2 May 2006
A large collection of historically significant photos of Gippsland, housed at Monash University's Centre for Gippsland Studies at the university's Churchill campus, have been digitised and can now be accessed online.
The Gippsland Picture Collection contains more than 3000 photographs dating from the 1860s to the late 20 th century, of which more than 1000 have been digitised and a further 800 are to be added shortly.
The hard-copy images, which capture the history and heritage of Gippsland, have been well-used at the centre by scholars, historians and members of the public. At present, the images can be viewed online at the ARROW Repository, but will soon be accessible via the PictureAustralia website.
Centre for Gippsland Studies director Dr Meredith Fletcher said the resource would be of enormous help to those involved in environmental, social and family history research.
"This is a gem of a collection showing the diversity of the Gippsland region," Dr Fletcher said.
"The images document how the landscape has changed through land settlement, farming, industry, mining, floods, droughts and fires. The photos cover a variety of subjects including Gippsland towns and local communities, timber and mining industries, farming, fishing and all sorts of recreational and social activities Gippslanders have been involved with over time.
"Online access through PictureAustralia will provide people in the region, local historians and researchers with easy and free access to the images."
The digitisation project, which has taken more than six months to complete, is part of the ARROW (Australian Research Repositories Online to the World) project at Monash University that is being funded by the Commonwealth Department of Education, Science and Training.
The Centre for Gippsland Studies collection began in 1987 and houses books, journals, newspapers, reports, photographs and maps relating to the history, Aborigines, environment, social sciences and literature of Gippsland.
The centre is open to the public Mondays to Wednesdays, from 9am to 5pm. Telephone +61 3 5122 6356. For details visit the Centre for Gippsland Studies website.
For further information, call Dr Meredith Fletcher, Centre for Gippsland Studies on +61 3 9905 1226 or Ms Marion Crossley, Monash University Library on +61 3 9905 2609 , or Ms Karen Stichtenoth, Media Communications on +61 3 9905 1253.
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