How to protect and salvage your flood damaged treasures
Floodwaters in Victoria have caused significant damage to personal possessions and cultural heritage collections. Learn how to protect your treasures and salvage flood-damaged collections.
Collection Care
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction
International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction is a key date in the calendar for all collecting institutions, big and small, entrusted with the care of irreplaceable cultural heritage. On this day, the Library joins Blue Shield Australia and other major Australian cultural institutions in raising awareness about the importance of disaster preparedness, response and recovery to protect and preserve our collections and the stories held within them.
Preserving Marvellous Melbourne
Collection Care, News, Our stories:
William Butterfield’s original drawings of St Paul’s Cathedral are in urgent need of conservation treatment. Learn how the Library’s working to preserve the plans for the State Collection, and how you can help.
Bushfires: protecting your treasures
Collection Care, Conservation, Preservation:
It’s bushfire season again. How can you reduce the risk of loss of treasured objects before a disaster and what sort of salvage strategies can you use to recover them? If you live in an area where bushfire is an all too real possibility, it’s never too soon to start planning for their preservation.
Conservation rejuvenates ‘Constitution Hill at Sun set’
Collection Care, Conservation:
During the Library closure, Collection Care had the opportunity of attending to the conservation treatment of one of the Library’s iconic paintings, Constitution Hill by colonial artist John Glover. Recent conservation treatment has transformed its appearance and inspired a new appreciation of this important work.
![Detail of Blinky Bill and Mrs Koala, Dorothy Wall, [between 1933 and 1940?]; H2015.180/28](https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/is009117-120x120.jpg)
Blinky Bill: in the Conservation Lab
Collection Care, Conservation:
Blinky Bill has been a favourite amongst Australian children since he first made an appearance in the 1933 book Blinky Bill: The Quaint Little Australian. A collection of drawings by author and illustrator Dorothy Wall (1894–1942) were recently acquired by the Library – several of which have come to the Conservation Lab for assessment and treatment.
Adam Lindsay Gordon and the Adam & Eve Hotel
Collection Care, Preservation, Such was life:
A photograph of an old cottage inspires an investigation into the connections between Australian author Adam Lindsay Gordon, John Kinmont Moir and the mysterious Adam & Eve Hotel.
The changing face of Victoria: behind-the-scenes with Conservation
Collection Care, Conservation, Registration and loans:
The Conservation department play a major role in the development of exhibitions at the Library. We recently completed work on the installation of the Changing Face of Victoria exhibition, which this year involved preparing over 150 items for display.
Cigarette cards: preservation of a small, but unique collection
Collection Care, Our stories, Preservation, Social life & customs:
Collectible cards as we know them today have a very long tradition, dating back to the mid-late nineteenth century with the production of cigarette cards. A small, but unique collection of these wonderful items were recently rehoused by our Preservation team.
The archive of a pioneer ‘slow’ food restaurant
Collection Care, People & professions, Preservation, Social life & customs, Such was life:
Coinciding with the reopening of many of Victoria’s restaurants after lockdown, we celebrate the story of Sunnybrae, a much-loved regional restaurant ‘in the middle of a paddock’, and the early innovations in food provenance and seasonal, sustainable produce that it became known for.
