Mapping a New Life—a Farewell to Maura O’Connor
The National Library of Australia has recently farewelled its Map Curator, Maura O’Connor, who retired in October after working in the Library for over 25 years.
Maura first joined the Library in the early 1970s, and worked on the National Union Catalogue of Monographs (NUCOM). It was the fore runner to ABN and Kinetica. Maura recalls that the section, which comprised around eight women, was located in a room in the middle of the building on the ground floor. In winter she found herself arriving in the dark, working in the dark and leaving in the dark. She may have even been kept in the dark as well!
Leaving the Library to work with another organisation, Maura returned in July 1979 to take up the position of Rare Map Librarian. Having studied geography and ecology for her undergraduate degree, she was thrilled to be working with maps. Although travel to exotic places on acquisition trips did not eventuate, Maura was pleased to have the opportunity to work with materials in which she had a great interest. It is Maura’s belief that maps provide a way of interpreting the world around us, having been created in many forms even before the written word. They provide a means of interpreting changes to both the natural and man-made environments
From 1988 Maura acted as Map Curator and was appointed to the position in December 1992. At the same time, the Library began to take advantage of technical developments, including digitisation, which would improve access to its collections. Following a three-year study into scanning technologies available for digitising maps Maura oversaw the commencement of the Rare Maps Digitisation Project, which began in 2001 and is an ongoing project.
During her time as Map Curator, Maura developed a reputation as one of Australia’s leading authorities on maps. She has written extensively about the collection, contributed articles to journals, newsletters and books and presented papers at conferences. Colleagues believe that Maura will best be remembered as a great acquirer of maps for the Collection.
The Jean Baptiste Nolin French wall map of 1700, added to the Collection in 2002, was ranked by Maura as one of her most exciting acquisitions. A double hemispherical world map, it shows tracks of well-known explorers as well as Dutch discoveries along Australia's northern, western and southern coastlines. It is one of only three copies known in the world and shows an east coast of Australia some 70 years before Cook’s arrival. Another significant acquisition, made only this year, was two globes—one celestial and the other terrestrial—made in 1731 by English globe-maker Richard Cushee. They represent the earliest British depictions of the east coast of Australia, drawn from the best authorities and containing the latest discoveries.
In order keep herself informed and up-to-date with the market place, Maura developed a network of contacts with whom she liaised on a regular basis. Government, commercial and private publishers were a great source for information relating to current releases of maps. For rarer maps, contacts with dealers and auction houses, both in Australia and overseas, together with her association with groups such as Australian Map Circle (of which she is a past president) kept her informed about material coming onto the market. Although the market was somewhat depressed in the early 1990s due to economic uncertainties, Maura has enjoyed the opportunity, on behalf of the Library, to take advantage of the strong market which emerged around 1998 and has continued to this time.
Maura’s departure from the Library allows her the luxury of having more time to pursue the many interests she has developed outside work. Her colleagues at the Library wish her well in her retirement.
Karen Johnson
Manuscripts Branch
National Library of Australia



