Staff Papers

South Pacific Collections at the National Library of Australia

Paper by Margaret E. Phillips, Manager - Acquisitions, presented at the 11th Pacific History Association Conference and 21st Annual University of Hawaii Pacific Islands Studies Conference, Hilo, Hawaii, 9-13 July


The Commonwealth of Australia began forming its national collection at its inception in 1901. Right from the beginning the Pacific was regarded as a priority collecting area [1]. The increasing significance of the Asia/Pacific region to Australia in political, economic and strategic terms in recent years has vindicated this early direction.

Three major collections form the foundation of the Library's Australiana collections and each of these has significant Pacific content. The Petherick collection was offered to the Commonwealth in 1909. It is a comprehensive collection of books, pamphlets, leaflets, manuscripts, maps and pictures put together for the most part from 1870 to 1910 when there was little competition for the items that Petherick gathered.

The main focus of the Pacific component of Sir John Ferguson's collection is history and linguistics. Sir Rex Nan Kivell's collection covered the exploration and early history of Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific with a strong emphasis on the pictorial - portraits, maps, sketches and prints - as well as print materials.

There are numerous smaller Pacific collections listed in the Library's catalogues and the Guide to its collections [2]. General strengths in the print collections are in government publications, missionary records, linguistics, history and exploration, maps and newspapers.

In the Manuscript collection there are significant holdings of whaling logs, journals, diaries and the papers of individuals associated with the Pacific. Examples include papers of Sir John Thurston and Sir Everard Im Thurn, both High Commissioners of the Western Pacific and Governors of Fiji. The papers (1865-1919) of John Arundel, a leading figure of the Pacific Phosphate Co is an important collection. Exploration of the Pacific is also strongly represented. For instance, there is the journal of James Burney from Cook's second voyage and the logs of Admiral George Anson's voyage of 1740-1744. Missionary papers include Presbyterian and Wesleyan records from the New Hebrides.

The Library has had long term involvement with two microfilming projects which are rich in Pacific materials: the Pacific Manuscripts Bureau and the Australian Joint Copying Project. A full set of the microfilm of both projects is held. The Pacific Manuscripts Bureau microfilm will be well-known to you all but the Pacific content of the Australian Joint Copying Project film may not be. The geographic scope of the Project included Australia, New Zealand, the Pacific, Antarctica and South East Asia. Between 1948 and 1993 the Project microfilmed official records at the Public Record Office in London which became the PRO Series. Records filmed included large series of Foreign Office General Correspondence relating to the Pacific Islands and Colonial Office Original Correspondence relating to administration of the then Pacific colonies. Archives and manuscript material held by organisations and individuals in the United Kingdom were filmed in the Miscellaneous (M) Series.

Other microfilm collections of interest include the Trust Territories of Micronesia Archivies which were purchased in 1994, 290 reels of the records of the Western Pacific High Commission (1875-1952) and 262 reels of the Deutsches Zentralarchive. Many other smaller collections on microfilm are held [3].

The Library has good holdings of printed maps prior to 1900, extending four centuries back. Holdings for this century are not as strong.

In the Library's Collection Development Policy of 1990 [4], the intention was stated of maintaining a collection of South West Pacific publications at the 4 conspectus level, that is, a research level collection. In its 1993-98 strategic plan, Service to the Nation, Access to the Globe [5], the Library restated its commitment to collecting Pacific materials. By this time, however, it was realised that we were not collecting current materials to the desired 4 conspectus level. We began to examine our regional collecting strategies.

We had been reasonably successful in collecting titles about the Pacific that are published outside the Pacific region. Thanks to legal deposit provisions, we hold a comprehensive collection of Australian publications about the Pacific. Blanket orders with suppliers in the UK, US, Canada and Europe have ensured a supply of scholarly works dealing wholly or in substantial part with the Pacific or individual nation states within the region.

Until 1975 when Papua New Guinea gained independence from Australia, Papua New Guinean publications came to the Library under legal deposit provisions and consequently our holdings of print materials to that date are very strong. With this exception, like everyone else, we have had difficulties in obtaining reliable supply of publications from the Pacific itself.

During the last three years, in an attempt to improve the receipt of publications from the Pacific, we have employed three main measures:

  1. We have instituted a blanket order with Pan Pacifica (Honolulu) for monographs and sample issues of serial titles. In addition a consolidation arrangement with ISA (International Subscriptions Agents, Brisbane) to supply serials from Papua New Guinea has been established.
  2. We have recognised that many gift and exchange arrangements with institutions in the Pacific were not fruitful and have placed subscriptions instead, either with the institution or with Pan Pacifica or ISA.
  3. We have increased the frequency of acquisitions trips to the region [6].

As a result of these strategies, expenditure on publications from the Pacific (excluding New Zealand) has trebled in three years, up from $A19,550 in the 1993/94 financial year to $A61,600 in 1995/96. This is a very pleasing result.

We are once again in the process of reviewing our collection development policy for overseas materials. The draft which is currently circulating for comment internally states that the Library

intends to maintain a strong collection concentrating on reference works, statistics, legal materials, geography and travel, sociology and social issues, government and public administration, and history. Works about the Pacific and individual Pacific nations, but published elsewhere, are also acquired. [7]

I stress that this document is still the subject of discussion within the Library and changes may yet be made.

This time a more realistic conspectus level of 3 is proposed for the subject areas and types of material specified. (In other words, a collection that supports independent study at less than research level is what we shall aim for for contemporary materials in these subject areas.) Other subject categories such as literature and agriculture will be represented, but at lower collecting levels. While the Library seeks a strong collection of print publications, including primary materials and an extensive collection of serials, there is no intention to pursue the manuscripts (except on microform), ephemera and other formats that would be necessary to define the current collecting level as 4. Vernacular languages are not usually collected.

The National Library of Australia is one of two major research collections of Pacific materials in Canberra. The Australian National University also collects vigorously in this area but was, unfortunately, unable to send a representative to this Conference. The National Library's draft collection development policy states

Cooperation with the Australian National University over Pacific collecting has led to an informal agreement that the National Library will maintain an active collecting interest in several areas in which the ANU does not collect. This includes a commitment to seek regular supply of major weekly and daily newspapers from the Pacific, parliamentary proceedings (Hansards in particular), and material from Micronesia. [8]

A scheme which may assist us to improve our coverage of Pacific parliamentary materials has recently been set up by the Library. At the 1994 Conference of the Association of Parliamentary Librarians of Asia and Pacific (APLAP), a resolution was passed that recommended that member libraries should deposit one copy of their country's legislation with the National Library of Australia. A free document delivery service would be provided to APLAP members by the Library from this collection. The Library has recently invited Pacific APLAP member libraries to participate.

In summary, the National Library of Australia has a very strong research collection of retrospective publications, maps, manuscripts and pictorial works relating to the South Pacific. Scanning of second hand dealers' catalogues seldom discovers titles not held. While our modern day collections from the region are not as strong, the Library remains highly committed to maintaining a good research collection of publications relating to the South West Pacific and significant acquisitions funds and staff resources are directed to achieve this result.

Footnotes:

  1. The Library's area of interest in relation to collection development lies in the countries of the South West Pacific: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, French Polynesia, Guam, Kiribati, Marshall Islands, Nauru, New Caledonia, Niue, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairn Island, Solomon Islands, Tokelau, Tonga, Tuvalu, Vanuatu, Wallis and Futuna, Western Samoa.
  2. National Library of Australia guide to the collections, compiled by C A Burmester, Canberra, 1974-82.
  3. See National Library of Australia, Guide to microfilm research collections in the National Library of Australia, compiled by Beth Stone, Canberra 1992.
  4. National Library of Australia, Collection development policy, Canberra, 1990
  5. National Library of Australia, Service to the nation, access to the globe: National Library of Australia strategic plan 1993-1998, Canberra, 1994.
  6. The following program of visits has been undertaken: 1993 - New Zealand, New Caledonia, Vanuatu, Fiji; 1994 - Fiji, Tonga, Papua New Guinea; 1995 - Western Samoa, American Samoa, Cook Islands, Tahiti; 1996 (after this Conference) - Fiji
  7. National Library of Australia, 'Collection development policy for overseas materials: draft for comment', 1996, paragraph 3.6.
  8. ibid, page 12

Margaret E. Phillips
Manager - Acquisitions
12 July 1996

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