National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 58| August 2002


Additional Resources for Collection Development

In 2002–2003 the National Library’s resources for the purchase of material for the Australian and overseas book collections have been increased. There are three key areas for expanded collecting:

Expanded collecting of current and retrospective materials will take place throughout the year, and major acquisitions will be reported in future issues of Gateways. A list of microform collections proposed for purchase has been prepared for consultation with other libraries.

In compiling the list of proposed microform purchases, the Library was conscious of the need to:

  • update holdings of collections which had lapsed due to budgetary restrictions
  • identify titles which support priority collecting areas, including Asian research materials
  • identify research collections not held by other libraries in Australia
  • Where catalogue records are available for the units within a collection, they will be acquired as well as the actual microform collection. The records will be loaded to the National Bibliographic Database via Kinetica, thus enhancing access to the collections for all Kinetica users.

    The microform collections identified for purchase (pending the outcome of consultations with other libraries) are listed below.

    China Through Western Eyes: Manuscript Records of Traders, Travellers, Missionaries & Diplomats, 1792–1942
    Part 4: Manuscript diaries and papers from the China Records Project at Yale Divinity Library.
    23 reels
    Part 5: Manuscript diaries and papers from the China Records Project at Yale Divinity Library.
    18 reels
    Part 6: Correspondence and papers of Sir Ernest Satow (1843–1929) relating to China from PRO Class PRO 30/33.
    15 reels

    (The Library already holds parts 1–3 and part 7. Parts 4 and 5 include more than 50 individual collections and reveal the different strategies adopted by a variety of missionaries working in China from 1871 through to 1949. Part 6 covers Sir Ernest Satow’s papers in the period 1900–1906 and reflects contacts he made while in Beijing as Britain’s Minister to China.)

    Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files: China: Subject-Numeric Files, February 1963–1966
    Part 1: Political, government and national defense affairs, February 1963–1966.
    50 reels

    (The Library already holds China: Internal Affairs, 1940–1963; and China: Foreign Affairs, 1950–1963. These files provide firsthand American diplomatic reporting on China, and an insight into United States negotiations through the height of the Cold War.)

    Confidential U.S. State Department Central Files: Indonesia: Internal Affairs and Foreign Affairs, 1960–January 1963
    20 reels

    (These files cover the period of President Sukarno’s land reform measures, the rise in power of the PKI, and foreign relations problems with Holland, Malaysia and the United Nations.)

    Early English Books 1475–1640
    Units 65–72. c.138 reels

    (The Library already holds units 1–64. This collection contains nearly all 26 500 titles listed in Pollard and Redgrave’s Short-title Catalogue of Books Printed in England, Scotland & Ireland and of English Books Printed Abroad, 1475–1640 and its revised edition. It documents the English Renaissance and is invaluable to scholars.)

    Early English Newspapers
    Units 25–38, 43–132. c.5300 reels

    (This is a major research collection and will be a major purchase. The Library already holds units 1–24 and 39–42. MARC records for the collection are available. This collection of 17th and 18th century English newspapers incorporates the collections of Dr Charles Burney, who had more than 700 volumes dating back to 1603 and rival collector, John Nichols. Many of Burney’s and Nichols’ holdings were once owned by Narcissus Luttrell and his notes can be found on many of the papers in the collection. The collection is not held in its entirety by any other library in Australia and has been suggested for purchase by researchers. The collection will be completed with unit 132 so this purchase will give the Library full holdings.)

    East Meets West: Original Records of Traders, Travellers, Missionaries and Diplomats to 1852
    Part 1: The log book of William Adams (1564–1620) and other manuscript and rare printed materials from the Bodleian Library, Oxford.
    22 reels
    Part 2: The papers of Englebert Kaempfer (1651–1716) and related sources from the British Library.
    10 reels
    Part 3: Papers of John Scattergood (1681–1723), Isaac Titsingh (1740?–1812), Heinrich Julius Klaproth (1783–1835) and other early materials from the British Library, London.
    12 reels

    (William Adams’ log gives an informative account of how Asia appeared to Europeans in the 15th century. Also included in Part 1 is the 1598 atlas of Ortelius, which reveals what was known of East Asia in the 16th century. Part 2 covers the records of Englebert Kaempfer, the German physician who worked for the Dutch East India Company in Nagasaki from 1690–1692. Part 3 contains 33 manuscripts which describe early contacts between western explorers, missionaries and businessmen, and the Asian societies that they visited and with which they traded.) 

    Foreign Office Files: United States of America
    Series Two: Vietnam, 1959–1975
    Part 1: Vietnam, 1959–1963.
    33 reels
    Part 2: Laos, 1959–1963.
    58 reels
    Part 3: Cambodia, 1959–1963.
    14 reels
    Part 4: SEATO, SE Asia General and Thailand, 1959–1963: complete files on the Vietnam Conflict.
    25 reels

    (The Library already holds Series one, parts 1 and 2. In Series two, part 1 contains materials covering the early period of the Vietnam War from a British viewpoint as well as an American one. Parts 2 and 3 provide a British overview of the Vietnam War and its repercussions throughout South-East Asia, in particular in Laos and Cambodia. Part 4 provides complete coverage of the South-East Asia Treaty Organisation files for the period.)

    French Books Before 1601
    30 reels

    (The Library already holds reels 1–493. This series is largely based on titles in the British Museum’s Short-title Catalogue of Books Printed in France and of French Books Printed in Other Countries from 1470–1600.)

    German Books Before 1601
    30 reels

    (The Library already holds reels 1–643. This series includes German, Swiss and Austrian books printed from the 15th century to the beginning of the 17th century.)
    —Angela Brown

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