Federation Square — a brief history
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
A look back, tracing some of the history of Melbourne – on and around the site of Federation Square.
Two Decades of the Melbourne Fringe Festival Website
Changing libraries, Our stories, Performing Arts, Theatre:
State Library Victoria has been collecting the website of the Melbourne Fringe Festival since 1999 and will continue into the future. Here are some highlights from our online collection at PANDORA.
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.
From Bavaria to Ballarat: wild times with Lola Montez
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
From love affairs with kings, to political intrigue, to wild times in the Australian goldfields and cities, few have lived lives as riotous or colourful as Lola Montez.
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.
Online Collection Spotlight: Disability in the Modern World: History of a Social Movement
Are you interested in social justice or human rights? Are you keen to learn how people with disability stood up for their rights? If so, come on a journey into the online database Disability in the modern world: History of a social movement.
The family that grew up with the Melbourne Zoo
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
Learn how one family’s singular obsession with the natural world contributed to the Melbourne Zoo we know today.
From Frankston to Melbourne on foot: marathon running in Victoria
Ask a librarian, Victorian history:
On 10 October 1909, 54 runners lined up at Frankston to compete in the first ever Victorian Marathon. Since that date marathon races have been a constant, and much loved, feature of the Victorian sporting calendar.
Message in a bottle
Ask a librarian, Our stories, Victorian history:
There is always a romance to a bottle washed up on a lonely shore, containing a message from the past and from far away. This may be a message of greeting, of despair, for science or sometimes even a hoax.
In conversation: Handmade Universe Curator, Linda Short
We chatted to Linda Short about how Handmade Universe came to be, and the best way to experience the stories it tells.
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.
