Birks, Jane 1958–

PERSONAL: Born November 9, 1958, in Broken Hill, New South Wales, Australia; daughter of Brian (an exploration geology manager) and Dorothy (a teacher; maiden name, Gould) Hawkins; married Peter Birks, (an educator) August 18, 1979; children: Jared, Cody. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Griffith University, B.Ed., 1982; Queensland University of Technology, graduate diploma in teacher-librarianship, 1993; University of Southern Queensland, M.Ed., 2004. Hobbies and other interests: Travel, cooking and eating, sailing.

ADDRESSES: Home—36 Camfield St., Alexandra Headland, Queensland 4572, Australia. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Writer. Education Queensland, Queensland, Australia, teacher, 1979–88, teacher-librarian, 1989–98; Zayed University, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, academic librarian, 1999–2003; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland, lecturer in higher education (internet courses), 2004–. Basic and Beyond Computer Education, director, 1996–98.

MEMBER: Australian Library and Information Association.

AWARDS, HONORS: Online Learning Course Developer Award, Education Queensland, 2004.

WRITINGS:

(With Fiona Hunt) Hands-On Information Literacy Activities, Neal-Schuman Publishers (New York, NY), 2003.

Contributor to Expectations of Librarians in the Twenty-first Century, edited by Karl Bridges, Greenwood Press (Westport, CT), 2003. Contributor of articles to professional journals, including Portal: Libraries and the Academy. Also author of Which Literacy? (professional learning course).

WORK IN PROGRESS: Numerous children's picture books, including Up the Beach; research on the way different groups and/or individuals take up or adapt to an internet learning environment in higher education.

SIDELIGHTS: Jane Birks CA: "I enjoy writing and the collaborative effort involved in joint publications. My writing has resulted from my work. My first book, Hands-On Information Literacy Activities, was written as a result of a team effort to support young-adult learners and was published in order to share useful information with others. I often feel driven and can set myself a task which I will work at virtually without a break until it's completed. I like to keep moving forward and being productive."