Access the collection | National Library of Australia (NLA)
Search

What can we help you find?

Not sure where to start or need help? Ask a Librarian

Access the collection

Our collections span centuries, continents, and countless subjects — find out how to access them

Using the collections

Woman pulling material from a cubby in the Specials Collections Reading Room
Using the Special Collections
Pile of letters from the Records of the Australian Federation of Women Voters

Records of the Australian Federation of Women Voters 1920 - 1983, nla.obj-245104655

Using the Manuscripts Collection
Hand drawn map with latin title Mar di India, there are various little cherubs around the title.

Jan Jansson & Hendrick Doncker, Mar di India, 1659, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-230757141

Using the Maps Collection
Black and white photo of a man listening to a recording with a pen in hand and a piece of paper next to him

Loui Seselja, Portrait of Geoffrey Dutton seated in the Oral History collection at the National Library of Australia, 1992, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-151764316

Using the Oral History Collection
Woman looking a large colourful colourful illustration of two birds in a tree

Ellis Rowan, Rothschild's Bird-of-Paradise, or Rothschild's Astrapia (Astrapia rothschildi), Papua New Guinea, 1917, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-138748166

Using the Pictures Collection
Shelf and table with dozens of old, leather-bound books, some with gold designs or writing on the spines

Baskerville Collection in the Rare Books Stacks

Using the Rare Books collection

Guides and tips

Copyright information
Copyright in Library collections
Someone using a laptop looking at the catalogue record for the Rex Nan Kivell collection of maps in the National Library catalogue
Get started with the catalogue
Metal shelves full of bound volumes in many different colours

A collection storage area at the National Library of Australia

Temporary changes to collection access
Cardboard boxes and manuscript material spread over a large table
Guides to selected collections

More to explore

joint copying TNA perpetual motion claims

TNA RGO/42, Perpetual motion claims: quadrature of the circle etc, 1787-1825, Board of Longitude, https://nla.gov.au/nla.obj-862000989/view

Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP)
colour photo of books on shelves
Published guides and bibliographies
A woman with short hair smiles with stained glass windows in the background
The NLA in 2023 and beyond - Update for researchers

About the collection

Collection shelves icon Collection shelves icon Collection shelves icon Collection shelves icon
What we collect
Hands holding shape icon Hands holding shape icon Hands holding shape icon Hands holding shape icon
How we collect
Device icon Device icon Device icon Device icon
Preservation
Website globe icon Website globe icon Website globe icon Website globe icon
Grow our digital library
Building with magnifying glass icon Building with magnifying glass icon Building with magnifying glass icon Building with magnifying glass icon
History of the collection

Need help?

Our librarians are here to guide you.

Ask a librarian