Statistics
Scope of collection
Statistics covers all forms of measurement, both numerical and qualitative, that lead to comparison, analysis and evaluation through time of aspects of life in Australia with a particular focus on New South Wales. It includes statistics and projections about the population, economy, industry and agriculture, social and cultural activities, recreation and the health and well being of the community.
Collecting aims and intentions
The State Library aims to collect all general, historic and current material that in any format measures and describes the population and institutions of New South Wales and Australia and their activities. The major source of this material is the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Where possible original materials will be collected, for example census returns and surveys. Otherwise key formats are periodicals, census publications, year books, electronic resources, colonial statistical registers, returns and vital statistics, posters, surveys, ephemera. The emphasis is on year books, census statistics, census maps, CD-ROMs, tables and graphs, charts, reference books, handbooks and directories, parliamentary reports.
The library collects statistical publications that enumerate, compare, analyse, evaluate and describe many aspects of the life of the people of New South Wales as both a separate colony and as a part of the Commonwealth. This can take the form of measuring the population, economic trends, social and cultural attitudes, the health and well being of the community, recreation and projections for the future. Statistics include year books, censuses of the population, vital statistics, statistical registers and surveys. Local government statistics are the responsibility of local authorities.
The Library also collects materials that analyse, compare or predict trends in population and other aspects of New South Wales and Australian life. Publications relating to specific subjects produced by New South Wales and Australian government and non-government institutions are collected. These include, for example, in the area of education, publications of the New South Wales Department of Education and Training, the Australian Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs, and the National Centre for Vocational Education Research; in science, publications of CSIRO and the Bureau of Meteorology; in economics and finance publications produced by the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Stock Exchange; in health, publications from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare; in agriculture and commodities including mining and minerals, publications of NSW Agriculture and the Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics; on immigration, publications of the Ethnic Affairs Commission of New South Wales; on the subject of crime, publications of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research (NSW); and in tourism, publications of Tourism New South Wales and the Bureau of Tourism Research.
Statistical procedures, theory and methodology are collected at a basic level.
Material from other states is also collected, including vital statistics, year books, colonial materials and current Australian Bureau of Statistics publications in print form.
Existing collection
- Published statistics in a variety of formats, often government publications especially material produced by the Australian Bureau of Statistics and by New South Wales and Australian government departments and authorities. These are usually in the form of serials, reports and surveys and are collected in print format sometimes with access to electronic versions as well. Some earlier statistical series and censuses are held on microfiche
- Material promoting the collection of statistics is also collected, such as ephemera relating to the national census
- Electronic resources are used in many unique ways for the publishing of statistics. The Australian Bureau of Statistics publishes database versions of its census combined with detailed mapping data in products such as CLIB and CDATA and these are collected for each census. The Australian Bureau of Statistics and the New South Wales government now make extensive use of the Internet and these websites will be recommended for archiving
Some examples of unique or significant items
- Colonial statistics collection: The library already holds a comprehensive collection of early statistical information. This includes Returns of the colony of NSW 1822-1857; Statistical returns 1822-1849; Statistics of New South Wales 1838-1857; The Wealth and Progress of NSW 1886-1901; Year book of NSW 1885-1917, 1904-1979, 1981 to date (a New South Wales government publication); Statistical register of NSW 1848-1888, 1889-1955
- Australian Bureau of Statistics 1974- (and Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics 1905-1974): The library holds an extensive collection of materials produced by the Commonwealth Bureau of Census and Statistics and the Australian Bureau of Statistics, covering a vast range of topics, such as agriculture, finance, economics, religion, health, immigration etc. The library has a set of the series Commonwealth Demography 1908-1921, later Australian Demography. Summary of Australian population and vital statistics, 1922-1937, 1938-1969/70
- Vital statistics 1867-1915: The library holds an extensive collection of the vital statistics of the colony of NSW. These are a snapshot of the mortality rates, causes of death, health and birth rates of a turbulent period of NSW social history, 1867-1894, 1895, 1897-1898, 1899-1900, 1901-1915
- NSW Census materials 1828, 1841, 1856, 1871, 1881, 1891; General muster lists 1800-1802, 1805-6, 1811, 1814, 1822, 1823-5.
