Collection Development & Description:
It often takes a village to catalogue a rare book. In this blog post, SLV rare books cataloguer Nina Whittaker shares the dynamic, and transnational, process of cataloguing a Ukrainian prayer book. This journey takes us from Melbourne to Croatia, to Bosnia and the Yugoslav People’s Army, and ultimately through to the Ukrainian migrant community in Geelong and the 2016 SLV Ukrainian Fellowship
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
Edna Walling was a trailblazing Australian garden designer of the 20th century. Her passion, uncompromising vision and way with words changed the way we think about our gardens.
With the help of the Women Writers Fund, the Library recently acquired Laura Dayton Fessenden’s most fascinating work of speculative fiction, 2002: Childlife One Hundred Years From Now.
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights:
There are many names in the history of feminism and women’s rights but, unlike Mary Wollstonecraft, Vida Goldstein or Emmeline Pankhurst, the name Dr. Aletta. H. Jacobs (1854-1929) is little known, even though many of her papers have been collected by UNESCO in their Memory of the World archive.
“To be happy, one must rid oneself of prejudice, be virtuous, healthy, and have a capacity for enjoyment and for passion“ – Émilie du Châtelet, Discours sur le bonheur. Le siècle… Read More ›
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Victorian history:
The 1970s and 80s saw a dramatic change in Melbourne’s restaurant scene. One of the most influential restaurants of this period was Stephanie Alexander’s restaurant, Stephanie’s. Through menus, photographs, recipes, notebooks and more, the Stephanie Alexander collection provides a taste of what it was like to eat at Stephanie’s in its heyday.
Family matters, Research tips & tricks:
In 2021 the Chinese Australian Family Historians of Victoria Inc. (CAFHOV) launched a fascinating new resource, the Victorian CEDT index. This online resource indexes three registers of applications for Certificates Exempting from Dictation Test (CEDT), covering the years 1904-1959. Over 90% of the people listed were Chinese, however people with Indian, Japanese or Syrian ancestry are also included.
Collection, Collection spotlights, Events, Exhibitions:
If you listen to a poem, in any language, you understand it. Why?! Because it speaks the universal language of human emotion.
Collection spotlights, Our stories:
This year in our World of the book exhibition, we celebrate the life and work of the artist Elizabeth Gould with a display including one of three rare original watercolours by Elizabeth from the Library’s collection.
![Family group, ca. 1870 to 1880. Families of five or more children were common in the Victorian era. [H2005.34/2086]](https://blogs.slv.vic.gov.au/wp-content/uploads/2021/10/Groupconsistinhofmanwomanandfivechildrencrop-120x120.jpg)
Ask a librarian, Collection spotlights, Our stories:
Overpopulation was a huge social problem in 19th century Britain. Trailblazers like Annie Besant were tireless campaigners for the improvement of living conditions, birth control, and women’s rights. The Malthusian gives us a vivid lens into the living conditions of the poor, and a fascinating insight into the population issues from 1879 to 1921, which laid the groundwork for social reform in the twentieth century.
In 1965, some older Victorians wrote short essays for a competition, recalling their early lives.
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.
