National Library of Australia’s 2023 Community Heritage Grants are Open...

The National Library of Australia (NLA) is calling for applications for their 2023 Community Heritage Grants. The grants of up to $20,000 are available to community groups such as libraries, archives, museums, genealogical and historical societies, multicultural and Indigenous groups around the country to help preserve locally owned, but nationally significant collections of materials that are publicly accessible including artifacts, letters, diaries, maps, photographs, and audio visual material. The types of projects supported include:– significance assessments of collections– preservation needs assessments of collections– conservation activities and collection management, and– training workshops. Run annually since 1994, the program has provided more than $8.4 million dollars in funding to over 1,600 projects across Australia. APPLICATIONSApplications MUST be made online, no mailed or emailed applications/documentation will be accepted. You can find all the details regarding application guidelines, and the application form on their website. THE DEADLINEApplications for new applicants will close on Monday, 8 May 2023Applications for those who have recently completed a Community Heritage Grant project and are applying for the next stage will close on Thursday, 1 June 2023Applications for training projects will close on Thursday, 1 June 2023 MORE INFORMATIONIf you would like to discuss your project or have any queries, please email the CHG Program Team at...

Please, Help Save Trove

For any Australian historian (family, local, or social historian) Trove is the ultimate GO-TO site. It is the National Library of Australia’s site, which is accessed by around 20 million people every year, and contains about six billion (that’s right BILLION) digital items, including news­papers, magazines, photographs, journals, parliamentary papers and more … and it’s all FREE!! However due to huge funding cuts over a number of years, and the fact that Federal funding for the National Library of Australia’s digital resource ends in June 2023, means that Trove could cease operations, or at least in its current form. What if there was no Trove? But to us researchers, a life without Trove is as unthinkable as life without Google. This is Australia’s primary institution, the one that provides access to not only what the National Library of Australia itself holds, but access to holdings from 900 or so other Australian institutions. This is portal for Australia’s heritage, and yet depite it being used on a globa scale, is being treated as unimportant. What can we do? We have been asked to use our voice (well technically fingers), to sign a petition, and spread the word far and wide. But there is a time limit … the petition date is 22 February 2023. So we don’t have much time. There was a Change.org petition for this topic, but it’s been said that the government only acts on “official” petitions. So another one was started by the same person, and this official petition will be presented to parliament. So if you care about access to Australia’s history, even if you don’t use Trove, please take a few moments to sign the petition. SIGN THE PETITION NOW And if you want...