July 2023 – Ara Library Blog

Cook Islands Language Week 30 July to 5 August 2023

Kia orana. This week we celebrate Cook Islands Language Week or Epetoma o te reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani. This year’s theme is “Ātuitui’ia au ki te au peu o tōku kāinga Ipukarea”, which means “connect me to the traditions and culture of my homeland”.

You can download this set of language cards from Ministry for Pacific Peoples and try out some Te Reo Māori Kūki ‘Airani! Also Your introduction to Cook Islands Language is a great place to visit on the Coconet TV website for more simple reo Māori Kūki Āirani practice. On their How to Cook Islands page you can also learn about:

Rore – Cook Islands stilt games
How to play the ukulele Kuki Āirani style
How to drum Kuki Āirani style
How to make tivaevae cushions
How to make an Ei (flower garland)

We also have some great books in the Library on the Cook Islands including :

And if you would like to know the names of all the islands in the Cook Islands group and where they got their names from see this ebook from NZETC called Discoverers of the Cook Islands and the names they gave.

Here are a few phrases in reo Māori Kūki ‘Āirani from Coconet TV to inspire learning:

So why not give it a go today! Tāmata’ia!

International Friendship Day

Photo by Jed Villejo on Unsplash

International Friendship Day is a special day that is celebrated every year on the 30th of July. On this unique day we like to celebrate and appreciate the people in our lives who make our days brighter and happier, our friends!

The history of International Friendship Day can be traced back to 1935 when the US Congress proclaimed the first Sunday of August as National Friendship Day.

Friendship is an essential part of who we are. Friends help us to navigate the highs and lows of our lives and they provide us with a support system when we need it the most. The friendships we make can last a lifetime and our friends can bring us so much joy and happiness. International Friendship Day is a day to recognize the importance of friendship, so today and in the coming weeks reach out to a friend and spend some quality time with them, face to face if possible.

Winter wonderland

As the rain and cold take hold, here are a few of the fascinating coping mechanisms some of Aotearoa, New Zealand’s wildlife use in the winter months.

Many seabirds and two species of cuckoo migrate from New Zealand to escape the colder weather. Bats can go into a short-term torpor lasting several days if conditions require it. Honey bees, if they have stored enough honey to survive through winter, reduce and redirect their activities by clustering around their queen, intent on keeping her safe and warm. Amazingly, the alpine wētā survives by freezing and then, once warmer weather sets in, thaws out.

Taking a little leaf from the big book of nature, I might migrate to the sofa and, fight off torpor by reading about cryogenics… whilst wearing a cozy queen bee onesie.

Resources:

Predatorfreenz.org

Teara.govt.nz

New automotive database – Haynes Manuals All Access

You will find in this new database, repair and service manuals for all makes of cars from Alfa Romeo and Audi through to Volkswagen and Volvo. If you are more a motorbike enthusiast, Haynes also provide motorbike manuals from Aprilia to Yamaha. How do you find this resource? Find Ara Library and click on the link to Databases A-Z to find the Haynes Manuals.

Whether you are currently studying here at Ara in Automotive Engineering or just tinkering in your garage on your prized possessions, there is bound to be a manual to help facilitate those challenging repair jobs.

Happy tinkering!

Image: Pixabay

Celebrating Matariki – Ara Library closed on Friday 14th

Ara Library will be closed on Friday 14 July as we celebrate the second Matariki public holiday. The Library will reopen at 10am on Saturday 15 July.

Original image: Messier 45 Open cluster by Filip Lolić / CC 3.0.

Matariki – 14 July 2023

Image: Wikimedia commons CC-by-2.5

This year we celebrate our second Matariki public holiday welcoming in the Māori New Year.

The celebration of Matariki is guided by three major principles:

Remembrance – Honouring those we have lost since the last rising of Matariki
Celebrating the present – Gathering together to give thanks for what we have
Looking to the future – Looking forward to the promise of a new year

Here are nine short videos by Ara / Te Pūkenga kaiako, that explain the significance of each of the whetū Matariki.

And the other 8 stars of Matariki are Pōhutukawa; Ururangi; Waipuna-ā-rangi; Waitī; Waitā; Tupu-ā-nuku; Tupu-ā-rangi; Hiwa-i-te-rangi.

To help you remember them all you can learn the Matariki macarena and create some Matariki star bunting to put on your wall.

Find out more about Matariki in our subject guide page dedicated to this occasion.

Mānawa maiea te putanga o Matariki

Mānawa maiea te ariki o te rangi

Mānawa maiea te mātahi o te tau

Welcome the rising of Matariki

Welcome the rising of the lord of the sky

Welcome the New Year

Don’t forget your eBooks!

Photo by Redd F on Unsplash

Contributed by Colleen Finnerty, Subject Librarian

Oh, I do love a good browse through the library bookshelves. Especially if I can find a book that has that distinctive smell of mustiness that tells you that whole worlds are contained within the pages. I do declare though that the number of books on the shelves seems to be reducing! What modern day horror is this? Libraries do have to reflect their communities and increasingly ours is online. Nowadays Ara library will purchase an eBook version rather than the print of the same book if it is available. This ensures that there is 24/7 access to the resource regardless of location. I must admit I am not that keen on a book I can’t sniff or stroke, but if COVID and the Rolling Stones have taught us anything it is that you can’t always get what you want. So, when you wander through the shelves of Ara library just remember – what you see is not all you can get. All you need to do is search the oracle or in this case the library catalogue to find that if you try sometimes, well, you will still get what you need.

World chocolate day – Friday 7 July

Photo by Kier in Sight on Unsplash

Friday 7 July is World Chocolate Day for those who wish to celebrate a day of deliciousness.

Here’s a bit of chocolate history from Britannica Academic database:

The cacao tree was cultivated more than 3,000 years ago by the Maya, Toltec and Aztec peoples, who prepared a beverage from its fruit, the cocoa bean and also used the bean as a currency. However, it wasn’t until 1585 that the first recorded shipment of cocoa beans arrived in Spain from Mexico. Sweetened and flavoured with cinnamon and vanilla, chocolate was served as a hot drink back then. It took another 262 years to become the chocolate we know today when in 1847 the English firm of Fry and Sons combined cocoa butter with liquid chocolate—the base of most chocolate confectionery—and in 1876 Daniel Peter of Switzerland added dried milk to make milk chocolate.

We also have some great books on chocolate cookery in our library including William Curley’s Couture chocolate which shares behind developing your master chocolatier skills with myriad delectable photographs to inspire. However, if your chocolatier skills are not quite so aspirational aesthetically then you can’t go past Donna Hay’s Chocolate: Simple essentials with super easy recipes for everything chocolate from hot fudge sauce, chocolate mousse, or chocolate ganache to chocolate chip cookies, mud cake and mousse and brownies.

No time to get to the Library? Then here are a few chocolate brownie recipes to help celebrate the day at short notice: