Collecting profile - J. S. Battye Library of West Australian History

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To be read in conjunction with the overarching principles and general principles for heritage material.

Purpose

The purpose of the Battye Library is to house documentary materials which provide a wide, representative sample of Western Australia's historical, developmental, cultural, economic and political life so they can be preserved for use by people throughout the world to facilitate research into Western Australia.

The strengths of this collection are outlined in "Worth telling, worth keeping: a guide to the collections of the J.S. Battye Library of West Australian History".

Collecting intent

We collect all formats of published and original materials relating to Western Australia. Criteria for establishing whether it relates to Western Australia are as follows.

• A significant proportion of the content is about Western Australia
• Written or created by a person born in Western Australia and/or has spent a significant amount of time living in Western Australia
• Published or created in Western Australia
• Written or created by a corporate body identified as primarily Western Australian
• Produced in or about the Indian Ocean Territories

Collecting priority may be influenced by the significance of any one of these criteria or the number of criteria satisfied by a particular resource.

Coverage

We collect realia or objects if they form an intrinsic part of or add context to an archival collection.

Both published and unpublished (original) materials are collected.

We encourage and actively seek donations of Western Australian heritage resources, particularly original material. We may seek digital copies of Western Australian original material owned by others, preferably to current digital standards.

Original records of Western Australian State Government agencies are the collecting responsibility of the State Records Office so we do not collect these.

Published material

We acquire Western Australian State and Local Government publications. State Government publications are collected under a directive from the Premier of Western Australia. Whilst most of this material will be kept, we are under no obligation to retain material deemed surplus to requirements.

We endeavor to acquire non-government Western Australian publications through cooperative arrangements with publishers and authors in the spirit of legal deposit. There is currently no legal deposit legislation for this material however suggested changes to rectify this are before the Minister for Culture and the Arts.

Published material is collected in a variety of formats. This includes commercially produced films and sound recordings made for commercial radio where they have significant Western Australian content.

We continue to work collaboratively through a deposit arrangement with Screenwest, the principle investor in Western Australian film and television productions.

Collecting is more selective for the following areas

• Curriculum materials - those with general informational interest are collected in preference to course specific material.
• Promotional and advertising material - a representative sample is collected
• Maps, atlases and other cartographic materials relevant to Western Australia - a representative sample is collected.
• Serials - a complete collection of serials is not practical. Major Western Australian serials are collected. However we will selectively collect a representative sample of local interest newsletters.

We aim to build a comprehensive collection of Western Australian newspapers.

We ensure significant Western Australian websites or documents within these websites are archived to PANDORA in line with the National Library and State Library's collecting principles for PANDORA. 

We selectively collect and preserve less significant Western Australian web content within agreed rights. Where this occurs within current standards, we will not retain a print copy.

We selectively seek rights for perpetual access and preservation to Western Australian community created content.

We collect samples of ephemera reflecting Western Australia's documentary heritage.

Duplication

A maximum of two copies of print material is retained although further digital derivatives may be created. One copy is designated as a legal deposit/preservation copy and the other an access copy.

Where only one copy is available, it is treated as the legal deposit copy and is made available for access in the most appropriate way.

One copy of any newspaper published in Western Australia is collected, with an additional print copy collected of all major newspapers.

Variant editions of books by significant Western Australian authors may be collected.

Unpublished (original) collections

Original unpublished material collecting has a broad Western Australian focus aimed at documents, sound recordings and images detailing historically significant events in Western Australia as well as the day to day lives of Western Australians through the ages. This material is important to all researchers - those in pursuit of academic qualifications and self directed researchers including genealogists and local historians.

Original unpublished material falls into four main collecting areas - private archives, sound recordings, pictorial, and film- produced by companies, private or government organizations that are not available commercially. 

Private archives

We actively seek original letters, diaries, journals and manuscripts of individuals and families as well as records of political and social movements, non-government agencies, industry and community organizations (including churches).

Sound recordings

This includes both oral histories and music sound recordings.

Oral Histories

We are proactive in building the oral history collection, particularly in consideration of new digital formats.

Donations of oral histories with significant Western Australian content are encouraged. 

Oral histories made for radio, through state and Local Government agencies, universities and educational organisations, businesses and community groups are proactively collected.

Where information is not readily available in other forms or to enhance an existing collection, we may commission interviews which give an insight into a specific subject, organization or event. We also collaborate with other collecting groups, organizations or individuals commissioning oral histories relevant to Western Australia to add to our collections.

Transcriptions and timed summaries are also collected.

Format and digital derivatives are in line with current standards.

Music

The collection of unpublished Western Australian music sound recordings is a priority.

Pictorial

Our focus is on collecting photographic images documenting all aspects of life in Western Australia.

We acquire images which are primarily of local interest only if they provide an important insight into a particular period of Western Australian life or a specific incident of historical interest.

Our decisions for the acquisition of pictorial resources depend primarily on informational content of the item, rather than aesthetic appeal.

Film

Our focus is on collecting moving pictorial images in any format that reflects life in Western Australia including historical events, places, industry, social and cultural life and people.

We collect key productions from Western Australia's film industry.

We collect private sector productions and amateur and home movie footage if they have significant Western Australian information content.