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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 49| February 2001


Donation assists ‘Gift to the Nation’

Entrepreneur Dick Smith has donated $50 000 to the National Library of Australia to assist with the digitisation of the papers of the nation’s first Prime Minister, Sir Edmund Barton.

As a Centenary of Federation ‘gift to the nation’, the Library is digitising the extensive Barton Papers collection of letters, diaries, personal papers, press cuttings, objects and photographs. Many of these items relate to the Federation campaign and the drafting of the Constitution and include Barton’s correspondence as the first Prime Minister and subsequently as one of the first justices of the High Court.

Following completion of the digitisation process later this year, over 4000 images of items in the Barton manuscript collection will be available to the public through the National Library of Australia web site www.nla.gov.au

According to the Director-General of the National Library of Australia, Ms Jan Fullerton, Dick Smith’s offer of financial assistance for the project will ensure that the material goes ‘online’ in 2001. ‘We are delighted that Dick Smith has approached us with such a generous offer of financial assistance for the digitisation of the Barton Papers,’ Ms Fullerton said. ‘It provides the project with a great boost and ensures that all Australians, wherever they live, will be able to access the collection of papers of Australia’s first Prime Minister during the Centenary of Federation year. Dick Smith’s visionary support of this ground-breaking project is a true gift to the nation.’

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: dthomas@nla.gov.au

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