A research guide in association with the Make Believe exhibition. This guide aims to keep you informed about misinformation, providing tips and tricks to help you with your own navigation on the high seas of information.
[Map with decorative flowers], [ca.1957] : MAPS 804 DF (1957)
In the late 1950s and 1960s, Shell launched the ‘Discover Australia with Shell’ advertising campaign, promoting an image of the country as an empty, untouched land ready for exploration. Swap cards, maps, story books and guidebooks painted a picture far removed from the impacts of Western industry, cars and fossil fuels. The campaign was highly effective, demonstrating the growing power of advertising in shaping public perception at the time.
Use the links below to discover more about the power of advertising, the rise of greenwashing and the impacts of fossil fuels on the environment.
View our Collection discovery page to find a selection of digitised items from the exhibition
Pink Butterfly Tellens, [1960] H2006.47/993
Banksia Jewel Beetle, [1963] H2006.47/1093
The ‘Discover Australia with Shell project cards’ collection comprises original artworks for a series of cards that were distributed at Shell Service Stations in the early 1960s. The Library also holds copies of the collectors' albums which include printed descriptions for each card.
You can explore the full set of digitised Shell project cards in Collection Discovery
Visit the Library to access books from our collection. Articles and eBooks from subscription databases are available to anyone onsite or to Victorian residents from home with Library Membership. Resources available from external sources are noted, these don't require membership to view.
Wiradjuri and Ngiyampaa artist Charlotte Allingham has created a series of works that respond to Shell’s advertising materials, addressing the environmental damage caused by oil companies and the absence of Aboriginal people in Shell’s depictions of the landscape.
Learn more about the contributors on the Make Believe: Encounters with Misinformation webpage.
Advertising standards and ethics by 
The climate cure : solving the climate emergency in the era of COVID-19 by 
Media reform and the climate emergency : rethinking communication in the struggle for a sustainable future by 
Misinformation and Mass Audiences by 
Oil in the environment : legacies and lessons of the Exxon Valdez oil spill by 
Oil Spill Monitoring Handbook by Look at some of the most recent articles on the topic of misinformation and the environment in Australia. If you are a Victorian resident (with a free library membership) you can browse journal articles on this topic from home. Any visitor can view this content onsite in the library
