Research the history of activism, protests, rallies and campaigners in Victoria using pamphlets, posters, badges, images, articles, interviews and books.
LIBRARY UPDATE
The Library is closed from December 25 to January 3. From January 4 2021 we will be partially open to pre-booked and walk-up visitors and our Ask A Librarian service will resume for assistance with your research inquiries online and over the phone.
The State Library of Victoria collects a variety of materials relating to:
A highlight is our Riley & Ephemera Collection, which includes pamphlets, posters, badges and other ephemeral materials. The bias of this collection is left-wing, reflecting the position of its founding donor, Fred Riley, and the nature of the organizations who rely on promoting their causes through ephemeral items like leaflets. However attempts are made to collect from all points of view.
Our collections are especially strong in these subject areas:
There are also ephemera files for most suburbs of Melbourne and many Victorian towns, which contain material relating either to:
Another significant component of the collection are ephemera files of material for many other countries, particularly those countries which have undergone political struggles that have engendered local support groups, for example East Timor, Chile, Greece, El Salvador, Afghanistan.
The Library also holds a wide range of material relating to governments, politicians and political parties in the government and law and manuscript collections, as well as the Riley & Ephemera Collection. This guide does not cover how to research political parties and politicians, but it will help you discover who supported and opposed their proposals and decisions.
Yandell Walton, Rebecca McIntosh & Dell Stewart, I own MY BITS!, H2000.50/10
