Library Research Guide – Useful Resources

Start with the School’s Library catalogue, continue with Trove and the resources listed below. Don’t forget to check the websites of Australia’s national and state art galleries and museums and either use the provided search boxes or navigate to links such as Collection, Education, Online Galleries, etc. There is a wealth of indigenous art on those websites.

Trove is an excellent resource for Australian indigenous art and includes the following resources:

• AIATSIS: all of AIATSIS’s holdings are now discoverable through Trove
• ABC (links take you to TV programs radio interviews that can be accessed online for free)
• Biographies (under People and Organisations) – the biographies also summarise the resources available on a particular individual
• Australian newspapers up to 1955
• Images of artworks and artifacts held in Australian galleries and museums

AIATSIS : The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies is the national research and collecting institution for information and research about the cultures and lifestyles of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, past and present.

AIATSIS map of Indigenous Australia: maps the language, tribal or nation groups of Australia’s indigenous peoples.

AIATSIS Thesauri: Pathways contains the terms used to describe the items in the AIATSIS Collections including a thesaurus for subjects relating to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies, language groups and people, and place names.

AUSTLANG: The Australian Indigenous Languages Database provides information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. The core of AUSTLANG is a database which assembles information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages from a number of sources.

Guides: AIATSIS has produced a number of guides on their collections and the use of the collections. Please ensure that you adhere to the conditions of use.

Mura®: AIATSIS’ catalogue. Video tutorials are available on the website.

Aboriginal Australia Art & Culture Centre: Owned and operated by the Pwerte Marnte Marnte Aboriginal Corporation, Alice Springs, it is a traditional “meeting place” for the trading of Aboriginal artifacts, knowledge, Aboriginal Art and Aboriginal Culture.

Aboriginal Art Directory: promotes Australian Indigenous art nationally and internationally; as well as providing consumer information about ethics and authenticity when buying Aboriginal art. It comprises 3 sections – Directory, News, and Online Gallery & artwork sales

Ananguku Arts: founded by the artists of the APY Lands in the far northwest of South Australia. Ananguku Arts assists Indigenous artists and Art Centres by facilitating professional development opportunities and skills development workshops and providing information, forums and shared services on a regional and statewide level.

Arnhem Northern and Kimberly Artists: peak advocacy and support agency for Aboriginal artists working individually and through 48 remote Art Centres spread across a vast area of approximately 1 million square kilometres

Desart: non-profit peak industry body for over forty Central Australian Aboriginal art centres.

Indigenous Art Code: establishes standards for dealings between Dealers and Artists to ensure: (a) fair and ethical trade in Artwork; (b) transparency in the process of promotion and sale of Artwork; and (c) that disputes arising under the Code are dealt with efficiently and fairly.

National Indigenous Television (NITV): channel made by, for and about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Tandanya: Australia’s oldest Aboriginal-owned and managed multi-arts centre.

UMI Arts: the peak Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and cultural organisation for Far North Queensland.

Musee du Quai Branly: The Musee du Quai Branly is devoted to the art of the indigenous peoples of the world and has a substantial collection of Australian indigenous art.

The Kluge-Ruhe Aboriginal Art Collection of the University of Virginia: the only museum in the United States dedicated to the exhibition and study of Australian Aboriginal art.

Australian art galleries also have substantial collections of Australian art – check their websites.