Introducing Te Takarangi: Celebrating Māori publications

Brought to you by Tina Verschoor.

Ever wondered where to find the best scholarly Māori information found in books? Well wonder no more. Simply go to Te Takarangi : Celebrating Māori Publications to view the top 150 scholarly Māori books being celebrated by Ngā Pae o te Māramatanga (NPM) and Royal Society Te Apārangi. Read more about Te Takarangi  for a background to this scholarly curation. This article by Jacinta Ruru, Jeanette Wikaira and Angela Wanhalla details how they curated this special book list.

You can find most of the books listed in Te Takarangi by searching on keywords “takarangi 150” in our Library catalogue.

For a quick dip, see a small selection of these below.

Biggs, B. Let’s Learn Māori: A Guide to the Study of the Māori Language. Auckland: Reed, 1969.

About the book summarised from Te Takarangi

Professor Bruce Biggs was the first lecturer in Māori language. He developed the first university programme in the study of Māori language and literature; he taught and trained an entire generation of Māori students who have made huge contributions to Māori scholarship including Pat Hohepa, Ranginui Walker, Wharehuia Milroy, Pita Sharples, Dame Anne Salmond, Merimeri Penfold, Margret Mutu and many others.

Access an Ara Library copy of Biggs, B. Let’s Learn Māori: A Guide to the Study of the Māori Language here.

Mason, N. and Z. Stanhope (Eds). Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand: The Māori Portraits.  Auckland University Press, 2016.

About the book – Excerpt from Te Takarangi

From the 1870s to the early twentieth century, the Bohemian immigrant artist Gottfried Lindauer travelled to marae and rural towns around New Zealand and – commissioned by Māori and Pākehā – captured in paint the images of key Māori figures. For Māori then and now, the faces of tūpuna are full of mana and life.

Access an Ara Library copy of Mason, N. (Ed). Gottfried Lindauer’s New Zealand: The Māori Portraits here

Muru-Lanning. M. Tupuna Awa: People and Politics of the Waikato River.  Auckland University Press, 2016.

About the book – Excerpt from Te Takarangi

For iwi and hapū of the lands that border its length, the Waikato River is an ancestor, a taonga and a source of mauri, lying at the heart of identity and chiefly power. Marama Muru-Lanning (Waikato, Ngāti Maniapoto) presents the Waikato River as a key focus of ongoing local struggles for prestige and mana, in which recognising Māori property rights in freshwater is just the latest manifestation. Against a background of seized lands and natural resources, this book examines the significance of the Waikato River as a key symbol in restoring Waikato Māori status and mana.

Access an Ara Library copy of Muru-Lanning. M. Tupuna Awa: People and Politics of the Waikato River here.

B. Hokowhitu and V. Devadas (Eds). The Fourth Eye: Māori Media in Aotearoa New Zealand. University of Minnesota Press, 2013.

About the book – Summarised from Te Takarangi

The Fourth Eye is a term used to capture a number of complex questions, experiences, responses, and articulations that emerge at the intersection of media culture and indigenous lives: what are the indigenous experiences of being the subject of the media gaze? Examining the indigenous mediascape, The Fourth Eye shows how Māori filmmakers, actors and media producers have depicted conflicts over citizenship rights and negotiated the representation of indigenous people.

Access an Ara Library copy of B. Hokowhitu  (Eds). The Fourth Eye: Māori Media in Aotearoa New Zealand here

Jones, A. and K. Jenkins, He Kōrero: Words Between Us; First Māori–Pākehā Conversations on Paper.  Huia, 2011.

About the book – Excerpt from TeTakarangi

He Kōrero traces Māori engagement with handwriting from 1769 to 1826. Through images of beautifully reproduced written documents, the book tells rich stories about the first encounters Māori had with ink and paper and the first relationships between Māori and Europeans that established and maintained the earliest school.

Access an Ara Library copy of Jones, A. and K. Jenkins, He Kōrero: Words Between Us here

Ara Library is in the process of purchasing some of the titles in Te Takarangi which it does not yet own. If there is a title you are interested and you can’t find it in the Library catalogue email library@ara.ac.nz to see if it has been ordered.

Mā te mahi ka kite – In doing we discover

Reach your goals the SMART way

We all have goals – things we would like to achieve. As a tertiary student, it’s savvy to prioritise your goals.

You may have goals to:

• Get higher grades in your assessments
• Take a holiday after the exams

These are worthy goals – you’ll feel great when you make them happen. To reach your goals, you need to use a proven way to get started.

You need to set SMART goals to ensure that you get what you want. SMART typically stands for:

S: Specific

M: Measurable

A: Achievable

R: Relevant

T: Time-bound

Let’s take a look at 2 examples of SMART goals in action:

 

I want to score better grades

Specific:

I want to score an A- or higher in each of my courses.

Measurable:

Tomorrow at 2 pm, I will access the Ara Learning Services Exams and Tests resources

I will note down the advice given and take steps to study more effectively.

Achievable:

Tomorrow, after accessing the Exams and Tests resources, I’ll create a weekly time schedule. I’ll use the tips found in:

Organising Your Time

Organising Your Time handout

My schedule will show my class times, part-time work hours, self-study times, breaks and leisure times.

I’ll plan enough time each week to study each course.

I’ll consistently use improved learning strategies based on the Exams and Tests resources and:

How to Learn

How to learn handout

Relevant:

I have the potential to score better grades, as I have obtained good grades like B.

Excellent grades will jump-start my career when I graduate.

I’ll be more likely to get an attractive job offer sooner.

My self-confidence will increase.

Time-bound:

In the coming exams, I’ll be scoring more A- or higher grades in my courses.

In a year’s time, I’ll have more A- or better grades.

 

I want to save for my holiday

Specific: I’d like to save $200 for my holiday in Nelson.

Measurable:

I’ll take a close look at my finances tomorrow – my monthly income and expenses.

I’ll write down the ways I can reduce my spending.

I’ll think of new part-time work to look for.

Achievable:

Every Saturday I’ll record my savings, income and expenses.

Relevant:

I would like a Nelson holiday with friends during the summer break. It would be a reward for my hard work.

Time-bound:

I’ll have saved $200 in 6 weeks’ time (I’ve calculated that I can save $33.33 per week).

I’ll go on my Nelson holiday in mid-January 2020.

Saving money regularly is a great habit to develop. But are you doing everything you can to protect your money and financial information?

Use these 14 Ways to Protect Your Money and Financial information

These 2 examples above show that setting SMART goals makes them more than just wishes or dreams. SMART goals give you focus and clarity regarding:

• What exactly is your goal? (Specific)
• What exactly must you do, by what deadline? (Measurable & Achievable)
• Why and how are your goals important to you? (Relevant)
• When can you reasonably expect to reach your goals? (Time-bound)

 

How to stay the course and reach your SMART goals

How do you stay on track with the goals you’ve set? Some ways are:

• Vision: Create a vision board or vision screen – look for attractive pictures, whether hard copy or online. Display in prominent places the pictures of your goals e.g. photos of the places where you plan to holiday. Make the pictures a part of your phone or computer home screen.
• Reminders: Give yourself reminders – you can use phone apps or a digital/hard copy organiser.
• Reward: Reward yourself for the milestones achieved, to sustain your momentum towards reaching your goals. Treat yourself to a special meal or a present.

Summary:

Step 1: Write your SMART goals.

Step 2: Keep yourself rewarded and motivated.

Step 3: Stay the course and walk the talk.

Step 4: Relish reaching your goals. Rejoice.

 

Start making and carrying out SMART goals to succeed. Check out these videos to find out more:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tBO_oqmEhGU

https://www.briantracy.com/blog/personal-success/smart-goals/

All the best and good luck!

Take action and make all your SMART goals come true

 

Leonard Yeo

Learning Services

Exams coming up? Feeling a bit stressed and Overwhelmed?

It’s the start of November and the end of the academic year is not far away.  The good news is, this means that summer is just around the corner, hot sun, ice cream, the beach and Christmas!!!  The bad news is that you probably have lots of assignments and exams to get out of the way first. So here are some tips to help you keep calm and manage that stress as you head towards the end of the academic year. 

Take Care of Yourself

This seems really obvious, but how many of us focus on this?  To be at your best, you need to:

• Eat well – Going to MacDonald’s, Denny’s and hell pizza are quick and easy ways to get food.  But the body needs a balanced, healthy diet.  Try to cook some basic meals with fresh ingredients instead of relying on takeaways and pre-made meals. 
• Be well hydrated – not with Alcohol.  That’s only going to give you a sore head and impede your ability to concentrate.  Go easy on the beer, wine and spirits and drink plenty of water instead.  You should be drinking about a litre a day.  
• Get plenty of sleep – most people need seven to eight hours sleep per night to function well.  If you are having trouble sleeping, try doing something relaxing before you go to bed.  You might read a book, talk to a friend, watch TV but turn off your computer, turn your phone off or at least have it on silent and put your study materials to one side.   When you’re going to sleep, reduce as much light and sound distraction as possible from your room.  
• Get some exercise – you don’t have to go and work out at the gym, although some of you might enjoy this.  But at least get outside and go for a walk each day to get some fresh air and avoid being cooped up studying all day. 

Plan your studies

This is important, create yourself a study timetable.  Make yourself a weekly planning chart or use the one that Learning Services has.  You may need one for each week between now and the day of your last exam or last assignment due date. 

Start by putting in all the commitments you have for example, work, classes and other regular commitments.  Then block out the time you get up and get ready in the morning, your lunch break and the time to prepare and make your evening meal.  Indicate the time you go to bed. 

Make a list of all the study tasks you have to do and when each piece is due in.  Estimate how long you think each task will take you. 

Now place these tasks into your weekly study timetable.  Remember, you need to leave some time to go for a walk or do something enjoyable each day, even if it’s just half an hour. 

Keep to your plan.  Keep referring back to it to make sure you are following your timetable.

At the end of the week, review your plan and see if you achieved everything you wanted to.  If not, make sure you carry these tasks forward into the next weeks plan. 

The day of the exam

So the day of the exam is here and you’re feeling nervous.   Don’t worry, that’s perfectly normal and not a bad thing.  Anxiety is a natural response, it’s one of our basic survival instincts and has helped humans survive over hundreds of years.  Anxiety gets us into an alert state where we are ready to do one of two things, fight or flight.  That is, stay and face the challenge head on or run away before whatever is scaring has a chance to cause you harm. 

Anxiety can be our friend, it helps us feel alert and take notice of our environment, it helps us focus on the task we are about to do.  However, when we become too anxious then anxiety becomes a problem. 

If you’re sitting in an exam and you start to feel anxious and feel like running away and leaving the exam room, stop.  Take some deep breaths.  Breathe in through the nose, hold your breath for five seconds and release your breath slowly through your mouth.  Do this several times until you feel calmer. 

Another way to calm down in an exam is to focus on something else for a while.  Try this exercise.  Stop what you are doing and sit still and say to yourself:

1. List five things I can see (do this in your head);
2. List four things I can hear
3. List three things I can touch (your hair, your desk, your pen etc);
4. List two things I can smell (this is getting harder but try, move on if you can’t do it);
5. List one thing I can taste (it might be what you had for breakfast). 

Do it again if you need to. 

The idea is that this is activity takes your focus away from the panic and brings you back into the present environment.  It centres you in that environment.  When you feel calmer go back to the test or exam you are doing. 

It is perfectly fine to spend the first ten minutes of your exam doing relaxation exercises so that you are calm and can begin. 

So, take care of yourself, plan your time, stay calm.

Good luck.

Advice from Pauline Melham, Manager – Disability Services.

A quick refresher on APA referencing

The end of the year is nigh (…yes, regardless of the wintery weather!…), and those scary submission deadlines for final assignments are also creeping dangerously close.

With so much research to complete and writing to do, APA referencing seems like a minor thing to be worried about. But don’t be fooled by the APA’s apparent insignificance; in some cases, the correct referencing can “make or break” your final mark, contributing to either “fail” or “pass”.

The Ara APA Referencing guide….an invaluable resource

So, let us recap one of the main rules of efficient referencing: as you are doing your research, don’t forget to make notes about the sources of your information. It does not matter whether or not those facts, figures or ideas are going to make it to the “final cut” of your assignment; but it is absolutely crucial that you have instant access to all your sources the moment you need to provide a reference. These notes may save you hours of precious time and oodles of unnecessary stress.

Remember to keep notes on your sources of information…

You don’t even need that much information for your in-text referencing: just keep in mind the golden rule of (Who, When, Where) – Author, Year and (in some cases) Page/Paragraph number, and you are sorted!

If in doubt, you can check out the APA resources or drop by one of the many workshops and Q&A clinics offered by Learning Services. Copies of the Ara APA Referencing Guide for students are available at the Library Service Desk.

Good luck with your assignments! 😊

Nataliya Oryshchuk, Learning Services Advisor