Labour Records in the Mitchell Library, State Library of NSW

Abstract

The Mitchell and Dixson Libraries comprise the Australian Research Collections of the State Library of New South Wales. The Mitchell Library was established in 1910 through a bequest from the greatest collector of Australiana, David Scott Mitchell, and in 1952 Sir William Dixson bequeathed his personal collection to the Library Trustees. Manuscripts relating to the whole of Australia, South-West Pacific and Antarctica were collected by the Mitchell Library in both original and copied form.1 However, the focus of the collection became centred on NSW; and the Library is no longer the repository for the records of the NSW Government. In selecting specific collections of interest to labour history, it is worth noting that primary sources, unlike secondary sources, are not intrinsically about a specific subject. Manuscripts and archives are originally created to serve a particular function. They result from the practical activities of businesses, societies, organisations and individuals. Unlike printed books, they are not created with the intention that they will be used in a library to serve the research community. They are not discrete; they do not declare their subject in the manner of published works.2 While collections of immediate and apparent interest to labour historians have been chosen for this article, the size and scope of the library's collection is such that it cannot be adequately embraced within the confines of a single article. Consequently, a selective survey of the relevant holdings' highlights, balanced by lesser known collections, has served as the premise for the article. Distinctions have been drawn between personal papers and political, trade union, business and organisational records.3