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Picture research

Guide to finding photographs, illustrations and other images in the State Library of Victoria's collections

Indexes in the Pictures Collection

Card catalogue

The card catalogue in the Pictures Collection has not been added to since the introduction of online cataloguing in the mid 1980s. It still contains many items which have not yet been catalogued online.

Please use our enquiry services if you are interested in consulting this catalogue.

Contents lists

Not every item in the Collection is catalogued or digitised. We hold contents lists, which detail each item. When you search for an item in the catalogue, the 'notes field' in the catalogue record may say 'Contents list held at the Pictures Desk’ on some records.

You can use our enquiry services if you are interested in using one of these lists.

La Trobe indexes

The following indexes refer to information, which may include illustrations, in books, magazines and newspapers. These are only accessible in the Arts Reading Room at State Library of Victoria:

  • The Illustrations Index is a subject index to illustrations from published sources such as books, journals and newspapers mainly for the period between 1850 and 1910 with a few after that date. A small portion of this index has been converted online and the citations are available in the Australiana Index.
     
  • The Shipping Index is a card index to pictures of ships from a variety of published sources, including images of ships from the Pictures Collection which have not yet been catalogued online and digitised. It also includes references to ship’s logs and published articles about ships.
     
  • The Biography Index is on microfiche and contains references to biographical information and portraits of people from published sources such as early journals, books and newspapers. References created after 1985 have been converted online and are available in the Australiana Index.
     
  • The Local History Index is on microfiche and contains references to information about places (mainly Victorian) published in sources such as early journals, books and newspapers. References created after 1985 have been converted online and are available in the Australiana Index.
     
  • The Riley Index. The Riley & Ephemera Collection consists of many thousands of folders of material like leaflets, pamphlets and badges, and approximately 5000 posters. It is a rich source of illustrative material. Portions of it are indexed in the online catalogue and the Australiana Index. The Riley card index covers the rest of the collection and is located in the Arts Reading Room. For more information about finding items in the Riley Collection, see our research guide to Protests, activism and dissent in Victoria.

Card indexes

H27874

Leonie Mills, Mr. S. Merrifield, M.L.C., 1965, photograph, Pictures Collection, H27874

State Library Victoria

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.