State Library of Victoria
Reflecting the cultural and social history of Victoria over the last 150 years, the State Library of Victoria's collections include over two million books and serials, one of Australia's largest newspaper collections, hundreds of thousands of pictures, maps, manuscripts, artefacts and materials in digital and multimedia formats.
There are eight major sub-categories:
As well as many other collections.
Arts
The Arts sub-collection brings together materials from the worlds of music, theatre, dance, magic, cinema, crafts, television, radio, and the visual arts. This is the largest publicly accessible arts collection in Victoria containing a wide range of materials in a variety of formats. These include books, journals, recorded music, musical scores, sheet music and ephemera. There is also a large selection of arts-related dictionaries, encyclopaedias, online and electronic databases, indices and directories.
Australiana
The Australian History & Literature sub-collection includes biography, history or literature, either published in Australia, substantially about Australia, or written by an Australian author. It includes the Riley Ephemera sub-collection and some Victorian government publications, and a range of electronic resources.
Australian Manuscripts
This sub-collection contains a wide range of handwritten, typescript, electronic and other forms of unpublished text records and documents, including the personal papers of individual men and women. The State Library collects only private (non-government) archives and provides one of the few repositories for the preservation of and access to such material.
Genealogy
This collection brings together key Australian materials relating to genealogy. It is the starting point for all genealogical research at the State Library of Victoria, providing the means to locate individuals - from all levels of society - in a particular place, at a particular time. While focusing mainly on materials from Australia, the United Kingdom and New Zealand, the Library's Genealogy Collection also reflects Victoria's growing ethnic diversity through its Greek, Italian, Chinese, Vietnamese and Jewish records. Most of the collection is in microform - films and fiches and increasingly on CD-ROM or subscription on line services.
Newspapers
The SLV's Newspaper sub-collection is one of the largest and most significant in Australia, comprising Victorian, Australian and overseas material . There are nearly 100,000 volumes, 40,000 reels of microfilm, and a wide range of newspaper content available through online databases. While the Library continues to collect Victorian newspapers and most major Australian newspapers in print form, there has been a change in policy in recent years to provide access to as many newspapers as possible via electronic databases.
Pictures
The SLV's Pictures sub-collection documents the history of Victoria and its people from the early years of the colony to the present day. Started in 1859 with a series of commissioned photographs by a local photographer, this collection is the oldest of its type in Australia. Items include paintings, drawings, prints, cartoons, photographs, sculpture, architectural drawings, posters, postcards, printed ephemera and a small number of realia. All contain information about the cultural, geographical, historical and sociological development of Victoria. Images range from interiors and exteriors of public and private buildings, to methods of transport, aspects of social and family life, the evolution of costume and variations in dress, portraits of Victorians in public and private life, and the development of cities and towns.
Rare Books
Rare Printed sub-collection comprises books, children's literature and maps. Rare Books comprises two major collections - one Australian, the other non-Australian. The former, established in 1965, is one of the most complete collections of Australian books in the country. The latter, established almost 20 years later in 1981, brings together more than 19,000 non-Australian books that have been in the Library since the 19th century. These include 12,000 books that were printed before 1800. The Children's Literature collection comprises over 84,000 books published between the 16th and 21st centuries, draws together the Children's Literature research sub-collection, the Ken Pound sub-collection of Australian children's Literature and Rare Children's Book sub-collection. The Map sub-collection containing over 100,000 items with a primary focus on Australia and especially Victoria.
Redmond Barry
The Redmond Barry sub-collection provides access to 39.7 shelf kilometres of information covering Business, Law, Government, Humanities, Social Sciences, Science, Technology, Sport and Recreation. Australian and international materials are held in this collection, which include books, journals and periodicals and significant online subscriptions.
Reflecting the cultural and social history of Victoria over the last 150 years, the State Library of Victoria's collections include over two million books and serials, one of Australia's largest newspaper collections, hundreds of thousands of pictures, maps, manuscripts, artefacts and materials in digital and multimedia formats.
Other Collections
- Architecture - Architectural drawings, design sketches, written specifications and manuscripts relating mostly to buildings in Victoria.
- Business & Statistics - Statistical publications, directories, databases and yearbooks which reveal how we work, live and play.
- Chess - A wide range of books, pamphlets, tournament reports and magazines for chess players and historians.
- Children's Literature - Children's picture books, readers, anthologies, ephemera, and works of fiction including rare children's books.
- Humanities & Social Sciences - Materials on psychology, sociology, religion, literature, economics, linguistics and history.
- Law & Government - Legislation, law resources and reports, government publications and reference works.
- Maps - Comprises maps published in a variety of formats, geographical and cartographic reference books and atlases.
- Science & Technology - Medicine, health, motoring manuals and periodicals, patents, standards & codes of practice and environmental resources.
- Sport & Recreation - Current and historical materials focusing on various sport and recreational activities pursued in Australia.