National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 65 | October 2003


The Alfred Deakin Digital Archive

(left-right) Sir James Gobbo, Chairman of the Council of the National Library, Professor Sally Walker, Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University, Sue McKnight, Deakin University’s Executive Director of Learning Services and University Librarian, and the Hon. John Brumby, Victorian Minister for Innovation and State and Regional Development
(left-right) Sir James Gobbo, Chairman of the
Council of the National Library, Professor Sally Walker,
Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University, Sue McKnight,
Deakin University’s Executive Director of Learning
Services and University Librarian, and the Hon. John
Brumby, Victorian Minister for Innovation and
State and Regional Development

On 24 September 2003 the Alfred Deakin Digital Archive was launched by the Minister for Innovation and State and Regional Development, the Hon. John Brumby, at the Queen’s Hall, Parliament House, Melbourne. The event was also a celebration of the centenary of Deakin’s appointment as Australia’s second Prime Minister.

Sir James Gobbo, Chairman of the Council of the National Library, Professor Sally Walker, Vice-Chancellor of Deakin University and Sue McKnight, Deakin University’s Executive Director of Learning Services and University Librarian, joined John Brumby in launching the archive. The event was also well attended by members of the Deakin family, including Mr Alfred and Mrs Margaret Brookes and Mrs Judith Harley, together with staff of Deakin University and the National Library, supporters of the project and other distinguished guests.

The digital archive is a collaborative project between the National Library and Deakin University, and forms a key feature in the development of the University’s Alfred Deakin Prime Ministerial Library.

As part of the project, the National Library has begun digitisation of a selection of material from the Deakin Papers, which are held in the Manuscript Collection at MS 1540, and which form one of the finest accumulations of personal papers of an Australian public figure. This material will complement the digitised papers of Deakin’s colleague and friend Sir Edmund Barton <nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms51>, which was the first comprehensive manuscript collection to be digitised by the National Library.

Digitisation of Deakin’s diaries spanning 1884 to 1916 (Series 2) and two photograph albums from among the family papers (Series 19) has been completed, and the digitisation of papers relating to Deakin’s three terms as Prime Minister (Series 15) is currently underway.

Other priority series selected for digitisation are papers relating to Deakin’s regular and anonymous contributions to the Morning Post (London) and other occasional journalism (Series 7), the Federation movement (Series 11), his terms as Leader of the Opposition (Series 16) and the period of the Barton Government, including Deakin’s work as first Attorney-General of the Commonwealth of Australia (Series 14).

The digitised images are available online both through the University’s Alfred Deakin Digital Archive and interpretative website <www.deakin.edu.au/alfreddeakin/index.htm> and the National Library’s guide to the Deakin Papers
<nla.gov.au/nla.ms-ms1540>.
—Megan Williams, Manuscript Section

| Contents list for this issue of Gateways |


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