Barr Smith Library Volunteer Group

Background and objectives

The Barr Smith Library holds collections of over 2 million items in various formats, supporting the teaching and research of the University and serving as a resource for the general community. This wealth of material has been built up by donation and purchase over more than a century. Included are collections of manuscripts, ephemera and printed works which it has never been possible to list or index in a way that would make their full research and study potential evident to scholars and students. Library Volunteers can contribute by assisting in projects that will sort, identify, index and create records for the items within such collections.

Performing Arts Programmes Volunteer Project

The initial project will be to document the Library's extensive performing arts programme collection - some 20,000 programs of music, dance and dramatic performances in Australia and Britain from 1858 to the present. Volunteers will be involved in sorting and dating programs and in creating a pro forma description of each program that can be contributed to the national database AusStage.

Subsequent or parallel to the AusStage Project will be others to complete the indexing and dating of a large collection of photographs of the University buildings and staff dating from 1876, and to index articles in the student paper On Dit that commenced in 1932.

Volunteers are sought with skills and aptitudes in data preparation and entry, a flair for detective work in dating and identifying, ability to work cooperatively and under limited direction, and with an interest in, and preferably some knowledge of, the University and/or the performing arts. The group will meet on Thursday mornings in the Special Collections reading room at the Barr Smith Library.

For more information contact the Library Volunteer Coordinator:
Mr Paul Wilkins
Phone: 8303 5223
Fax: 8303 4369
Email: paul.wilkins@adelaide.edu.au

or the coordinator for this project (Tues, Wed, Thurs):
Cheryl Hoskin
Phone: 8303 5224
Email: cheryl.hoskin@adelaide.edu.au