Services for professional researchers
We provide services to assist researchers, particularly those wanting to use original items such as pictures, manuscripts and maps from our special collections.
The strengths of our collections include Australian history, Indigenous material, Australian inland exploration, Pacific and Antarctic exploration and Australian literature, theatre, arts, architecture, sport and natural history.
Research consultations
We offer a free research consultation service. This will guide you to appropriate resources and provide advice on search strategies to use in the Library.
Complete our online form and ask for a research consultation.
Searching our collections
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Search our Library Catalogue for books, journals and maps.
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For original materials, search our Manuscripts, Oral History and Pictures Catalogue.
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Search for fulltext articles and abstracts from a range of scholarly journals in our eResources collection.
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For help with researching particular subjects, such as family history and business, check our research guides.
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Search our printed books card catalogue as some items are only listed there. You will need to visit the Mitchell Library, as the complete catalogue is not yet searchable online.
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Search our card indexes. These provide references to NSW and Victorian subjects and people. You will need to visit the Mitchell Library, as the indexes are not yet searchable online.
using special collections
Sign up for a Special Collections Library card to use items such as manuscripts, pictures and rare books. See our Special Collections guidelines [PDF 27.67KB] for details about how to request and use these items.
We do not charge a fee for permission to publish items from our collections. For more details, see Publishing items.
scholarly musings - A series of talks
A series of talks, Scholarly musings, are presented at the Library the first Tuesday of the month. Check the Events page for details on upcoming talks.
Scholarly musings provide researchers with the opportunity to exchange ideas and learn about other research projects carried out with the use of our collections.
If you would like to share your experiences and discoveries using our collections, we invite you to submit a proposal outlining your talk to library@sl.nsw.gov.au with 'Scholarly Musings proposal' in the subject line.
Research fellowships
Apply for one of our research fellowships. You can view presentations given by past Library fellows on the Videos and podcasts page.
Finding Australian research
Go to Trove to find research from Australian government bodies, universities and other research organisations including print and online theses as well as journal articles and books.
You can set up an RSS feed to be alerted to new results for your searches.
