Australia - Primary Documentation

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1. Documents, Archives & Databases
   These links will take you to sites where you can access primary documentation of varying formats [text, images, oral history recordings], about one or more major areas.
• Australian Historic Records Register
  ‘Describes archival material of historical significance held in private ownership in Australia’. Use this site to search for specific records. Multiple options.
• Australian Literary and Historical Texts
  ‘This collection of Australian fiction, poetry, plays and non-fictional works, which has been put together from a number of different sources, now consists of over 300 texts, ranging from a seventeenth-century Portuguese account of the discovery of Australia to the novels which make up Henry Handel Richardson’s trilogy The Fortunes of Richard Mahony, first published in the 1910s and 1920s.’ From the University of Sydney.
• Australian Periodical Publications 1840-1845
  ‘A digital library of Australian journals that began publication between 1840-1845. The digitised titles have been made available on the Web as multipage PDF files.’ From the National Library of Australia.
• Documenting A Democracy : Australia’s Story
  T‘The National Archives of Australia presents 110 key documents that are the foundation of our nation, … sets of documents which tell the story of Australia’s democracy. They are chosen because each is important to our lives today. Because they didn’t just happen - each document has its own story.’
• Federation
  For primary documentation related to the development of Federation and the Federal system of government, use this link.
• Mura Gadi
  ‘An online guide to manuscripts, pictures and oral histories in the National Library of Australia relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.’
• Noel Butlin Archives Centre
  ‘The Noel Butlin Archives Centre is a nationally significant collection of primary source material relating to business and labour. The NBAC holds archives of industrial organisations, businesses, professional associations, industry bodies and the labour movement. It makes them available for research and use by the University and the wider community.’
• Oral History Program
  [In the University of New South Wales Archives]
  Annotated listing, links, guides and full index to the collection. Much early history was done through the oral process.
• Pandora Archive
  Archive by the National Library to provide access to Australian documentary resources.
• PICMAN
  ‘Contains records of the pictures, manuscripts, oral history and printed posters of the Mitchell Library, Sir William Dixson Library and Dixson Galleries.’
• Picture Australia
  ‘Picture Australia is an Internet based service that allows you to search many significant online pictorial collections at the same time. When you do a search on Picture Australia, thumbnail images are retrieved from participating institutions on the fly and inserted into the search results.’ To access the full sized image can be Fee-based.
  Indigenous Australians are advised that Picture Australia may include images or names of people now deceased.
• Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts
  Provides knowledge of archives and manuscripts. Designed for serious students and professional historians.
• South Seas
  ‘Concentrates on the history of European voyaging and cross-cultural encounters in the Pacific between 1760 and 1800. Provides access to the full text of works such as James Cook’s Endeavour Journal.’ Has accounts of voyages, voyage maps, European reactions, reference works, cultural atlases and more.
2. Primary Documents Relating to Individuals
   These links will take you to primary documentation, relating to one specific individual. Some documents for individuals are also included in sites listed in the first grouping above.
• A Complete Account of the Settlement at Port Jackson
  ‘Including An Accurate Description of the Situation of the Colony; of the Natives; and Of Its Natural Productions - Watkin Tench.’ Available as a .pdf ebook.
• Papers of Sir Edmund Barton
  ‘This is a Guide to the Papers of Sir Edmund Barton held in the Manuscript Collection of the National Library of Australia. As well as using this guide to browse the content of the collection, you will also find links to online copies of collection items.’
• Papers of Sir Joseph banks, The
  ‘Those papers of Sir Joseph Banks which are held in the Mitchell and Dixson collections at the State Library of New South Wales, in Sydney, Australia. These amount to approximately 10 000 manuscript pages and include correspondence, principally letters received, but also reports, invoices and accounts, journals, plus a small quantity of maps, charts and watercolours.’
• William Bradley Journal
  [A Voyage to New South Wales, December 1786-May 1792]
  An introduction, then monthly reports. View the transcripts and then the original pages, all in HTML format.

These links will take you to sites which have original material, or have access to primary documents as part of larger sites covering a range of material.
1. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples
   [Print Resources at the National Library of Australia]
   ‘The Library holds a large collection relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. This guide contains selected print works only.’ Done via a series of topic areas.
2. Australian History on the Internet
   A National Library site. Links to documentation, current issues, overseas sources, university sources and resources, study centres, miscellaneous sites, online journals and more.
3. Australian Journals Online
   ‘AJOL is the National Library of Australia’s database of Australian electronic journals, newspapers, magazines, webzines, newsletters and e-mail fanzines. The database provides details and links to over 2 000 titles that include local and overseas works with Australian content, authorship and/or emphasis.’
4. Australian Memory of the World Register
   ‘The Australian Memory of the World Register is a selective list of Australia's significant documentary heritage. [*] Asterisked items have also been accepted onto the Memory of the World International Programme.
   Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website includes the names and images of Indigenous Australians, some of whom are now deceased.’
5. Project Gutenberg Australia
   ‘Resources relating to Australian History available from Project Gutenberg Australia and Project Gutenberg in the U.S.’ A mix of links to specific documentation and more general information.