Our Oral History and Folklore Collection consists of more than 40 000 hours of recorded oral histories, stories, speeches, folksongs and music, and sound environment recordings. Each one is a record of a unique event—the personal stories of Australians involved in the events that shape our nation, the reminiscences of eminent Australians and high achievers in their field, the cultural memories of the nation at work and play, the sounds of the environment in which we live.
The National Library’s audio-delivery system makes it possible to listen to those interviews in the collection which have 'open' access by clicking on the link in the catalogue record. If a timed summary is available you can use the text to navigate through the audiorecording. The Library’s access policies are intended to preserve the rights of the interviewee and protect the reputation of individuals. To learn about our conditions of access read the End User License Agreement. All the sound recordings available online have been copied in digital form for long-term preservation. To review our progress read Oral History and Folklore digitisation - progress so far and Digitisation - Overview.
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[Portrait of Howard Florey] [ca. 1960] |
listen nowHoward Florey, who developed penicillin, interviewed by Hazel de Berg, 5 April 1967
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Photography by Max Dupain. Portrait of Harry Seidler with Walter Gropius, 1954 |
listen nowHarry Seidler, Architect, interviewed by Hazel de Berg 13 January 1972 |
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listen nowMem Fox, author, interviewed by Rob Linn 2005 |
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Photograph by A.T. Bolton. Portrait of Professor Manning Clark and his wife Dymphna, Forrest A.C.T., 1984 |
listen nowDymphna Clark, translator and wife of Manning Clark interviewed by Heather Rusden |
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Photograph by Harold Cazneaux. Portrait of Nora Heysen, 9th March,1939 |
listen nowNora Heysen, painter and daughter of Hans Heysen, interviewed by Heather Rusden |
Photograph: Portrait of the Hon. Sir Hubert Opperman, OBE. 1922 |
listen nowSir Hubert Opperman, former Sportsman and Australian High Commissioner interviewed by Mel Pratt |
This Second World War topographic map of Kokoda shows the location of villages, tracks, a canoe route, seaplane bases and mission stations. Map images from the Library’s Digital Collection are interactive. Use the Zoom control to pan and examine details.