National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1443-0568 | no. 69 | June 2004


PictureAustralia Celebrates One Million Images

Portrait of Vivian Bullwinkel, AO MBE AARC (1915–2000)  c. 1941
Portrait of Vivian Bullwinkel AO, MBE (1915-2000) c. 1941
Australian War Memorial

In April, PictureAustralia loaded its millionth image onto the service. The image, one of a collection from the Australian War Memorial, is of heroic Australian army nurse Vivian Bullwinkel, the sole survivor of the Banka (Sumatra) massacre of World War II in which 21 of her colleagues were killed by Japanese troops. Her courage while a prisoner of war demonstrated the bravery of Australian women in war, and her distinguished post-war career was marked by many humanitarian achievements.

PictureAustralia, a collaborative Internet-based service hosted by the National Library, allows users to search the online pictorial collections of many cultural agencies from the one website. The service commenced in 1998 with five participating organisations and 470 000 images; it has grown to 36 organisations and over a million images.

In a national celebration of ANZAC day and Vivian Bullwinkel’s achievements, both during wartime and as a civilian, a picture trail is being developed from the collections of PictureAustralia contributors showing women at war.

Jan Fullerton, Director-General of the National Library commented on PictureAustralia’s significant benefits:

‘Within a relatively short period of time PictureAustralia has become not only Australia’s, but also one of the world’s premier image services, and a model that has been copied by libraries in Canada and New Zealand.

‘Its strength lies in the partnership with the other cultural organisations whose collections bring such a variety of images and information about Australia. Once added to PictureAustralia they become easily available through a single search process.

‘We are delighted that the millionth image is that of inspirational Vivian Bullwinkel. Her story of great courage while a prisoner of war and throughout her life is fitting for this critical milestone,’ she said.

Steve Gower AO, Director of the Australian War Memorial said, ‘Vivian Bullwinkel’s courage exemplifies the bravery of Australians in war. This photograph, as well as her uniform and personal papers, are an important part of our collection.

‘PictureAustralia is a great initiative for all Australians. It gives access to images relating to ANZAC Day and so many other important events, people and places. Naturally we are very pleased that Vivian Bullwinkel’s image has been added at such a significant time in PictureAustralia’s development.’

The service has received a lot of support from researchers searching for many diverse and interesting topics. Some of the feedback received is included below:

‘I’m doing some family research and the family name is “Smith”. Sadly, this makes things very hard! They lived in Pinkenba on the Brisbane River. Imagine my amazement and incredulity to discover a beautiful photograph of the “Smith family girls in Pinkenba” in the 1890s. My grandmother, née Violet Smith, was a great slash and burn artist with family photographs and documents, so the find was truly wonderful.’
Judy Bell—Librarian, Chinchilla Library Queensland

‘I discovered about 90 images of Old Parliament House on PictureAustralia, including some from the 1940s showing flocks of grazing sheep with Parliament House in the background … I found the picture trails a delight. I followed the Old and New Parliament House trail and the military and war trais. I am going back to view the trail on lighthouses.’
Heather Campbell—West Australian researcher seeking images to illustrate the story of offices used by Australian Prime Ministers during the years of World War II

‘I work in cultural heritage landscape research in Tasmania and PictureAustralia is an absolutely invaluable research tool for me. I always start here, because it brings together an enormously large database of imaged landscapes across many Australian states and Territories. I am able to compare images across libraries and determine which is the most suitable for the piece of work I’m completing, something previously not possible.’
Gwenda Sheridan—Tasmanian landscape historian

‘I was undertaking a biography of William Lithgow in 2002–2003. I had been able to assemble many facts about his life but there was one thing missing that would round out the whole picture. His portrait, but who would hold such a picture? Finding his portrait on PictureAustralia brought many answers to the question, What manner of man was Lithgow? His story may not otherwise have been told. Lithgow’s glory and humanity lay in this portrait of a public servant from the National Library’s collections. Thank you for a great contribution to Australian history and biography.’
Gordon Beckett, author of William Lithgow, Colonial Auditor-General: An Account of His Contribution to Fiscal Management in Colonial New South Wales, (Jerrabomberra, NSW: Colonial Press, 2003)

Visit <www.pictureaustralia.org> for the one-millionth image and accompanying picture trail.
—Elise Edmonds, Manager, PictureAustralia

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