The Aged in Australia :
A Research Guide and Select Bibliography of Australian Publications

Introduction

United Nations' involvement with the aged goes back several years. In 1982 the United Nations convened the World Assembly on Ageing and in the same year the General Assembly endorsed the International Plan of Action on Ageing (Resolution 37/51). In 1992 the General Assembly, in its Resolution 47/5, designated 1999 as the International Year of Older Persons (IYOP).

The United Nations proposes that the overall objective of the Year should be the promotion of its Principles for Older Persons of 1991, and their translation into policy as well as practical programs and actions.

The Aged in Australia: A Research Guide and Select Bibliography of Australian Publications has been prepared by the Information Services Section of the National Library. This guide to material was prepared as the National Library's contribution to the International Year of Older Persons 1999 and as one of the initiatives of the Commonwealth of Australia to the International Year of Older Persons. It will also be published on the National Library's Internet home page (http://www.nla.gov.au).

A similar project was undertaken by the Library in 1981 to mark the International Year of Disabled Persons when it compiled and published The Handicapped in Australia: A Select Bibliography (ISBN 0642992207).

Whereas The Handicapped in Australia consisted mainly of references to journal articles, reflecting the lack of substantial material published in book form at that time, preliminary research indicated that several thousand titles, excluding journal articles and conference papers, have now been published on the aged and its related subjects gerontology and geriatrics.

This bibliography is inclusive of all material held in the National Library, published in Australia after 1945 and of 100 pages or more. There are minor exclusions from the list (detailed below). Some annotations have been included.

The Aged in Australia is in two main sections:

1. A research guide, which lists major organisations, Internet sites, journals, indexes, bibliographies, research methodology, statistics and library catalogue headings and classification numbers.

The purpose of this section is to assist people to locate basicinformation about the aged and to navigate their way around research libraries which house the vast literature published on this topic.

2. A select bibliography, which lists major publications (containing more than 99 pages) held in the National Library.

As a legal deposit library—a library receiving one copy of every work published in Australia—the National Library of Australia has an outstanding collection of Australian publications. This section includes theses as well as State parliamentary papers published after 1989, which are not all listed individually in the Library's catalogue. Because of the vast number of titles published on this topic it was decided to exclude journal articles, individual conference papers, multimedia kits and material dealing with localities below the State level. Some popular works and specialised medical titles have also been excluded. Contents of composite works (i.e. collections of essays and conference proceedings) have been listed, as this information is usually not available from library catalogues. Major State and Commonwealth legislation has been listed, together with the dates the legislation was debated in Parliament.

The bibliography concentrates on material published after 1945. Other works chronicle the development of social policy towards the aged before this date. These include Australia's Policy towards the Aged 1890–1972 by John Dixon (Canberra College of Advanced Education, 1977), located at N+ 368.430994 D621, and Australian Social Security Today: Major Developments from 1900 to 1978 by T.H. Kewley (Sydney University Press, 1980) at N+ 361.60994 K43. Titles published before 1945 may be found in the National Library's catalogue (/webpac/), in bibliographies listed in this publication, and in bibliographical references contained in items cited in this bibliography.

The entries are arranged in nine broad sections, one general and eight dealing with specific aspects of the aged. Within each category, entries are subdivided into bibliographies, major serial titles (e.g. journals, statistical series, etc.), and other titles (books and conference proceedings) arranged chronologically by date of publication.

Entries follow the standard bibliographic citation format.


Sitsky, Lynn1. Community care of the elderly: an annotated bibliography, 1980–852. Kensington, NSW5: Social Welfare Research Centre, University of New South Wales6, 19877. 167 p8. (SWRC research resource series9, (ISSN 1037-403510) ; no. 211.). ISBN 085823651612.
Nq 016.361994 SWR14


Author1, title2, title extension added by compiler in brackets3 [not used in example above], author statement4 [not used in example above], place of publication5, publisher6, date of publication7, pagination8, series9, series International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)10 and series number11, International Standard Book Number (ISBN)12, contents13 [not used in example above], National Library call number14


Australasian journal on ageing1. Vol. 17, no. 1 (Feb. 1998)–2. Melbourne3: Council on the Ageing (Australia)4. Continues: Australian journal on ageing (ISSN 0726-4240)6. ISSN 1440-63817. Indexed in Australasian medical index8.
N 362.6042 AUS9


Title1, numbering2, place of publication3, publisher4, date of publication (if not included in numbering)5 [not included in this example], former/later titles6, International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)7, where indexed8, National Library call number9

All material listed in the bibliography is held by the National Library of Australia and most of it is available for interlibrary loan. Readers may request their local libraries to borrow it for them. Some library catalogues may be searched on the Internet through the Australian Libraries Gateway (/libraries/) and these will indicate whether items are held locally.

NLA catalogue subject headings

The following subject headings relating to the aged are used in the National Library of Australia's catalogue, accessible on the Internet at: /webpac/, and in most other library catalogues. Note that these headings are compiled by the United States Library of Congress and reflect United States spelling conventions, e.g. 'Aging' rather than 'Ageing'.

Ability, Influence of age on Aborigines, Australian—Aged Abused aged
Adjustment (Psychology) in old age Age (Psychology) Age and employment
Age and intelligence Age and sports Age discrimination
Age discrimination in employment Age distribution (Demography) Age factors in disease
Aged [has many subdivisions] Aged, Deaf Aged, Killing of the
Aged, Physically handicapped Aged, Writings of the Aged artists
Aged athletes Aged authors Aged automobile drivers
Aged consumers Aged in mass media Aged in television
Aged lesbians Aged men Aged men in literature
Aged offenders Aged pedestrians Aged politicians
Aged veterans Aged volunteers Aged volunteers in education
Aged volunteers in social service Aged women Ageism
Aging [has many subdivisions] Aging in literature Aging parents
Altruism in old age Alzheimer's disease Anxiety in old age
Architecture and the aged Art and the aged Art therapy for the aged
Autonomy (Psychology) in old age Behavior therapy for the aged Bereavement in old age
Blind aged Books and reading for the aged Centenarians
Children and the aged Chinese aged Christian education of the aged
Church work with nursing home patients Church work with the aged Cognition—Age factors
Cognition disorders in old age Cognition in old age Communicable diseases in old age
Communicative disorders in old age Community health services for the aged Control (Psychology) in old age
Creative ability in old age Dance for the aged Day care centers for the aged
Delirium in old age Dependency (Psychology) in old age Depression in old age
Developmentally disabled aged Diabetes in old age Discounts for the aged
Early retirement Euthanasia Exercise for the aged
Falls (Accidents) in old age Federal aid to nursing homes Gardening for the aged
Geriatric anesthesia Geriatric cardiology Geriatric dermatology
Geriatric gastroenterology Geriatric neurology Geriatric neuropsychiatry
Geriatric nursing Geriatric oncology Geriatric ophthalmology
Geriatric orthopedics Geriatric pathology Geriatric pharmacology
Geriatric psychiatry Geriatric psychopharmacology Geriatric urology
Geriatrics [has many subdivisions] Gerontocracy Gerontologists
Gerontology Gerontology and the humanities Gerontology literature
Gifted aged Grandmothers Grandparent and child
Grandparenting Grandparents Group psychotherapy for the aged
Helping behavior in old age Helplessness (Psychology) in old age Home nursing
Homeless aged Hypertension in old age Institutional care
Jewish aged Language disorders in old age Learning, Psychology of, in old age
Legal assistance to the aged Libraries and the aged Life change events in old age
Life span, Productive Longevity Long-term care facilities
Loss (Psychology) in old age Love in old age Mass media and the aged
Memory—Age factors Memory disorders in old age Memory in old age
Mentally handicapped aged Mentally ill aged Minority aged
Music therapy for the aged Nursing home administrators Nursing home benefactors
Nursing home care Nursing home patients Nursing home patients' spouses
Nursing homes [has many subdivisions] Nursing homes, Proprietary Nutrition disorders in old age
Occupational therapy for the aged Old age Old age assistance
Old age homes Old age in literature Old age pensions
Pain in old age Palliative treatment Physical fitness for the aged
Physical therapy for the aged Police services for the aged Poor aged
Preventive health services for the aged Psychotherapy for the aged Public libraries—Services to the aged
Recreational therapy for the aged Reminiscing in old age Rest homes
Retirees Retirement [has many subdivisions] Retirement age
Retirement communities Retirement in literature Retirement income
Retirement, Mandatory Retirement, Places of Rural aged
Schizophrenia in old age Self-actualization (Psychology) in old age Self-perception in old age
Self-realization in old age Senile dementia Sex instruction for the aged
Social case work with the aged Social work with the aged Sports for the aged
Stress in old age Stress management for the aged Swimming for the aged
Television and the aged Theater and the aged Torres Strait Islanders—Aged
Traffic safety and the aged Violence in nursing homes Visually handicapped aged
Widows

Library Shelf Classification Numbers

Many libraries shelve their publications by the Dewey Decimal Classification call number system, although some libraries may house serials (journals), ready reference and large (quarto) items in different sequences, for example, with 'S', 'RF' and 'Q' before the call numbers.

The Dewey system may have the effect of separating titles onthe elderly depending on the primary topical aspect of the publication. The major Dewey numbers which are used for literature on the elderly are listed below. These may assist researchers who want to browse library shelves.

With some minor exceptions, such as the Reference Collection in the Main Reading Room, the shelves of the National Library are not open for browsing. Titles should be requested individually by call slip in the Reading Rooms or on interlibrary loan through a local library.

Call number browsing is an option available in the National Library's catalogue (/webpac/). However, owing to the large size of the collection and the manner in which categories of titles are housed, the following prefixes should be added in front of each number for some searches:

CALL NUMBER
PREFIX
COLLECTION
OVERSEAS COLLECTION
[no prefix] Monographs received before 1989 (mainly overseas but including some Australian titles)
Q As above but larger than 25 cm (quarto size)
YY or YYq Overseas monographs received after 1988
S or Sq Overseas serials (journals, annual reports)
AUSTRALIAN COLLECTION
N or Nq Australian titles
NL or NLq Australian titles (lending copy held)

 

CALL NUMBER CATEGORY
150–159 PSYCHOLOGY
027.622 Libraries for persons in late adulthood
155.67 Psychology of the elderly
155.672 Psychological aspects of retirement
   
200–299 RELIGION
248.85 Guides to Christian life for the aged
252.56 Texts of sermons for the aged
259.3 Pastoral care of the aged
   
300–309 SOCIAL GROUPS and INSTITUTIONS
305.26 formerly 301.435 The aged as a social group
305.90696 Retired persons as a social group
306.38 Sociology of retirement
   
320–329 POLITICAL SCIENCE
323.354 Civil and political rights of the aged
330–339 ECONOMICS
331.398 Older workers
332.02401 Financial planning for retirement
338.4730526 Retirement and health care industries
   
340–349 LAW
343.011 Veterans' law
344.0226 Legal aspects of accident and health insurance for the aged
344.023 Legal aspects of old age insurance
   
350–354 PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION
353.537 Administration of social welfare to the aged
   
360–369 SOCIAL PROBLEMS and SERVICES
362.14 Professional home care
362.16 Extended care facilities eg nursing homes
362.175 Terminal care
362.1756 Hospices
362.196831 Care for those with Alzheimer's diseases
362.19897 Social welfare services to the aged
362.6 Social gerontology; problems of and services to older persons; elder abuse as a social problem
363.5946 Aged housing
368.43 Old age pensions
   
610–619 MEDICINE
610.7365 Geriatric nursing
612.67 Ageing; physical gerontology
613.0438 Health promotion for the aged
614.599297 Geriatric disorders
615.547 Geriatric therapeutics
616.831 Alzheimer's disease (medical aspects)
617.97 Geriatric surgery
618.97 Geriatrics
618.976831 Alzheimer's disease (in the context of ageing)
618.9768983 Senile dementia
   
640–649 HOME ECONOMICS and FAMILY LIVING
641.5627 Cooking for the elderly
646.79 Lifestyle guides for the elderly and retired
720–729 ARCHITECTURE
725.56 Buildings of institutions for the elderly
725.594 Veterans' homes
   
790–799 RECREATIONAL and PERFORMING ARTS
790.1926 Recreational activities for the elderly

This bibliography was compiled by Roy Jordan, Senior Subject Librarian (Law), National Library of Australia.

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