2020

PIMRIS Lower Campus library moved its Bob Johannes collection from the Staff workroom to its general collection area. This enabled the creation of its new Discussion Area (for groups).

2019

DELL Laptops and Canon LiDE flat scanners from the PIMRIS-Taiwan ROC project for Tokelau and Fiji Fisheries libraries were handed over to senior officials. The Director for the Fiji Ministry of Fisheries thanked PIMRIS and the Taiwan ROC project for the assistance at their headquarters in Suva. A new librarian for Fiji Fisheries had just been recruited and is a former staff of the USP Laucala Library.

The Tokelau government representative in Suva received the equipment on behalf of their Fisheries department and delivered the equipment.

In December, the PIMRIS Coordinator conducted an Information Research Skills training for the Fiji Fisheries staff at its headquarters. Eighteen staff learned more about PIMRIS, its resources and services especially its MOANA, Regional Repository and USP Aquatic databases as well as USP Library services and resources.

2018

DELL Laptops and Canon LiDE flat scanners for Kiribati Fisheries and the Solomon Islands Fisheries libraries were delivered by colleagues from the USP Laucala library who had travelled to these countries to conduct Information Research Skills (IRS) training on USP campuses.

These equipment are part of the PIMRIS Taiwan project towards improving access to and preserving national fisheries/marine reports and other publications. We acknowledge the assistance of USP library colleagues and the financial support of Taiwan ROC.

In July, the USP Library network (Laucala and regional libraries) migrated to SirsiDynix Symphony Integrated Library System (ILS).

2017

In July, PIMRIS trained its new Library Assistant on PIMRIS network activities such as the preparation of records and documents for its Greenstone Regional Repository and USP Aquatic databases. Caroline Nand was transferred from the main USP Library Laucala as part of its annual staff rotation programme.

4-7 October 2016

The 17th PIMRIS Steering Meeting was held from 4-7 October 2016, at the USP Laucala Library Conference room and ICT Professional Lab in Suva, Fiji. This meeting enabled PIMRIS and its stakeholders to review activities of the past two years and prioritise its work plan for the next two. PIMRIS acknowledges the support of the government of Taiwan ROC (as in previous years) in funding this meeting (and participation of most delegates) and the week’s training activities.

12-16 September 2016

PIMRIS coordinator, Susana Macanawai attended the ASFA Advisory Board Meeting in Ha Noi, Viet Nam from 12-16 September 2016. This is the coordinator’s first ever participation in any ASFA advisory board meeting. Susana presented the PIMRIS annual report and took part in discussions. PIMRIS acknowledges the kind support of ASFA in funding this trip and the opportunity to learn more about ASFA and its activities.

14-18 September 2014

The PIMRIS Coordinator and some members of the Pacific Islands Regional Group (PIRG) for IAMSLIC, attended the 40^th Conference of IAMSLIC (International Association of Marine Science Libraries and Information Centres) from 14-18 September 2014 at the SPC Headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia.  The Coordinator’s participation was made possible through funding from the University of the South Pacific’s Staff Development Funds.

9-12 September 2014

The SPC Librarian, Mary-Clare Ame and PIMRIS Coordinator, Susana Macanawai participated in an ASFA Training carried out by the ASFA Editor-in-Chief, Helen Wibley at the SPC Library in Noumea, New Caledonia from 9-12 September 2014.  This training was arranged to teach about proper ASFA inputting processes, procedures and record submission.  Ms Wibley and FAO-ASFA Trust Fund’s contribution to making this training possible is acknowledged.

7-11 July 2014

The 16^th PIMRIS Steering Committee Meeting and Training was held at the USP Laucala Library Conference Room and USP ICT Centre in Suva, Fiji from 7-11 July 2014.  This meeting and training was made possible through financial assistance from the IODE Project Office in Oostende, Belgium, the USP Library and continued support of our regional partners (SPC, FFA & SPREP).

20-24 October 2013

The Secretariat of the Pacific Community (SPC) Librarian, Mary-Clare Ame attended the 39^th IAMSLIC Conference in Dania Beach, Florida, USA from the 20-24 October 2013.  The theme for the conference this year was, ‘Visualizing a Bright Future’.  The next IAMSLIC conference in 2014 is to be held at the SPC Headquarters in Noumea, New Caledonia.

30 September – 4 October 2013

The PIMRIS coordinator, Susana Macanawai participated in the Ocean Teacher Academy Training course on ‘Digital Asset Management’ organised by the UNESCO/IOC Project Office for IODE & IOC Sub Commission for Africa and the adjacent Island states.  The training was held at the Kenya Marine and Fisheries Research Institute in Mombasa, Kenya from 30^th September – 4^th October 2013.  The PIMRIS coordinator’s participation at the workshop was funded by the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission through the kind support of the Government of Flanders (Kingdom of Belgium).

September 2013

The Pacific Marine Twinning Programme continued its activities this year with a visit by the Australian counterparts to the Kiribati and Samoa Fisheries libraries in September 2013.  These visits to the islands is part of the PMTP’s AusAID funded project to develop and promote closer collaboration between  marine libraries in the Pacific Islands and Australia.

12-16 March 2012

The ODIN-PIMRIS Joomla training, coordinated by the PIMRIS Coordination Unit and attended by Librarians of Pacific regional organizations (SPC, FFA & SPREP) and USP Library was held for a week at the new USP ICT Centre at Laucala Campus (Upper) in Suva, Fiji from the 12-16 March 2012.  Training was conducted by IODE’s Webmaster & IT expert, Aditya Kakodkar as part of ODIN-PIMRIS’ planned activities.

23-27 May 2011

Ataban T. Kapule, Librarian/SFO Information & Library MFMR, Honiara, Solomon Islands, attended the IODE Ocean Teacher Course on ‘Disaster Planning and Recovery’ funded and organised by UNESCO/IOC Project office for IODE in Oostende, Belgium from 23-27 May 2011.

4-7 May 2011

PIMRIS network members and ODIN-PIMRIS project representatives met in Suva, Fiji to review the ODIN-PIMRIS pilot project (2009-2010), assess past and plan 2011-2012 PIMRIS activities and learn more from the IODE organised ‘Disaster Planning & Recovery’ online discussion and additional refresher sessions and demonstrations on Koha and Greenstone library systems.  The meeting was held at the USP Laucala Library conference room.

21-26 March 2011

Susana Macanawai, PIMRIS Coordinator, attended the 21st Session of the IODE Committee and the IODE 50th Anniversary International Conference in Liege, Belgium.  The ODIN-PIMRIS Pilot Project Progress Report (2009-2010) was presented by the coordinator at this meeting.

1-7 July 2010

Jainul Ali, PIMRIS Library Assistant, attended the OceanTeacher Academy Course on ‘Disaster Planning and Recovery for Marine Librarians’ funded and hosted by UNESCO/IOC Project Office for IODE in Oostende, Belgium from 1-7 July 2010.

15 October 2009

Eddie Marahare, FFA Librarian, attended IODE Training Course on Digital Asset Management organized by UNESCO/IOC Project Office for IODE and hosted in Oostende, Belgium from 2nd to 7th of October 2009.

25 August 2009

The 14^th PIMRIS Steering Committee Meeting was held 24 August 2009 in Suva, Fiji. A total of 20 PIMRIS members and observers attended the meeting.

25 August 2009

A Training Workshop on E-repository for the participants of the ODIN-PIMRIS pilot project was held at USP, Suva, Fiji, 17-21 August 2009. The Agenda of the Workshop is available here.

30 June 2009

Ms. Emeline Langitoto Taufalele from Tonga Fisheries Library was sponsored by IODE to attend the Training Course on Website Development held in IOC Project Office for IODE, Oostende, Belgium from 15-26 June 2009.

12 June 2009

The online Portal of the Pacific Islands Marine Resources Information System (PIMRIS) has been launched on http://www.pimrisportal.com

15 May 2009

The ODIN-PIMRIS project budget and work plan was approved by the participants of the 20th Session of IODE (4-8 May, Beijing, China). The ODIN-PIMRIS poster was displayed and the Pacific Islands Marine Portal was demonstrated to the participants of the meeting.

10 May 2009

Jean-Paul Gaudechoux [left], the longest standing PIMRIS participant, completed work as Fisheries Information Advisor at SPC in April 2009 after a long and very productive association. The new representative in PIMRIS is Aymeric Desurmont [right]. Aymeric is Fisheries Information Officer and has worked at SPC for many years.

25 May 2009

A Workshop on the creation of the Pacific Islands Marine Portal was held from 16-20 March 2009 at the Project Office for IODE in Oostende, Belgium. Participants (Peter Murgatroyd (SPREP), Jean-Paul Gaudechoux (SPC). Dorene Naidu (SOPAC) and Maria Kalenchits (PIMRIS CU, USP) worked with IODE staff on technical solutions for the portal and also discussed portal content, design and promotional materials.

17 February 2009

The Sixth SPC Head of Fisheries Meeting took place at SPC Headquarters in Noumea, from 10^th to 13^th February 2009. The meeting outcomes can be found here and an overview of the ODIN-PIMRIS project activities presented at the meeting by the PIMRIS Coordinator can be found here.

10 February 2009

The PIMRIS Coordination Unit acquired two new Library staff in January 2009. Jainul Ali [right] transferred to PIMRIS from the USP’s Main Library where she worked in the Cataloguing Section to replace Frances Chute. Sanjini Lata [left] replaced Sheik Rehman as a part-time Junior Library Assistant. Before joining Reader Services at USP Library in May 2006, Sanjini worked as intern consultant at UNDP Pacific Centre. She is presently undertaking the Diploma in Library/Information Studies at USP.

22 September 2008

The ODIN-PIMRIS Pilot Project Meeting was held in conjunction with 34th IAMSLIC Annual conference on Friday, September 18th, at USP, Suva, Fiji. The meeting was called to discuss the implementation of the project workplan.

22 September 2008

The 34th annual conference of International Association of Aquatic and Marine Science Libraries and Information Centres (IAMSLIC) was hosted by the University of the South Pacific / PIMRIS Coordination Unit in Suva, Fiji from 14-18 September 2008. Conference Summary Report and Abstracts can be found in PIMRIS Newsletter, 2008, vol. 20, no. 3-4.

22 September 2008

IODE/PIMRIS traning course and workshop on Marine Information Management for the Ocean Data and Information Network for Small Insland States in the Pacific Region was held 13-17 May 2008, at the IOC Project Office for IODE, Oostende, Belgium. During a one-week Workshop sponsored by UNESCO/IOC Project Office for IODE, PIMRIS agency participants discussed and agreed on a proposal for a Pilot Project for a Regional Network of Pacific Islands Marine Libraries (ODIN-PIMRIS). Further networking of marine related libraries and information resources in the Pacific region can be done by strengthening relationships and intergating activities amongst the major regional agencies. The pilot project aims to focus on specific aspects of that broader task, by using the PIMRIS Coordinating Unit as facilitator and coordinator with the support of IOC/IODE. The ODIN-PIMRIS pilot project will contribute to the objectives of PIMRIS, by focusing on; i) establishing a regional information portal, ii) creating capacity at the national and institutional level to use and contribute to the portal, iii) promoting the portal as a valuable information source for managers and decision makers.

25 April 2008

PIMRIS Coordination Unit purchased and delivered 5 sets of equipment to marine/fisheries libraries in the region (Samoa, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Marshall Islands, Tonga) in the framework of  Taiwan/ROC Assistance project “Improving Access to Pacific Marine Literature”.

14 March 2008

PIMRIS-PEIN Joint Workshop on Migraton of Moana (Database  of Pacific marine resources) to Greenstone digital library software was held on March 13, 2008, at the SPREP Compound in Apia, Samoa. The day was spent exploring ways in which the two information networks could work together with fisheries and environment departments to improve online access to marine information. Several factors were identified as critical to the future success of both information networks; taking full advantage of new technologies to provide full text access to documents and promoting the importance of sharing documents both within and between organisations.

20 November 2007

PIMRIS Training Workshop on Marine Information Management was organized in Suva back-to-back with the Joint 13^th PIMRIS Steering Committee Meeting/ IAMSLIC PIRG Meeting 17 November 2007. The programm included the following topics: i) Koha software and SPC information products (E. Kleiber), ii) Scanning techniques (E. Kleiber), iii) Greenstone as a platform for Moana e-repository (M. Kalenchits), iv) SPREP information products (P. Murgatroyd), v) On-line access information sources and retrieval (M. Kalenchits), vi) Small and middle-size fishery library management (M. Kalenchits). Personal reflections by trainers can be found in PIMRIS Newsletter, 2007, Vol. 19, no. 4. p. 7-8.

20 November 2007

On 15-16 November Joint 13th PIMRIS Steering Committee Meeting / IAMSLIC Pacific Islands Regional Group (PIRG) Meeting was held in Suva, Fiji. A total of 22 PIMRIS and PIRG members, observers and invited guests from seven pacific countries and Australia attended the successful meeting. Opening Address was presented by Dr. Esther Williams, Acting Vice-Chancellor, USP. Participants reviewed current activities, internal relations  and agreed on a workplan for 2007-2009 contained of 6 standing orders, 28 recommendations and 12 actions.