Collections
The National Library holds some 10 000 000 collection items of national heritage significance. These include manuscripts, books, pictures, music and ephemera. The podcasts below provide another perspective on some of the highlights from the Library’s collections. For more podcasts on our collections see the media page
Download mp3: 35.9Mb
Melanesia: The History and Politics of an Idea
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Wednesday, 16 November 2011
Duration: 58:51
Format:
mp3 audio
Stephanie Lawson is Professor of Politics and International Relations at Macquarie University. Her research focuses on postcolonial approaches to history and politics in the Pacific Islands, with a particular focus on the tensions between anthropological and humanist approaches.
Download mp3:
Susannah Helman mp3 17.52Mb (26:32)
Robyn Holmes mp3 19.93Mb (30:09)
Matthew Jones mp3 16.59Mb (23:39)
Treasures Gallery Family Day
Contributor:National Library Publications
Date published: Wednesday, 19 October 2011
Duration: various
Format:
mp3 audio
Curator talks by Susannah Helman, Robyn Holmes and Matthew Jones held during the Treasures Gallery family day on Monday 10 October 2011 at the National Library of Australia.
Download mp3: 48.5 Mb
'Exposing the Australians in focus' Australiana Photo-books of the late 1960s
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Wednesaday, 27 July 2011
Duration 52:51
Format:
mp3 audio
Harold White Fellow Presentation
'Exposing the Australians in focus':
Australiana Photo-books of the late 1960s
In the late 1960s, Australia's best writers, designers and
photographers collaborated to create photo-books
that generated a vibrant discussion of Australian
identity. The books contained sometimes kitsch,
sometimes acerbic, points of view on the Australian
character and Australia's future.
Dr Martyn Jolly is Head of Photography and Media Arts at the
School of Art, Australian National University. As an artist he
works with archival photographs and his research focuses on
the interaction of text, image and design on the printed page.
Download mp3: 41.8 Mb
Shrieking-Cockatoos
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Thursday, 15 June 2011
Duration 45:31
Format:
mp3 audio
Harold White Fellow Presentation
‘Shrieking-Cockatoos’:
The Fight for Women's Suffrage in Australia and Britain
After they gained the right to vote in 1902, a group of Australian women involved in the Australian suffrage campaign visited Britain and became committed to the cause of their British sisters. These women became an integral part of the movement and wholeheartedly embraced British militancy. They were a far cry from 'shrieking cockatoos', as one Australian politician described them. Presented by Dr Béatrice Bjon
Download mp3: 34.30 Mb
The Actor's Mirror
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Thursday, 5 May 2011
Duration 49:55
Format:
mp3 audio
Harold White Fellow Presentation
The Actor's Mirror: From the Riverbed to the Emperor's Gaze
The Kabuki Woodblock Prints of Toyohara Kunichika (1835–1900)
Amy Reigle Newland's talk focuses on three Kabuki stars from the Meiji period (1868–1912)—Ichikawa Danjūrō IX, Onoe Kikugorō V and Ichikawa Sadanji I—and their portrayal by the premier artist of actor imagery at the time, Toyohara Kunichika.
Download mp3: 37.46 Mb
Soldiers of Tin
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Friday, 11 February 2011
Duration 39:53
Format:
mp3 audio
Harold White Fellow Presentation
Soldiers of Tin:
Nature and Labour in Colonial Australasia
Dr Amrita Malhi's presentation discusses questions in relation to the tin mines established by the Billiton Company in its place of origin on Belitung Island, off Sumatra in the Netherlands East Indies.
Download mp3: 48.70 Mb
Balancing between Empires
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Friday, 10 December 2010
Duration 57:46
Format:
mp3 audio
Harold White Fellow Presentation
Balancing between Empires: The Early Years of the Australian Instituteof International Affairs
Dr Priscilla Roberts explores how prominent Australians, such as Sir Frederic Eggleston, viewed the AIIA and sought to balance and negotiate conflicting interests.
'Gold and Wool Are So Yesterday'
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Friday, 10 December 2010
Duration 1:00:36
Format:
mp3 audio, m4a audio
Harold White Fellow Presentation
'Gold and Wool Are So Yesterday': Charting Japan's Observations of Australia's Resources Development
Dr Donna Weeks examines the ways in which ‘natural resources’ have underpinned the relationship between Japan and Australia for more than a century and Australia’s current and future relations in the Asia-Pacific region.
Download mp3:
Susan-Hall mp3 7.1 Mb (07:45)
Martin-Terry mp3 6.2 Mb (06:51)
Writings on the Endeavour Journal
Contributor: National Museum of Australia
Date published: Monday, 18 May 2009
Duration: various
Format:
mp3 audio
Susan Hall and Martin Terry from the National Library discuss Lieutenant James Cook's Endeavour Journal at
the 'Writing Captain Cook' symposium
held at the National Museum of Australia.
View the digitised journal.
Ben Hall's pocket revolver
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Monday, 13 Apr 2009
Duration: 00:30
Format:
Flash video 3.2 Mb
Have a closer look at Ben Hall's pocket revolver. The bushranger eluded police for three years. nla.pic-an7969455
Captain James King’s coconut
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Monday, 13 Apr 2009
Duration: 00:30
Format:
Flash video 3 Mb
Have a closer look at Captain James King’s coconut, carved by an unknown sailor in about 1778, and passed down through generations of King’s descendants. nla.pic-vn3370628
Challenge cup heavy weights
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Monday, 13 Apr 2009
Duration: 00:30
Format:
Flash video 2.7 Mb
Have a closer look at the Challenge Cup for Heavy Weights, presented by the Marquess of Queensberry to the Amateur Athletic Club, London, in 1866. nla.pic-an11135938
Listen to the account in full.
Max Dupain
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Monday, 13 Apr 2009
Duration: 01:04
Format:
mp3 audio 1.4 Mb
Photographer Max Dupain recalls his experience taking photographs of the Sydney Opera House under construction. nla.pic-an23235682
Listen to the account in full.
Sir Howard Walter Florey
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published:Monday, 13 Apr 2009
Duration: 01:32
Format:
mp3 audio 1.7 Mb
Lord Howard Florey speaks about the teamwork that led to the discovery of penicillin. nla.pic-an23609885
View catalogue record
Mina Wylie
Contributor: National Library Publications
Date published: Monday, 13 Apr 2009
Duration: 01:21
Format:
mp3 audio 1.9 Mb
Mina Wylie recounts her memories of swimming with Fanny Durack in the 1912 Olympic Games in Stockholm. nla.pic-an10716253
