This is an open call to anyone involved in astronomy to please send us samples of your astronomy related resources.

The purpose of this exercise is a national consolidation of astronomy resources and the creation of a database that would be used for astronomy education and outreach within South Africa and abroad.

Examples of Resources that we are calling for:

• Posters
• Pamphlets or information sheets
• Electronic presentations and pictures (along with lecture notes if part of a series of talks)
• Educator workshops (e.g. teaching seasons, phases of the moon, resource packs for teaching astronomy, etc)
• Learner workshops and activities (e.g. build a telescope, build a spectroscope, observe the sun, measure shadows, etc)
• CDs and DVDs
• etc

Postage costs:

Although we humbly appeal to you to send us the materials at your own cost, please contact me if postage costs are hampering your contribution to the collection and we will make a plan. A finite amount of money has been set aside by SAAO for postage in order to facilitate the collection of these resources.

Copyright issues:

We are obviously calling for those resources which can be reproduced and distributed without any copyright or commercial issues. Know that everything that you send us will be made freely available (except for mass production costs) to anyone interested in promoting astronomy. All materials will be used “not-for-profit” to enhance the astronomy education and outreach field. Any modifications to these materials would be performed in a responsible way with appropriate consultations.

Background/Motivation:

Many organisations and individuals have produced various astronomy related resources over the years. We have found that in some cases two organisations have produced very similar materials and in other cases an organisation/individual may have needed something that existed but not known where to look. Consolidation of resources is an obvious solution to many challenges and will also help us to optimize the time that we all spend producing new resources. There are not a lot of people involved in astronomy education and outreach and we definitely need to consolidate in this manner in order to move forward more efficiently as a unified force. Such consolidation and teamwork is also important as we prepare for the International Year of Astronomy 2009. We therefore appeal to you to assist and encourage your collaborators to participate in this effort.

Where to send your materials to or any queries:

The contact person for resources is:

Marion West (HartRAO)

Tel: 012 326 0742

Email: marion@hartrao.ac.za