NLA at work
`On the hop'
Sylvia Carr describes reference work in the Pictorial Section
The Australian public is now learning rapidly about the reference services available from the Pictorial Section of the National Library. The services have been offered since 1968 but with the growth of the Internet there has been an explosion of interest. Information about the Pictorial Collection is available through the OPAC (the online public access catalogue) and the Library's own Web site, both in Australia and overseas. The IMAGES1 database now holds 20 000 items, many of them uniquely Australian, and is available online at: http://nla.gov.au/images1. Each image is accompanied by a full bibliographic record or, in the case of large photographic collections, a collective entry.
Requests received in the last few months include a number from overseas for images by Frank Hurley, whose photographs of Antarctic expeditions are in hot demand for books. The National Library holds a very large collection of Frank Hurley's photographs taken from 1910_62. The photographs, negatives and exhibition prints illustrate aspects of his life and experiences during two world wars, two visits to Antactica, and a trip to New Guinea. There are also hundreds of photographs showing Australia during the 1950s.
There has also been a call for watercolours of convict images for a Scottish historical film and many requests for permission to download images from the IMAGES1 database to personal, corporate or institutional Web sites. At this point it's worth noting that conditions apply to users wishing to download images to their Web site, although no fee is required for non-commercial, non-revenue raising sites.
The requests for photographic reproductions of paintings, drawings, lithographs and original photographs come in all forms. Today's sophisticated electronic communications now make it possible to maintain a reliable, efficient and rapid turn-around time for all enquiries, in direct contrast to the 1980s, when every letter had to be typed and the response often took some days to reach its destination.
The reference team in the Pictorial Section numbers four. However all Pictorial staff members undertake some reference work by doing at least four hours a week in the Pictorial Reading Room. Many Pictorial clients are researchers who require images to illustrate articles or books. Most readers have an academic or literary focus but the section also caters for others, such as those engaged in genealogical research.
Between June 1998 and the end of January 1999, the section answered 3496 user inquiries. These requests were received from personal readers in the Pictorial Reading Room, remote users and staff in the National Library who were working on publications, exhibitions and CD-ROMS.
The Pictorial Section has an email address and we happily welcome enquiries to: pictorial@nla.gov.au
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: lkirwan@nla.gov.au