In Bliss (1981), Carey presents us with the Dantesque trials of an advertising executive after he has a heart attack on his front lawn. In The Unusual Life of Tristan Smith (1994), phantom nations are inhabited by simulacra. In True History of the Kelly Gang (2001), a dead bushranger talks. Carey's My Life as a Fake (2003), the subject of this essay, gives us an apotheosis of this literary habit of bringing the unliving to life. It presents us with the flesh-and-blood, machete-wielding, gladiatorial figure of Bob McCorkle, a poet created as a literary hoax.

Democratising the literary experience: metafiction in the novels of Agusta Wibisono

This paper is a study of the intersection of text, context and presentation in Agusta Wibisono's two novels based on the wayang shadow puppet theatre of Central Java, Balada Narasoma (The Ballad of Narasoma) (1990) and Balada Cinta Abimanyu dan Lady Sundari (The Ballad of the Love of Abimanyu and Lady Sundari) (1990). It should be observed from the outset that in the field of modern Indonesian literary studies Agusta Wibisono is a virtually unknown figure, and in Indonesia his two novels are long out of print and now extremely hard to find. The publishing house responsible for the novels' initial print run, Pustakakarya Grafikatama, is now defunct. Adding to the enigma surrounding this man, Agusta Wibisono is in fact a pseudonym for a writer and a pilot in the Indonesian airforce, Mohammad Agus Suhadi.

Web publishing revisited-a case study of literary websites in Russia

The concept of web publishing has been widely discussed in IS research literature since the WWW emerged. The discussion in various publications often revolves around the issues of business success and profitability, web design, and effective content presentation. This paper is a study of one of the “unknown” segments of the Internet - a family of websites publishing literary works in the Russian language. We demonstrate that the innovative model adopted by site owners in building the relationships with the site customers, and the information technology selected for the sites can play a crucial role in the success of a web-based venture. Our analysis is based on the concepts of virtual community and socio-technical interaction. We discuss the  contribution of this case not only to the innovative use of the Web-based business models, but also to the new forms of literary life and national  culture. Some of the concepts, principles and practices, adopted on those sites may be of interest to the Internet developers and communities worldwide.

Virtual non-profit organisations : literary virtual communities in Russia

This paper is a study of one of the "unknown" segments of the Internet - non-profit ventures in the Russian language. Based on the understanding of the concept of virtual community we consider the family of free publishing literary websites. We discuss their experience to demonstrate their contribution not only to the national culture, but also to the creation of open and democratic society in the former communist world, and to new forms of literary life. Some of the innovative concepts, principles and practices, adopted on those sites may be of interest to the Internet developers and communities worldwide.