What is the Search and Rescue campaign?
In early 2008, the Search and Rescue Campaign was launched by the Australian Newspaper Plan (ANPlan) libraries to:
- recruit the help of the public in finding newspapers which are missing from the collections of the ANPlan libraries;
- raise public awareness of the role of libraries in collecting, preserving and providing access to Australian newspapers.
Conceived by the National and State Libraries Australasia (NSLA) Public Programs and Communications Working Group (PPCWG), the Search and Rescue campaign has been a joint publicity campaign of the ANPlan libraries.
Further information about the campaign
In support of the campaign, the Communications and Marketing Branch of the National Library of Australia (NLA) has produced media resources.
On 12 March 2008, the Tasmanian Minister for Education and Skills, David Bartlett, launched the ANPlan Search and Rescue campaign in Tasmania.
A list of newspapers from all states and territories which are known to be missing is available on the NLA’s ANPlan website.
See also:
- Wanted: Queensland’s Missing Newspapers
- Australian Newspapers—Searched and Found!, Gateways, June 2009
- Search and Rescue: The Australian Newspaper Plan, Gateways, April 2008
The Search and Rescue campaign has resulted in a very high level of interest from both the media and the public. Media coverage of the Search and Rescue campaign in print, radio, television and the Internet, has been extensive.
There have been many enquiries and offers of assistance with newspapers from members of the public. The campaign is demonstrating that the public are willing to work with libraries to ensure ongoing access to newspapers. Many have also contacted the libraries to offer significant non-newspaper material – ephemera, monographs and magazines.
A significant proportion of newspapers found to date were not previously known to exist.
What newspapers have been found so far?
| VIC | Spring Creek Advertiser and Rodney Standard (1868-9) | This newspaper from the central Victoria region published in the late 1860s has been donated to the State Library of Victoria (SLV). This newspaper was known to have existed in the 1860s but no copies of it had ever been sighted by Library staff or by leading historians of Victorian newspapers. The volume covering 1868-69 was found in the archives of a local newspaper office in Heathcote. | ||
| TAS | The examiner: north-west (1 Jan 1968 - 30 Apr 1969) |
Five bound volumes of this newspaper have been found and acquired by the State Library of Tasmania (SLT). It was not previously known that the edition existed. | ||
| TAS |
Weekly Courier ((17 Jul 1913 and 29 Oct 1914)) |
Collaboration with publisher | ||
| TAS | North Eastern Advertiser (1913-1914 & 1917) | |||
| TAS |
Butterfly (Nov 1869; Apr-Aug 1870) Catholic Standard (1937) Colonial Record (1839) Colonial Times (1825-1857) Cornwell Chronicle (1935-1845; 1847-1880) Emu Bay Times and North West & West Coast Advocate (1898-1899) Hobart Town Courier (1827-1859) Illustrated Tasmanian Mail (1921-1935) Monitor (1894-1920) Morning Star (1891-1894) North Western Advocate (Devonport) and the Emu Bay Times (Burnie) Tasmania (1900-1911) Tasmanian (Oct-Dec 1834) Weekly Courier (1901-1935) |
In 2008 the Archives Office of Tasmania (AOT) combined with the Heritage Collections section of the State Library of Tasmania to form the Tasmanian Archive and Heritage Office (TAHO). As a consequence of this merger, a number of titles formerly on the 'missing' list that were in AOT are to be incorporated into the one Newspaper collection in TAHO. This is a transitional process. | ||
| TAS | Mercury (Hobart) Southern edition July-Dec 1941 | Found in a Hobart school during renovations and donated to SLT | ||
| TAS | Van Diemen's Land Chronicle (Hobart) Mar 4, 1842 | The re-discovery of this loose copy is the first material evidence that the Van Diemen's Land Chronicle did indeed continue beyond Dec. 1841. | ||
| QLD | Barcoo Independent (15 Nov 1902; 3 Apr 1906; 12 Oct 1907; 15 Oct 1910; 22 Oct 1910; 23 Dec 1916; 9 Oct 1926) | |||
| QLD | Daily Record Rockhampton (9 May 1907) | |||
| QLD | Warwick Daily News (19 Jun 1914; 4 Dec 1945) | |||
| QLD | Longreach Leader (3 Jan - 5 Dec 1930 & Sep 1955) | Donated from Longreach Shire Council Library | ||
| QLD | Gympie Times (25 Apr 1992; 2 May 1992; 13 Feb 1992; 19 Dec 1995; 15 Apr 2005) | Donated by Gympie Library | ||
| QLD | Barfly | |||
| QLD | Cassowary Times | |||
| QLD | Courier Mail (15 Aug 1945) | |||
| QLD | Mackay MidWeek (14 Nov 1984-23 Dec 1986) | |||
| QLD | Marlin Coast Gazette | |||
| QLD | Muckay Mockery (1966-1999) | |||
| QLD | Son of Barfly | |||
| QLD | Suburbia (29 Apr 1941) | |||
| QLD | Norwester: A monthly budget of sense and humour (May 1926) | This newspaper was previously unknown to exist. Copies of this newspaper were found rolled up inside the brick wall of an old building in Townsville which was being renovated. The rolls were labeled with the names of businesses to which the newspapers were meant to be delivered. One was labeled "Terminus Hotel, Ingham", and the other "Royal Oak Hotel, Townsville". It is possible that these are the only surviving issues. Following their arrival at State Library, the newspapers were carefully unrolled by the library's Conservation staff, with the result that they can now be read. The Norwester vol. 1 no. 2, May 1926 is 32 pages long and the size of a magazine. It contains Humour; Trade and Progress; Motors and Motoring; Stamp Collecting; Children's Page; Digger Doings; Ladies Page; Editor's Page; Clippings from here, there and everywhere; Cartoons; Illustrations; etc. | ||
| QLD | Esk Record (19 June 1942) | |||
| QLD | Goondiwindi Argus (selected issues 1915 & 1931) | |||
| QLD | McIntyre Herald (selected issues Apr-May 1915) | |||
| QLD | Pacific Airlines News (Oct 1969 - Apr 1977) | Loaned to State Library of Queensland by Gold Coast Local Studies Library for microfilming | ||
| QLD | Queensland Times (23 June 1896) | Donated to State Library of Queensland by Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery, Tasmania | ||
| QLD | Queenslander Annual (6 Nov 1934) | Donated to State Library of Queensland by Gold Coast Local Studies Library | ||
| QLD | Sun News Pictorial (11 Dec 1927) | Donated to State Library of Queensland by Gold Coast Local Studies Library | ||
| QLD | Thargomindah Herald (pages from 14 Jan 1913; 13 Jan 1914; 12 Jan 1915) | |||
| QLD | Wide Bay and Burnett News (4 Feb 1893) | |||
| QLD | Douglas times and Douglas Shire visitors’ guide 12 Feb. 1986-Apr. 1986; first 8 issues | Donated by Douglas Shire Historical Society to SLQ | ||
| WA | Kanowna Democrat (1896) | |||
| NT | Army News (1941-1946) | Issues missing from Australian libraries’ collections were borrowed from the Australian War Memorial for microfilming | ||
| NSW | Vema (Greek newspaper; 1971-1990) | |||
| NSW | Wagga Wagga progress weekly (Vol. 1, no. 7; May 22, 1969) | |||
| NSW | Sugar valley community news (Mar. 1992-Mar. 1996) | Borrowed for microfilming by the State Library of NSW (SLNSW) | ||
| NSW | Braidwood dispatch and mining journal (1858-1860) | Donated to the NLA | ||
| NSW | Armidale budget Vol. 3 No. 30; 5 June, 1897 | Donated ; from University of New England Heritage Centre to SLNSW (microform version only) | ||
| NSW | Burrowa news and Marengo, Binalong, Murrumburrah and Cootamundra reporter; four miscellaneous issues from 1923-1951 | From private donor to SLNSW | ||
| NSW | Moruya Examiner (1989) Aug. 18, 1993; Dec. 1, 1993; Dec. 7, 1994; Apr. 2, 1995; Dec. 19, 1997; Feb. 18, Mar. 18, 1998 | Issues loaned to the SLNSW for microfilming | ||
| NSW | News leader 1984-1990 | Issues donated by Shoal Haven City Council to the SLNSW | ||
| NSW | The Referee 1891-1895; 1901-1909 | Purchased by SLNSW | ||
| NSW | Advocate (Coffs Harbour) (1991-1995 (Wed.& Sat.)) | Donated to the SLNSW by the Coffs Harbour Regional Museum | ||
| NSW | District reporter Nov.( 2002-Dec. 2011) | Donated by the Publisher to the SLNSW | ||
| NSW | Gilgandra weekly & Castlereagh (prior to 1949) | Back issues prior to 1949 donated by the Editor/ General Manager of the Gilgandra Weekly newspaper, and part owner of Gilgandra Newspapers Pty Ltd, Mrs Marion Ferrier. Mrs Marion Ferrier Gilgandra Newspapers Pty Ltd | ||
| NSW | Southern star (Moruya, N.S.W.) (May 1970-July 1989) | Donated to SLNSW by Moruya and District Historical Society | ||
| NSW | Myall Coast nota (1997-1999) | Loaned to SSLNSW from the Tea garden Hawks Nest Family Research Group | ||
| NSW | Nota (Hawks Nest, N.S.W.) (1970-1996) | Loaned to SSLNSW from the Tea garden Hawks Nest Family Research Group | ||
| SA | Western Weekly News (April-Oct 1902) | Five issues and one part issue donated to the State Library of South Australia (SLSA) | ||
| SA | The Laura standard: and Beetaloo, Wirrabara, Melrose, Booleroo Centre and Yarowie advertiser Vol. 1, no.1; 11 April 1889; first issue, printed on silk as a gift to the newspaper's sponsors | Although this issue was already in the SLSA’s collection, this edition is a significant find as no other South Australian newspaper is known to have been produced in this manner. Donated by Rocky River Historic & Art Society to the SLSA | ||
| SA | Maitland Mail (20 December 1909) | Lent to SLSA for microfilming by National Trust | ||
| SA | SportsWoman SA (Issue 1, June 1992) | Although on the SLSA’s list of missing newspapers, when found, it was determined to be a periodical rather than a newspaper |
