National Library of Australia

Summary subject collecting information (definitions of the ALG collecting levels are available for reference):

Philosophy and religion [Study - Basic]

    Comments: The collection has been developed to a level capable of supporting sustained independent study in many fields of religious thought and history.

- Philosophy (general) [Study - Basic]

    Comments: The existing collection is strong enough to support sustained independent study in many aspects of philosophy, especially nineteenth-century and early twentieth-century British and American thought. The collection of basic, specialist and national journals and publications of learned bodies gives a wide overview of contemporary ideas and developments.

- Philosophy (specific schools and viewpoints) [Basic]

- Western philosophy [Study - Basic]

- Logic [Minimal]

- Ethics [Minimal]

- Religion (general) [Study - Basic]

- Bible [Study - Basic]

    Comments: A wide and representative collection of Bibles is held ranging from a facsimile of the Gutenberg Bible to modern translations in a variety of languages. These are supported by a range of scholarly commentaries. . Patristic texts and commentaries, records of missionary activities, especially in the East Asian and Pacific regions, and the collected writings of major and even secondary religious figures, form the strength of the collection on Christianity.

- Christian theology [Study - Basic]

- Christian church [Study - Basic]

    Comments: Collections relating to Asia and the Pacific, including accounts of missionary activity, are notable. Other strengths include not only the collected works of such internationally influential figures of Hus, Luther, Calvin and Ignatius Loyola but also 17th century and 18th century editions of the Church Fathers, the working collection of Dr F.L. Cross, Lady Margaret Professor of Divinity at Oxford University, and a Jesuit collection.

- Buddhism [Basic]

    Comments: Collection enriched some years ago by the acquisition of the Australian Buddhist Library.

- Hinduism [Minimal]

- Judaism [Minimal]

- Islam [Minimal]

    Comments: Islam, particularly in Indonesia, is well represented.

- Other religions [Minimal]

Highlights of the collection: The National Library of Australia holds a comprehensive collection of material relating to Australia and the Australian people. The Library's collections of Australiana have developed into the nation's single most important resource of materials recording Australian cultural heritage. The Library collects Australian materials of all kinds - not just works in print form - books, serials, maps, music and ephemera - but also online publications and unpublished material such as manuscripts, pictures and oral histories. The Library also has considerable collections of general overseas and rare book materials, as well as world-class Asian and Pacific collections which augment the Australiana collections.

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