Articles by: Alex Gionfriddo
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
Horseracing is an industry strongly associated with Melbourne, but it took almost three years after colonial settlement for the first horse race to be held. Like many of today’s horse racing carnivals, the reporting was more focused on what happened off the racetrack than on it.
Ask a librarian, Reference desk, Research tips:
On any given day here at State Library Victoria you may hear librarians wax lyrical about the wonders of Trove. Yet for many library users it can be a bit of a mystery. So what is Trove, how do librarians at State Library Victoria use it and why should you use it, too? (Hint: it’s free!)
![Christie's auction house. [199-]. Photo by Rennie Ellis. This work is in copyright; H2011.150/2778](https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/christies-120x120.jpeg)
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:
Are you curious about the value of an artwork or piece of furniture that you own? Or perhaps you are interested in what it might cost to buy a piece by Lisa Roet or Brett Whiteley? The Australian art auction record database can shed some light upon what works have sold and for how much.
After seeing legendary showman and strongman Eugen Sandow, two suburban Melbourne lads devoted their lives to the business of strength, fitness, and ‘physical culture’.
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Research tips:
The newspaper card indexes at State Library Victoria can provide vital clues when researching Melbourne’s not so distant past.
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:
A brief look at the preparation and early days of television broadcasting in Victoria, how ‘the box’ was made and became a part of everyday life.
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
For most of its history, the Library was closed on Sundays. The battle to open was a hotly contested issue, not just at the Library, but all over Melbourne.
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories, Victorian history:
The Seaview Hotel in St Kilda became a spiritual home of Melbourne’s punk and alternative music scene in the 1970s and 1980s, initially due to an administrative error.
Painting, Rare Books & Arts, Visual arts:
One of Australia’s most famous artists of the time, Max Meldrum even had followers with their own nickname, the Meldrumites. But with his vocal opinions he was not without detractors and controversy. Read about his influence on the artists that formed Montsalvat.
