Food for thought cafe - maintenance sign

Food for thought cafe - maintenance sign, a photo by ellen forsyth on Flickr.

"The air con is down with a fever" a different way of saying there are issues. It is nicely worded without it becoming an apology.

"connecting plants & people since 1859"- Singapore Botanic Gardens

"connecting plants & people since 1859"- Singapore Botanic Gardens, a photo by ellen forsyth on Flickr.

This was on one of the entrance gates to the Singapore Botanic Gardens. The gardens were very well used, with lots of people out and about, using the gardens in the way which worked for this.

I liked the way that this statement was worded - "connecting plants & people since 1859"

La'o Hamutuk

The library of La'o Hamutuk,  the Timor-Leste Institute for Development Monitoring and Analysis only tells part of the story, if you only look at what is on the shelves.  Like many libraries, the online resources are very important too.  They have a website with very detailed information

and a blog with highlights.  They use plain language in their writing, so as many people as possible can understand what they are writing about.

All their publishing is in English and Tetum.

They have also made their online information available via a DVD as internet access is not widespread, and it is too expensive for many of the population, This may change with competition coming to telecommunications in Timor Leste.

This is how La'o Hamutuk describes itself (from their blog)

La'o Hamutuk is a Timorese non-governmental organization (NGO) which has worked since 2000 to monitor and analyze the activities of international and government agencies in Timor-Leste, to make development responsive to the needs and desires of the people. We focus on international institutions and systems, trying to protect food sovereignty and avoid the "resource curse" in petroleum-dependent Timor-Leste, as well as to enhance democratic governance and justice.
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La'o Hamutuk, hanesan Organizasaun Naun-Governmental (ONG) Timor-oan, ne'ebe servisu desde 2000 atu monitor no analiza atividade sira husi ajensia internasional no governmental iha Timor-Leste. Hodi hanoin katak dezenvolvimentu iha ne'e tenke responde ba povo nia nesesidade no povo nia hakarak. Ami foka ba sistema no institusaun internasional sira, atu proteje soberania ai-han no evita "malisan rekursu" iha Timor-Leste, ne'ebe depende makaas ba rendimento petrolifeiro. No mos atu hadiak liu tan governasaun ne'ebe demokratiku no justisa.

You can also read their mission statement.

Dili Institute of Technology

The library for the Dili Institute of Technology has an online library management system, and ten public access computers with internet access.  Staff are encouraging students to use online databases as well as the books in the library.