Are you interested in social justice? Are you fascinated by the way people lived in the past but also how society has changed for the better?
Are you interested in the intersection between the struggles of different minority groups? Are you keen to hear the story of how brave people, some of them very disadvantaged, stood up for themselves?
If so, come on a journey into the online database Disability in the Modern world: History of a Social Movement.
State Library Victoria members can access hundreds of databases from home (if your home is in Victoria). That’s millions of articles, magazines, archives, ebooks, videos, songs, audiobooks and more, available through the catalogue anytime. We’re taking a closer look at new and/or interesting databases as well as hidden gems from our collections. Read on for top picks and tips from Librarians.
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Today we’re looking at Disability in the Modern World: History of a Social Movement
What makes this database so great?
You can access 4,211 ebooks, documents amounting to 100,000 pages of source material and 115 hours of video allowing you to approach this vast topic from many different angles.
Some highlights
The introductory page invites us to investigate five areas of featured content. Each of these looks at disability in a different way. Click on each area to search. The five areas are:
The Disability rag
Full-text, online access to a journal that covers the disability rights movement from 1980 to the present. This is a great opportunity to learn, (or for some, remember), how communities of people with disability saw themselves and interpreted themselves to others over a 40-year period from 1980.
An introduction to the disability rights movement
The disability rights movement intersects with other civil rights movements. This means that people with disability fight for rights in a way similar to other minorities. The opposition they face looks similar. This introductory playlist looks at this movement from origins to the present.
Explore how war, industry & technology intersect with disability
Technology is crucial in levelling the playing-field for people with disability. War and industry, by necessity, expand technology. This helps assistive technology to develop. In addition, meeting the needs of injured and incapacitated returned soldiers helps raise awareness of the needs of people with disability.
No limits chat show 2007-2013
Accessible online content of a chat-show covering social issues from sexuality to current events, featuring a range of Australian activists. This presents snap-shot in time of people with disability and their allies, revealing their experiences.
Disability and media bias
This resource examines the media. The media can be stuck in a ‘medical model’ of disability which is out of date. This can perpetuate stereotypes. Yet harnessing the media and advocating a clearer message is the very way to combat stereotypes.
This is just a brief insight into what you can find in Disability in the Modern World: History of a Social Movement. The database offers so much to explore.
This collection spotlight is written in Century Gothic, one of a range of accessible fonts.
More to explore
We also have a research guide to a wide range of material relating to disability and advocacy.
Check out our latest databases on trial, and see a full list of all new and trial databases, by visiting our A-Z Databases page.
