National Bird Week: Some of our birds
On the eve of the Aussie Bird Count, explore some of the birds in our collections.
Knitting, coding, and the stars: caring for a time-based media artwork in a library collection – Part 2
Collection Care, Conservation, Preventive conservation:
Through a two-part blog, gain a behind-the-scenes insight into ‘Stargazing’, a contemporary multimedia artwork that was the centrepiece of the Library’s Handmade Universe exhibition. Learn about the process of preparing it for display, a preventive conservation treatment undertaken once the artwork was deinstalled, and considerations for its care and future access.
3D modelling for ‘Beyond the Book’, bringing rare books to life by photogrammetry technique
Digitisation, Rare Books & Arts:
Learn more about the meticulous and extensive photogrammetry work undertaken by the Library’s Digital Production team in preparation for the digital exhibition, Beyond the Book: A digital journey through the treasures of the Emmerson Collection.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow: ‘a lost masterpiece’
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
Last year marked the 75th anniversary of the publication in Melbourne of a novel compared by some to Leo Tolstoy’s ‘War and Peace’, and described as ‘a lost masterpiece’. The novel in question, ‘Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow’, was by M. Barnard Eldershaw, the pseudonym adopted by Marjorie Barnard (1897-1987) and Flora Eldershaw (1897-1956) in a remarkable literary partnership that produced novels, short stories, literary criticism, essays and lectures.
Online Collection Spotlight: British Library Newspapers (1732–1950)
The British Library Newspapers database (1732-1950) includes over 240 newspapers sourced from the British Library. Find out more about this incredible resource – the depth and scope of this collection being unparalleled.
Marcus Clarke: Literary Librarian
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
Marcus Clarke, author of the great convict novel, ‘For the Term of His Natural Life’, witty and provocative journalist, bohemian, and Librarian at our Library fitted much into his eventful but short life.
Victoria’s Intercolonial exhibition, 1866
Social life & customs, Such was life, Victorian history:
The nineteenth century was the great age of exhibitions as industrialisation, colonialism and nationhood led to national and international display and celebration. In 1866 the Great Exhibition Hall was built behind Ian Potter Queen’s Hall to host the Intercolonial Exhibition.
Conservators prepare rare treasures for new digital exhibition
Collection Care, Conservation, Rare Books & Arts:
Come behind-the-scenes and learn how our conservators prepared a range of rare treasures for the new online exhibition, Beyond the Book: A digital journey through the John Emmerson Collection.
Australian football: from rectangles to ovals
As we enter AFL Grand Final week it is a good opportunity to look at a key moment in the game’s development. Beginnings Football began being played in Melbourne in… Read More ›
Just digitised: High rise towers
The painting ‘High rise towers’ looks at the lockdown imposed on the residents of the Flemington commission units in 2020.
Such was life
The sky is the limit: pioneering aviator Freda Thompson
In 1934, Australian aviator, Freda Thompson, made history as the first Australian woman to fly solo from England to Australia. Thompson was a pioneer who believed the sky was the limit – she wanted to reach that limit, to feel the adrenaline, to just fly.
Arts
Ailsa O’Connor: highlights of a life of socialist activism, feminism and art
Ailsa O’Connor (1921-1980) was a political activist, painter, sculptor, author and teacher. Throughout her art career she was a member of the Communist Party and associated with the Socialist Realist Group.
