To search the Library catalogue:
Enter Library catalogue here
Western Australian Museum Library
An important resource centre for research in Western Australia
History of the Library
The Museum Library is one of the oldest government libraries in the State. Although the first Museum Librarian was not appointed until 1961, books have been acquired since the late nineteenth century. The collection has grown steadily and includes purchases, exchanges and early donations of now rare scientific works. It exists as a vital research library for Museum staff and is also a source of specialised publications for other Australian researchers.
 |
 |
Visitors
The library is open by appointment for research. Please phone, email or fax to arrange a suitable time. The collections are available to visitors for reference; external borrowing is via inter-library loan.
Photocopying is available for a small fee. Copyright restrictions apply.
Inter-library loan requests are acccepted from other libraries by phone, fax or email.
Payment may be made by ALIA vouchers, cheque, credit card, or IFLA vouchers.
Loan requests from individuals are not accepted. Please contact your local public, workplace, college or university to organise an inter-library loan.
Photocopies
Individuals unable to visit the library and without access to inter-library loans may send requests for photocopies. A charge may be made for more than one article. Copyright restrictions apply.
 |
 |
Publications are spread over several sites. The main library is located at the Museum's Welshpool site, while important collections also exist in Fremantle (maritime archaeology and history, materials conservation). Smaller collections are held in the branch museums at Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Albany. Publications held at all sites are included in the library's catalogue.
Most items in the Museum Archives are not yet indexed online, but can be viewed by appointment. The archive collection documents the history of the Museum and its early correspondence. Included are letter books covering the period 1895-1915.
Strengths...
Zoology; earth sciences; Australian history, anthropology and archaeology; maritime archaeology; materials conservation and museology.
The Library is a major state resource for publications in the fields of ornithology, palaeontology, malacology, marine invertebrates, maritime archaeology, materials conservation and museology.
Old & Rare Books
Over 750 books published prior to 1900, together with scientific journals dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries and many 19th century reprints. Rare books include volumes of natural history, Australian Aboriginal studies and accounts of European discovery and exploration of Australia.
 |
 |
A separate fully searchable database contains the full-text of items contained in the Museum's scrapbooks of late 19th and early 20th century newspaper articles. These articles cover the period 1889-1909. Many of the earlier clippings reflect the Museum's origins as a geological museum and are primarily concerned with a geological perspective of Western Australia's exploration and development. Later articles concentrate on the museum's development and role in society, with specific regard to collections and expansion.
Journal Exchange Program ProgramPProgramme Programme
The records of the Western Australian Museum and The Records of the Western Australian Museum, Supplement, are exchanged on a world-wide basis for over 260 other journals, many available only on exchange and taken by no other Western Australian library.
Royal Society of Western Australia Library
Since 1960 the collection has been augmented by the Library of the Royal Society of Western Australia, a small but important collection for scientific research. Over 580 books, and 983 serial titles, more than 252 of them current, are contained in this library. Most of this material has been obtained on exchange for The Journal of the Royal Society of Western Australia, and many of the overseas titles are held nowhere else in the State.
The Royal Society Library contains over 84 monographs published prior to 1900, many of them donated. These include several rare titles on early voyages to Australia and on the botany of Australia.
