Finding material about weather and climate in the catalogue

Use the catalogue to search for material about weather and climate held at the National Library of Australia.

Catalogue search for Indigenous climate knowledge

You can use a basic search to search for material about weather and climate by entering your search terms or key words into the text box.

Once you run your search you can narrow your results using the filters listed on the right-hand side of the page. For example, to limit results to digitised material only, select ‘NLA digitised material’ from the list of filters.

Print material can be requested through the catalogue using your National Library card and can be viewed in the reading rooms when you visit the National Library’s building.

For example: results for natural disasters Pacific region and results for Indigenous knowledge climate.

How do I search for:

Information about weather in digitised historic newspapers

Use Trove to search for material about weather and climate in digitised historic newspapers.

You can use a basic search to search for material about weather and climate by entering your search terms or key words into the text box. Choose ‘Newspapers & Gazettes’ from the drop-down list of categories.

Once you run your search you can narrow your results using the filters listed on the right-hand side of the page.

For example: results for flooding, results for weather report and results for Cyclone Mackay.

Subject headings

You can search for material about weather and climate by searching subject headings. To do this, visit the catalogue, change the drop-down menu to ‘Subjects’.

As you begin typing in the text box, the catalogue should suggest some relevant subject headings.

Subject search for Weather - Juvenile literature

When you click on a subject heading, it will open a list of every item in the catalogue with that heading.

Weather and climate manuscripts

The National Library’s Manuscripts collection includes a range of material about weather and climate. For example, we hold the manuscript papers of environmentalist and writer Judith Wright, conservationist Fay Sutton and climatologist Albert Barrie Pittcock. Some of our manuscript collections have Finding Aids linked to the catalogue records; these documents can be used to identify items of interest within a manuscript collection.

To find weather and climate material in the manuscript collection, type your search terms into the basic search text box, and select ‘Manuscript’ from the ‘Add Limits’ dropdown menu.

Special collection formats, including manuscripts, aerial photographs, maps and pictures can be requested through the catalogue using your National Library card and can be viewed in the Special Collections Reading Room. There are special requirements for using special collections to help keep them safe.

Weather and climate eResources

You can also find weather and climate content using the National Library’s eResources portal.

The portal contains subscribed databases, most of which are accessible from home using your National Library card. There are a few databases related to weather and climate, including but not limited to:

  • Bureau of Meteorology Climate Data Online – provides access to a range of statistics, historic weather observations, climatology maps, and other Australian climate data.
  • UNdata – contains United Nations statistical information covering a wide range of themes, including energy, environment and the Millennium Development Goals indicators.
  • Water: Science and Issues – contains information about important water science concepts and current issues.

To access these databases, visit the eResources portal and sign in with your National Library card via the yellow banner at the top of the page. Once you are signed into the portal, click on the ‘Browse eResources’ tab and filter the subject area using the categories on the left-hand side of the screen. Under the ‘Science & Technology’ category filter you will find the subjects ‘Biological and Life Sciences’ and ‘Environmental Science’. Under the ‘Social Sciences’ category filter you will find the subjects ‘Mapping’ and ‘Statistics’. Each of these subject filters contains weather and climate information.

Meteorologist Edward Timcker reading the temperature on a thermostat at the Bureau of Meteorology in New South Wales in the 1920s.
Fairfax Corporation, 1920, Edward Timcker Reading the Temperature on Thermostats at the Bureau of Meteorology, New South Wales, ca. 1920s, nla.cat-vn6265315

The National Library of Australia acknowledges Australia’s First Nations Peoples – the First Australians – as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of this land and gives respect to the Elders – past and present – and through them to all Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Cultural Notification

Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website contains a range of material which may be considered culturally sensitive including the records of people who have passed away.

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