Guide to the Papers of Renee Erdos
MS 5724
National Library of Australia View Catalogue Record
Collection Summary
- Creator
- Erdos, Renee F., 1911-1997
- Title
- Papers of Renee Erdos
- Date Range
- 1884-1992
- Collection Number
- MS 5724
- Extent
- 1.26 metres (9 boxes)
- Language of Materials
- English
- Repository
- National Library of Australia
Introduction
Scope and Contents
The papers comprise addresses, reports on study tours, articles and publications written by Erdos; proceedings and other conference papers of the International Council for Correspondence Education; and research papers on correspondence and distance education in Australia and overseas, particularly in developing countries.
Conditions Governing Access
The collection is available for research.
Conditions Governing Use
Copying and publishing of unpublished manuscript material is subject to copyright restrictions. For such material, written permission to publish must be obtained from the copyright holder(s). Copying of unpublished material for research purposes is permissible 50 years after the death of the creator of the material.
Preferred Citation
Items from this collection should be cited as '[Title or description of manuscript item], Papers of Renee Erdos, National Library of Australia, MS 5724, [series and/or file number]'.
Provenance
The papers were donated to the Library by Renee Erdos in 1978 and 1993.
Related Materials
An Oral History recording with Hazel De Berg (14 July 1976) is held at ORAL DeB 951-952.
Biographical Note
Renee Erdos was born in Ceylon in 1911, the only child of a Hungarian father and Portuguese/Australian mother. She was educated at Loreto Convent (Kirribilli, Sydney) and the University of Sydney where she graduated with a BA, Dip Ed in 1934. Erdos taught in various high schools in New South Wales and first became interested in distance education in 1944 when she agreed to prepare a 40 lesson correspondence course in modern history for the Sydney Technical College. She later became the head teacher in history in the NSW Department of Technical Education.
In 1959-1969 she was promoted to head of the School of External Studies. In 1961 Erdos was awarded a Smith/Mundt Fulbright grant to study external studies in the United States and Canada. In 1962 she received a British Council award and toured the United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Denmark, Holland, Germany, France, Russia, India, Thailand and Malaysia. In 1965-1969, Erdos was President of the International Council for Correspondence Education, chairing a conference of 156 delegates from 34 nations at UNESCO headquarters in Paris.
After her retirement from the Department of Technical Education, Erdos worked as an educator and education administrator for UNESCO in Botswana (1970-1972), for Swedish International Development Assistance in Tanzania (1972-1975), and for the Danish International Development Agency in Swaziland (1976-1979). She was the author of a number of books on adult education subjects and a biography, Teaching beyond the campus (1992). Erdos died in Sydney in 1997.
Biographical Reference(s)
The Sydney Morning Herald. (Obituary, 1997).
Teaching beyond the campus. (1992).
Item Descriptions
Series 1. Writings by Renee Erdos, 1961-1992
Addresses, reports, articles and publications by Renee Erdos. Topics include teaching by correspondence in Australia, the teaching of commercial subjects, adult education in Tanzania, adult external studies in Papua and New Guinea, correspondence education in Botswana and other African nations, the establishment of correspondence education institutions and predictions for the future of distance education. There is also a report on the sixth International Conference of the International Council on Correspondence Education (1963), a report on visits to African countries (1968), papers relating to the Conference on Correspondence Education in Africa (Nairobi, 1973), and copies of Erdos' books Teaching by correspondence (1967) and Teaching beyond the campus (1992).
Series 2. International Council on Distance Education, 1938-1992
The International Council on Correspondence Education (ICCE) was established in 1938 to promote knowledge and undertake research for the improvement of correspondence education throughout the world. In 1982, the organisation became the International Council on Distance Education (ICDE). Renee Erdos was President of the ICCE in 1965-1969 and the author an ICCE resource book Teaching by correspondence.
The series comprises a set of the proceedings of ICCE and ICDE conferences from 1938-1992. There are also associated conference programs, leaflets, conference papers (including microfiche), a 50th anniversary review of the ICDE (1988), posters, reports of the Executive Committee and song lyrics. Other papers relating to the ICCE/ICDE include membership directories, reports and newsletters of the ICDE Women's International Network.
Series 3. Research papers, 1960-1992
Research papers accumulated by Erdos in the course of her professional career and in researching her publications. The papers include articles, conference papers, leaflets, publications and other papers relating to distance/correspondence education in Australia and internationally.
Series 4. Other papers, 1884-1987
The papers comprise notes, early articles and printed material relating to teaching technical education by correspondence in New South Wales; Erdos' report on her study tour of the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Scandinavia, Denmark, Holland, Germany, France, Russia, India, Thailand and Malaysia; and reports and a newsletter of the Australian and South Pacific External Studies Association.
Container List
Series | File/Item | Box |
---|---|---|
1 | 1-6 | 1 |
1 | 7-8 | 2 |
2 | 1-5 | 2 |
2 | 6-12 | 3 |
2 | 13-20 | 4 |
2 | 21-26 | 5 |
3 | 1-6 | 6 |
3 | 7-12 | 7 |
3 | 13-18 | 8 |
4 | 1-3 | 9 |