Early experiences in Australasia

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About this resource

"Early Experiences in Australasia ... provides a unique and personal view of events in the region from the arrival of the first settlers through to Australian Federation at the close of the nineteenth century. Through first-person accounts, including letters and diaries, narratives, and other primary source materials, we are able to hear the voices of the time and understand the experiences of those who took the great challenge in new lands. From the earliest settlers to convicts and free settlers and those who later answered the call of the Gold Rush, these letters and diaries tell us about life on ships and in settlements in a particularly intimate way. Alexander Street Press has collaborated with libraries across the region to scope and source materials, and special care has been taken to curate a collection that represents a cross section of ideas and experiences. These unique primary-source materials, drawn from archives, have been difficult to access before now. Scholars and students not only gain new access to the items sourced, but can for the first time cross-search personal writings from the time. More than 90 percent of the collection is previously unpublished, fulfilling our specific goal to bring important material to light and to "make silent voices heard." The experiences of men and women, settlers and indigenous peoples, explorers, soldiers, and officials can now be discovered through Alexander Street's deep semantic indexing, letting users explore content by writer, region, audience, personal and historical event, environmental features including fauna and flora, and more. Supporting material such as images, maps, and photographs supplement the first-person narratives and provide additional context."--About page.

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