Port Fairy local newspapers available now on Trove
Trove often receives requests to digitise material from Trove Partner organisations who wish to digitise parts of their own collection. We also receive requests from organisations who are not Trove Partners but have an interest in digitising parts of Trove Partner collections to make them accessible online. Where the organisations are happy to work together on this project, Trove can collaborate with both organisations to achieve a shared goal.
There are several ways this can benefit both organisations and eventually the Trove public. Trove can receive requests from smaller organisations who may not hold the material or do not have the appropriate funding but are passionate about granting wider access to certain collection material. By collaborating with our Trove Partners, these digitisation projects have the chance to be realised. Each project is unique, but what all projects have in common is a desire to see more of Australia’s unique history made available to a wider audience.
State Library Victoria recently worked with not-for-profit Port Fairy Ghost Stories Inc. to facilitate the digitisation of the Belfast Gazette and Port Fairy Gazette.
Port Fairy Ghost Stories Inc. are based in Victoria and to support their initiation of this project they raised some of their own funds and contributed funds they had secured through grants from the Public Records Office of Victoria and the Moyne Shire Council for this project.
The State Library Victoria provided the microfilm to be digitised, and their collaboration ensured the project received the Partner rates for digitisation. Tracie Griffith from Port Fairy Ghost Stories Inc. worked with the Trove digitisation team to get this project started. Their goal was to finish the digitisation of the Belfast Gazette and digitise the Port Fairy Gazette up to 1913. Not only did they achieve this goal, but their funds allowed them to far exceed it, digitising Port Fairy Gazette up to 1922.
Once the project had concluded, Tracie shared some feedback with us:
‘I just wanted to extend a huge thank you to the Trove Digitisation team for the work that has been done on the early Port Fairy newspapers. We are thrilled with the results and pleased to see how far the money stretched - well beyond our expectations.
We appreciate the care that was given to the project and grateful the process was so painless.
We are eager to do more in the near future. We're busy promoting the work locally now and of course, searching for new ghost stories!’
Paul Dee, Senior Collection Curator, Victorian and Australian Collections at State Library Victoria shared his thoughts on the completion of this project:
‘It is fantastic to have the Port Fairy and Portland papers up on Trove. They cover an early period in European settlement in what is now regional Victoria. The district became home to many settlers as the whaling and farming community expanded into a township. These papers capture the activities of daily life and the burgeoning issues as the district became a Shire.’
The ability to expand the visibility of your collection to the Trove audience through our digitisation service at partner rates is just one of the many benefits of being a Trove Partner.
Learn more about our digitisation service.
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Are you a smaller organisation interested in contributing your collection to Trove? Learn more about becoming a Trove Content Contributor Partner?