Post two - process, and identifying some tangents

Well, I faffed and browsed and dawdled my way around lots of 'research' on Sunday. I wrote quite a long blog and felt too embarrassed to publish it- ouch- because it reflects last week's research process (ie, confused, unfocused, babbling... might be the way my brain works...) So came into class today, have been cheered on by Linda, and now have an excellent way to proceed. I'll go forth like an adventurer! Observe all the things I find with enthusiasm and acceptance!! A David Attenborough of research!! (Linda didn't describe it exactly this way). By the 7th of October I'll need to have shape and direction for research so that I can proceed with the wiki or the paper. BUT until then I'm going to keep the topic open. On this blog I'll keep track of the tangents and the main links with brief descriptions of their content. On a word page I'll keep more detailed notes, musings, and possibilities. (I also reserve the right to alter this process any at time, without warning. It may not work...)
Some headings that are starting to surface
1. Archiving before 1910
2. Collections before 1910
3. Personalities who contributed to the creation of a National Library
4. The Mitchell Library
5. Indigenous Collections
6. Indigenous Learning

1. http://ezproxy.lib.swin.edu.au/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=lxh&AN=28061589&site=ehost-live&scope=site This is a fabulous article tracing the haphazard way documents were archived before the opening of the Mitchell Library in 1910. Documents were not kept for various reasons, including: no location; the belief that the documents belonged to the governor; shame and a desire to hide families' convict past; lack of paper; stuff destroyed in fire; stuff kept in mouldy sheds that miraculously wasn't destroyed. (pathway: Swinburne library – databases - L – Library, Information Science and Technology Abstracts - Library History New South Wales)

3. MMM, who's this woman? Ida Leeson : a life / Sylvia Martin. http://catalogue.slv.vic.gov.au/vwebv/holdingsInfo?bibId=1274039 Available as an ebook, via swinburne library.
Ida Leeson was no ordinary librarian. At a time when only men rose to such positions in the Australian library world, she won an epic struggle to become Mitchell Librarian - a position previously held only by men. Ok, Ida is interesting, but she became head librarian in 1932: outside of this research topic.

3. David Scott Mitchell / by G.D. Richardson.
Magnificent obsession : the story of the Mitchell Library, Sydney / Brian H. Fletcher.
Now we're getting somewhere, here's a bit about Mr Mitchell: The Mitchell Library is based on the collection of David Scott Mitchell, Australia's first and greatest collector of Australiana. The Library was opened in 1910 with the exceedingly generous endowment of 70,000 pounds from David Mitchell, and many thousands of items have been added to the Library since it opened. The collection continues to grow and now contains over 800,000 objects, documents, and books. The Library is a major centre for research into Australian history and culture, and this book, detailing the Mitchell's history and the significance of its collection, documents an important though unsung Australian institution. It is a book.

Search in Swin Catalogue for David Mitchell and Ida Neeson in oxford history to
Mitchell, David Scott (1836–1907) was an ardent Sydney bibliophile with a substantial private income. He qualified in law and was admitted to the Bar but never practised, living a reclusive life that centred on his collection. Although initially interested in English literature, from around 1886 he turned his attention to Australia, the Pacific, and Antarctica. He attempted to collect every significant manuscript and publication relating to these areas, as well as pictures, coins, and medals. He bequeathed his collection, with a large endowment, to the State Library of New South Wales, and this formed the basis for the Mitchell Library collection, which opened in 1910. Kim Torney "Mitchell, David Scott" The Oxford Companion to Australian History. Ed. Graeme Davison, John Hirst and Stuart Macintyre. Oxford University Press, 2001. Oxford Reference Online. Oxford University Press. Swinburne University of Technology. 2 September 2009