New Online Resources
The catalogue now contains fully searchable digitised versions of the oral history collection, historic photos and postcards and Blue Mountains fact sheets and blog articles written by our Local Studies Librarian. In addition you will find links to videos, films, podcasts and historic Blue Mountains newspapers.
Searches can be limited by format to explore within the online resources collection, or by digital type to explore within any of these categories individually.
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Oral History
The oral history collection brings together over 100 interviews which can be streamed directly from the library catalogue. The conversion of these audio tapes to mp3 represents a wonderful opportunity for the wider community to share in this fascinating resource.
Recorded in the mid-1980s, the Speaking of the Past project was conceived with the objective of encouraging people who had lived, worked and holidayed in the Blue Mountains to share their stories with present and future generations. This community project preserves historically valuable memories, previously undocumented and in danger of being lost.
The Blue Gum Forest Oral History Project was recorded in 1994 by Andy Macqueen of ʻThe Friends of Blue Gum Forest’. The project comprises seven oral history interviews complete with full transcripts. In them you will hear the voices of bushwalkers recollecting their experiences in the early days of Blue Gum Forest, and of their involvement in the campaign to save the forest.
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Photographs and Postcards
The Local Studies digitised photograph collection contains over 5,000 jpeg images related to the Blue Mountains. These historic photos and postcards are now available to view and download from the catalogue. Over 900 of these images are hosted on Flickr, giving you the opportunity to leave comments and be part of the conversation.
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Blog Articles
To enrich your research, the Local Studies Blog articles have been added to the catalogue. Find articles on a range of topics related to Blue Mountains places and people. These articles are full text searchable.
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Fact Sheets
Essential Blue Mountains history information is now readily available to download in convenient PDF fact sheets. Topics include “Origin of Blue Mountains town names”, “Blue Mountains yowie” and “The Explorer’s Tree”. These fact sheets are full text searchable.
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Historic Newspapers
The catalogue now provides links to our collection of digitised historic newspapers held on Trove. The publications are from 19th and 20th century and represent a number of Blue Mountains, Sydney and regional publications.
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Podcasts
In addition to the digitised portfolio of local studies material, you will also find links to our Listeners in the Mist podcasts, ready to stream directly from the catalogue. This collection of over 50 audio interviews on the themes of reading and writing was recorded from 2010 onwards and features library staff, authors and special guests.
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Streaming Films and Videos
For your enjoyment we have provided links to a variety of promotional videos made by library staff and patrons. These can be streamed via the catalogue. You will also find links to Beamafilm, a database of documentaries and independent films. You will need to enter your library card number to access this streaming service.
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