22 September, 2005

Picture Australia


PictureAustralia celebrates five years!

PictureAustralia was launched on September 4, 2000, based on the Image Search database. It started with 470,000 images from seven participants: the National Library, the Australian War Memorial, the State Libraries of New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria, National Archives of Australia and the University of Queensland library.

PictureAustralia has grown dramatically. There are now 41 participating agencies including all State and several public libraries, museums, galleries, and university libraries. PictureAustralia also has two overseas contributors - the National Library of New Zealand and SCRAN (Scottish Cultural Resources Access Network), which show the activities of Australians abroad.

The database has more than doubled in size to over 1 million photographs and artworks which graphically illustrate events, people and places in Australia’s historical, social and political life.

Searching is easy with picture trails bringing together images on various themes, for
example, social dance, historic public buildings, bushrangers, fashion and indigenous arts.

PictureAustralia is expected to grow further with Australian and international agencies interested in joining and sharing their images in a collaborative environment.

www.pictureaustralia.org


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