Academy Library

Opening Hours

Opening Hours and Contacts
The Academy Library's Special Collections is normally open Monday-Friday, 9.00 am - 5.00 pm, and is located on the Ground Floor of the Library. Special Collections is closed on public and university holidays.

Information Services Consultation Room arrangements
To allow time for access formalities to be completed and for material to be brought to the Information Services Consultation Room, researchers are required to make an appointment with Special Collections staff by email to specialcollections@adfa.edu.au, or by calling 02 6268 6270.

Bookings are to be for the actual time you will be using the Special Collections research material in the Information Services Consultation Room.

If you are unable to keep your appointment, but have not notified the library within an hour of the start of the appointment, your booking will be cancelled, and the time offered to other researchers.

For information and assistance outside normal hours, please contact the Library's Service desk on 02 6268 8116 or use the Ask Us service.

Borrowing
All monographs, theses and journals with "special" in the call number held in Special Collections are not for loan. All Special Collections material is to be consulted in the Information Services Consultation Room. After hours access to theses may be granted at the discretion of the Information Services Officer [Special Collections].

Facilities
General reference assistance is available. Laptop computers, digital cameras and tape recorders may be used in the Consultation Room. DVD and video players can also be made available for viewing PAL, SECAM or NTSC tapes.

Copying
Some rare books, theses and manuscripts may be copied depending on the provisions of the Copyright Act, the condition of the item and access restrictions imposed by donors. All copying is undertaken by Special Collections staff at a cost recovery rate.

Rare Books and Theses
Special Collections holds approximately 13,500 rare books, principally in the areas of Australian literature and Australian military history and is a repository for print copies of UNSW@ADFA theses. Copies of UNSW@ADFA theses can be purchased by libraries and individuals for research purposes.

Manuscripts
Special Collections has been acquiring material since 1986 and now holds more than 300 manuscript collections to support UNSW@ADFAs teaching and research in Australian literature and military history. Most collections cover contemporary Australian literature, especially poetry and drama.

An appointment is necessary to access the manuscript collections. Some collections are subject to access restrictions and most are subject to copying restrictions. As mentioned earlier, ensure you contact Special Collections well in advance of your visit to ascertain whether such restrictions apply to the collections you wish to consult.

Collection level descriptions of all UNSW@ADFA manuscript collections are available via the Library Catalogue or by searching the National Library's Trove database.

A full alphabetical list (see Finding Aids and Access Conditions) of the Academy Library's archival collections is available, and further links will be made as the finding aids are encoded using the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) format and made available as html documents.

Guides to Australian Literary Manuscripts
The database consists of electronic guides, or finding aids for collections of Australian literary manuscripts. These guides are available on the Web for researchers to consult at: http://findaid.library.uwa.edu.au/.

Special Collections welcomes donations of Australian military material that meets our Military manuscripts collecting policy.

The Library aims to acquire primary source materials of military relevance.

The key driver of our collecting is the teaching and research interests of UNSW@ADFA. This will generally mean materials of direct or indirect relevance to conflicts or areas of potential conflict with Australian involvement.

The Library aims to avoid competing with or duplicating the collections of other institutions with collecting interests in this area. Specifically:

• We should not collect Commonwealth of Australia archival documents, as these are the responsibility of the National Archives of Australia and the Australian War Memorial.
• We should not seek out private papers resulting from Australian military participation in specific wars, military conflicts or peacekeeping operations, as these are the collecting focus of the War Memorial.
• We aim to collect the personal papers of ADF persons that reflect a predominantly peacetime service, and papers from other than Australian military combatants, which are of military or strategic relevance.

As manuscripts are very expensive to process, they will only be collected under the following conditions:

• They are unpublished, original personal papers of unique value as historical evidence.
• They are available at little or no additional direct (up front) cost.
• There are no conditions attached to the gift.
• They are in an acceptable state, e.g. free of mould.

For further information please contact the Information Services Officer [Special Collections] if you would like to make a donation.

A full list of the Academy's collections of personal papers and organisational archives is available here in four alphabetical groupings:

Links to finding aids enable users to access detailed descriptions of some of the collections. The finding aids are encoded using the Encoded Archival Description (EAD) format and are made available as html documents. Further links will be made as the finding aids are converted. Additional information on collections for which the finding aid has not yet been converted may be located using the ADFA catalogue.

Some of the Library's manuscript holdings have access restrictions until a prescribed date, as stipulated by donors. In such cases the written permission of the donor or their executor is required before a particular researcher can have access to the restricted papers or records. Researchers have to contact Special Collections staff before visiting (by calling 02 6268 6270, or by email to specialcollections@adfa.edu.au), in order to ascertain whether or not such restrictions apply to manuscripts they wish to use, and to allow time for access formalities to be completed and for material to be brought to the Consultation Room.

Some of the Library's manuscript holdings may be closed until a prescribed date, due to stipulations by the donor. Closures are usually absolute, whereas with restricted material donors may decide to make it available on request. Interstate users are advised to contact Special Collections staff before visiting Canberra in order to ascertain whether or not such restrictions apply to manuscripts they wish to use.

Citing unpublished manuscript materials

A correct citation of manuscript material should contain, in the following order:

• The full name of the library
• The name of the collection
• The manuscript number of the collection
• Series number
• Folder number
• Box number (optional)
• Description of item (optional)

For example:
Academy Library, UNSW@ADFA, Papers of Philip Hodgins, MS 13/2d/15, Annotated manuscript and typescript drafts and notes, for Up on all fours.

Copying from manuscript collections

Within the limitations imposed by the Copyright Act, 1968 staff can undertake a limited amount of copying on your behalf. The current rate for such copying is $0.30 per page.

You should be aware that it is unlikely that copies can be supplied from most modern manuscripts without the permission of the copyright owners or their heirs.

While the Library can provide some assistance with contacting collection donors or executors, responsibility for tracing and negotiating with copyright owners rests with the researcher. In many cases, it will often be more practical for you to visit the collection to take notes.