Start exploring the Library's diverse collections to search through time and place to build family stories and local narratives.

The National Library of Australia acknowledges First Australians as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and pays respect to Elders – past and present – and through them to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

We hold a diverse range of material, offering a rich interpretation of Australia's past and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

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Explore the themes of discovery, cultural encounters, and the European settlement of Australia. 

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

There is a wide range of material relating to the effect of the First World War on Australia and Australians, ranging from the personal and intimate to the professional and remote.

The Australian and overseas printed collections at the National Library contain substantial material which can support research into the First World War.

Hear from Mike Bowers, curator of the Fit to Print exhibition about the evolution of photojournalism in Australia.

Explore the art of photojournalism with highlights from the Fairfax Photo Archive.

About 300 books including incunabula and early editions of classical texts, plus limited edition reprints of celebrated English writers, mostly published in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century.