National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 62 | April 2003


Mura Gadi: A New Internet Pathway to Indigenous Resources

Homepage of Mura Gadi
www.nla.gov.au/muragadi/

In an exciting initiative, researchers are now able to preview a new Internet guide to the National Library’s rich holdings of Indigenous source materials.

Known as Mura Gadi, the guide describes manuscript, pictorial and oral history sources relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Library’s special collections. The name, contributed by Ngunnawal elder Matilda House, means ‘pathways for searching’ in the language of the Ngunnawal people, the original inhabitants of the region where the Library is located.

The Library’s Australian collections, which have been built up over a period of 100 years, include significant original source materials relating to Indigenous people. Mura Gadi has been developed as an Internet search tool to provide easier discovery of, and enhanced access to, these manuscripts, pictures and sound recordings, which currently receive brief entries in the Online Catalogue and the National Bibliographic Database. Harnessing the advantages of online access, Mura Gadi provides links to digitised copies of resources (where these are available), so that users can have immediate access to the collection wherever they live.

A black and white photograph of Milingimbi Swimming in the 1940s by Axel Poignant

Axel Poignant (1906–1986)
Milingimbi Swimming [194?]
gelatin silver platinotype photograph; 51 x 41 cm
Pictures Collection;
nla.pic-an1339116
4

The indexed materials, which document aspects of Australian Indigenous history and culture, date from the eighteenth century through to the present day. At present Mura Gadi contains records for more than 100 manuscript collections, 300 oral history recordings, and 1000 pictures, both by and about Aborigines and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Amongst the many formats represented in the guide are letters, diaries and research files, interview, folkloric and social history recordings, drawings, paintings and photographs. Eddie Mabo, Oodgeroo Noonuccal, Neville Bonner, Kevin Gilbert, ‘Nugget’ Coombs, Pat O’Shane and Charles Perkins feature amongst the many notable Australians listed in Mura Gadi. Social history is also widely represented in projects such as the ‘Seven Years On’ oral history interviews commenced in the 1990s by Jackie Huggins and Peter Read, who set out to record young Indigenous Australian leaders and return to record them every six or seven years.

The entries contained in Mura Gadi are intended to go beyond the limitations of traditional library cataloguing by providing a much greater level of information and an extensive range of index terms. Each item listed in the guide is given a detailed description—some extending over several pages—to help researchers identify and utilise the many valuable resources. Biographical information and assessments of the historical significance of items are provided to place materials in their historical context, and bibliographic references are cited to guide further reading.

Mura Gadi will continue to grow as new material is collected or digitised, and a print version is also being produced as a ready reference tool. At the same time, access to books, periodicals and other publications relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues will continue to be provided via the Library’s Online Catalogue.

The Library trusts that Mura Gadi will create a greater awareness of, and enhanced access to, the many significant Indigenous source materials in its special collections.  We invite all those with an interest in Indigenous resources to preview this ‘pathway’ at the Mura Gadi site <www.nla.gov.au/muragadi>.
—Susan Thomas

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