The Library has the legal deposit right to claim all publications relating to Australasia that are published in Britain and Ireland, and receives a number of books from Australasian publishers distributed in Britain. We also actively buy material from Australia and New Zealand.
Books relating to Scotland and the Scots are of particular interest, and the intensity of Scottish emigration to Australia and New Zealand has led to a lot of historical and genealogical material being acquired. The humanities are also covered in the collections, with literature and history emphasised, especially where Scottish input is significant — for example, settlement histories. We give high priority to standard works of reference and bibliographies, while politics and social sciences publications are bought more selectively. Mountaineering is a particular interest, as is Antarctic exploration.
Much of the Library's earlier Australasian material is found throughout the printed and Manuscript Collections, covering travel, polar exploration, mountaineering, and Scottish emigration to Australia and New Zealand. Significant numbers of maps and gazetteers are held in the Maps Reading Room.
In microform, the Library has the 'Australasian Biographical Archive' and collections relating to Commonwealth history — for example, the 'Missionary Society Archives'.
Please email enquiries about Australasian acquisitions to Dora Petherbridge: firstname.lastname@example.org.