Use this guide to help find and access our series of aerial photographs of Australian states and territories, collected between 1928 and 1988.

Use this guide to help find and access resources in our collection about the Nuclear Disarmament movement, protests against the Vietnam War and protests against the Iraq War.

The Library provides access to or holds within its collections a wide range of resources and material relating to Australian companies.

The Australian Joint Copying Project is a collection of historical material relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific dating from 1560 to 1984.

This guide will help you find information about Commonwealth and State/Territory law, both at the National Library and online.

A guide to finding Australian literature resources

Discover land and property history with our extensive map collection and enrich your family history research with unique geographical records.

Read newspaper clippings from the late 19th century up to the year 2000.

Find and access print and microfilm formats of Australian newspapers published between 1955 and 1990.

Find a large range of current and historic Australian newspapers in digital format through Trove and our eResources portal. 

Find and read historic and modern newspapers online, in print or on microfilm. 

We hold 200,000+ Australian topographic maps from 1900 onward. This guide helps you find current and historical maps at various scales in our collection.

A guide to finding biographies.

Find out how to access and use BDM records to link generations and branches of your family.

Learn how to access historical gazetteers, Ordnance Survey maps, and early atlases to get detailed insights into your family's origins in England, Scotland, Ireland, and Wales.

British Parliamentary publications are valuable primary sources for research into British and dominion history, including Australia.

While Captain Cook's journal from the H.M.S. Endeavour is often on display in the Library's Treasures Gallery, it is currently not on display to allow rest and treatment for the long term preservation of the item.

Find out how to locate burial information, cemetery and crematorium records that can lead to valuable discoveries in your family history.

Get help to find and access material from the Library’s Chinese collection and beyond.

Beginner researchers can use this guide to find resources to help learn about their domestic family history or trace their ancestral origins overseas.

Circus, magic and mime, and puppetry

Use this guide to help find and access resources in our collection about the Aboriginal Day of Mourning, the Freedom Ride, the Aboriginal Tent Embassy protest, the Cronulla Riots and the Black Lives Matter protests.

From January 1788, when the First Fleet of convicts arrived at Botany Bay, to the end of convict transportation 80 years later, over 160,000 convicts were transported to Australia.

While we don’t sell original newspapers, you can create a scan or photocopy onsite or order a digital copy online. 

This guide will help you find information about court cases in court records and how to access them both at the National Library and online.

The Dance collection includes unique Australian dance resources across a spectrum of dance styles.

The sporting movement for people with disabilities began in the 1940s with the pioneering work of Dr Ludwig Guttmann at Stoke Mandeville Hospital in England.

Atlases and county maps can help you find more detailed information about counties, shires and provinces.

City maps provide road and rail information, and show buildings, farms, industries, schools, churches, and many other features.

This guide will help you find and view different types of ebooks in the Library collections.

Elections and referendums are key turning points in Australia’s political history.

Find out how to use electoral rolls to locate your family members or other peoples location or addresses over the years and who was living with them.

Use this guide to help find and access resources in our collection about Australia's climate action protests, anti-mining protests and the Franklin Dam blockade. 

While Indigenous Australians have inhabited the continent for tens of thousands of years, and traded with nearby islanders, the first documented landing on Australia by a European was in 1606.

Uncover hidden stories of your heritage and trace your genealogy using our research guide.

Find detailed records of Federal Government processes, actions, documents, statements and commentaries in our collection.

On 1 January 1901, the six existing self-governing British colonies of New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, Tasmania, South Australia and Western Australia, came together in union to create the Commonwealth of Australia.

If you're trying to reconnect with friends or relatives, there are a range of resources and organisations that can help you.

Find out what time you were born using hospital records, birth announcements and family keepsakes.

Trace the military history of your ancestors using resrouces and records from Australia, New Zealand and the British Army at the Library and beyond.

Explore manuscripts and records that give a glimpse into the approximately 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.

First Nations people participated in sports long before Australian Federation.

If your family’s births, deaths or marriages have been registered, these records can provide things like the addresses, names, ages and occupations of family members.

This guide will help you find resources both in and outside our collection to make your journey of discovery easier.

Our resources can help you find out about your family member’s service history.

First Nations athletes have been involved in some of our most triumphant moments in sport and continue to make a significant contribution to our nation’s sport at all levels.

The National Library of Australia has extensive holdings of material concerning Australia's involvement in the First World War.

Use this guide to help find and access resources in our collection about Women’s Suffrage, Equal Pay for Women protest, March4Justice protests, the Mardi Gras protest, the Decriminalisation of Homosexuality and the Say Yes to Marriage Equality movement.

Find useful tips and things to keep in mind here as you start your family history journey.  

Find key resources from federal, state, territory and local governments, explore notable collections and discover how to access materials that have shaped Australia’s political history.

Use this guide for tips and hints for finding and using Government gazettes in your research.

Gazetteers are listings of places and can provide useful details, such as territorial division, location, alternate names, population size, and more.

To find an out of print book you can start by getting in contact with a second hand/antiquarian bookseller.

A good place to find recently published Australian material is through the Recent Australian Publications (RAP) service from Trove.

Find out how to access over 60,000 passes issued to Indian people who came to Fiji as indentured labourers.

This guide will help you find information about court cases in law reports and how to access them both at the National Library and online.

Find a range of materials about Australia’s 500 local governments which manage many of the local issues and services that impact the daily lives of residents.

Searching the administrative records of the missions and reserves can help you fill important gaps in your family history. 

The Library has a diverse collection of materials documenting the history of Australian musical performance.

The Library has the largest collection of sheet music in the country, with over 300,000 items. The bulk of the collection relates to Australian composers, performers and music publishing houses.

Ordnance Survey maps can give you detailed geographic information for England, Wales, Scotland and Ireland from the early 1800s onwards.

Our overseas newspaper collections include digitised historic and modern newspapers accessible online, as well as newspapers in microform and paper formats.

Learn about the types of maps we hold and how to access them, including maps for countries, oceans and the planets.

The Library holds a rich and diverse range of documentary materials relating to the Pacific region, including Melanesia, Micronesia, Polynesia and New Zealand.

Published by the State Lands Departments from the 1860s onwards parish, town and county maps can be used to find land holdings, show boundaries, land use and types of ownership.

Early pastoral or squatting maps can help you locate pastoral properties relating to ownership before Torrens Title, and for identifying large pastoral and squatting runs. Many maps we have can be viewed online, and all can be viewed at the Library.

We hold one of Australia’s largest collections of performing arts materials.

Find Australian political memorabilia and historical records which throw light on the influences and changes that have shaped our politics and political systems over the decades.

Use this guide to help find and access resources about the movements that have shaped social and cultural change in Australia.

Use sales plans to find information about land sales, such as prices, boundaries, roads and land use.

Find immigration records, shipping and passenger lists for fare-paying passengers, assisted migrants and crew members to reveal key details about your family members arrival in Australia.

Find resources and information on the history and role of sport in Australian society, and its unique place in the Australian cultural landscape.

With new people and cultures come new ideas and a significant immigrant contribution to Australian sport and society.

This guide will help you identify and locate standards from Australia and overseas.

Search for government publications in our collections or in state or territory collecting institutions.

You may need to access statistical data to support or illustrate your research. This guide will help you find and access key records and resources.

If you are researching members of your family who were removed from their families under past Australian Government practices, you can find information documenting the experiences of Stolen Generations in our collection.  

Our collections document the history and development of dramatic and comic theatre in Australia.

Highlights collection items in our catalogue from the 5 major island clusters in the Torres Straits Region.

The United Nations (UN) was established on 24 October 1945 by 51 countries, with the stated goal of organising to: 'preserve peace through international cooperation and collective security'. 

United States congressional publications are of interest as primary sources for students of United States history, for United States foreign and economic policy, and for other public affairs issues of interest to other countries.

Weather is defined as ‘the state of the atmosphere with respect to wind, temperature, cloudiness, moisture, pressure,’ precipitation and sunshine.

The Cambridge Dictionary defines fake news as “false stories that appear to be news, spread on the internet or using other media, usually created to influence political views or as a joke.”

For many centuries Europeans believed there must be a vast land in the southern hemisphere, variously called ‘Terra Australis Incognita’ from the Latin for ‘Unknown South Land’.

Unfortunately, architectural plans have not commonly been kept as archives. This is particularly the case for commercial and residential buildings. However, there are a number of resources which you can try.

Historically, Australian women have made their mark in the sports record books worldwide.

Use this research guide to help find and access resources in our collection about the Eureka Stockade, the formation of trade unions, the Cummeragunja Walk-off, the Pilbara Strike and the Gurindji Strike/ Wave Hill Walk Off.

Access key resources from the Library's collection related to the lead-up to the 1967 referendum, the significance of the historic 'Yes' vote, and its ongoing legacy in the pursuit of justice, equality, and recognition for First Australians.