Getting resources

Online Access

Some items are available to be previewed or viewed entirely online. Look under the 'View online' tab in the ‘Get this edition’ section, there may be a freely accessible online version of the item. This might include a link to Hathi Trust or the Open Library, which are free sources of online full text. If a preview of the item exists in Google Books it will also be linked to here.

See more information about online access [link coming soon].

How to find where items are held

Trove brings together records describing items from collections in many different institutions - Trove does not manage or hold any of the items.

Libraries or other institutions that hold a copy of an item are listed under the 'Borrow' tab in the ‘Get this edition’ section of the Trove record - see the picture below for an example. Click on the name of the institution to view their catalogue or see more information about where they are located and how to contact them.

Access conditions may apply to some items.

If multiple institutions hold an item, you can filter the list by state. If you have set up the 'My libraries' feature you can also filter the list this way - See more information about setting up the “My libraries” feature in Your user account.

You say my local library has this book, but it isn’t in their catalogue. Why is your information wrong?

Trove is an online service which brings together records from libraries and other collecting institutions across Australia into a single database. Libraries catalogue their collection material and submit their catalogue records to Trove through the collaborative network Libraries Australia. Trove shows you which Australian libraries hold a book or other collection item.

This information is not always up to date. For example, where libraries discard items from their collections, information relating to these discards can sometimes take a considerable period to be reported to the National Library. In these cases some collection items are wrongly shown in Trove as being held by a library.

The National Library is working with other Australian libraries to improve the currency of library holdings, and is now planning to increase these efforts.

Items not held in Australian libraries

Sometimes Trove receives records from other libraries like the Library of Congress and the British Library for cataloguing purposes. While we could delete these records from Trove we feel we’re providing a service in letting users know that the items do exist somewhere. If you find a record in Trove which has the message “No known library holdings in Australia”, there are some other sites you can search to locate a copy. You can try searching WorldCat, the Library of Congress or the British Library.

Buy a copy

You cannot buy books or other items from Trove directly, however the ‘Buy’ tab in the ‘Get this edition’ section can give you options for external purchasing arrangements if they are available.

For items held by the National Library of Australia, you may request a digital or printed copy of the item from a service is known as “Copies Direct”. This service will incur a fee and copyright restrictions apply - you may only be able to obtain a copy of part of the item.

To use this service, click the ‘Order now’ button where you see the Copies Direct logo, as shown in the image above. You will be taken to the Copies Direct website with the order form pre-filled with the item details. You may need to provide further details.

For more information about this service, try reading the Copies Direct Help page on how to get a copy: http://www.nla.gov.au/getting-started/copies

Buy a copy of a newspaper

If you wish to purchase a copy made from either the microfilm or the hardcopy of the newspaper, you may use the National Library's Copies Direct service to order a copy. This is a copy made from a photograph or a photocopy. To access this service click on the ‘Buy’ button (shopping trolley icon) on the left-hand side of the screen when viewing the newspaper article, then click the 'Order now' button.

If you wish to purchase an original copy of the newspaper, you will need to contact a commercial organisation that sells original newspapers. These can be found by doing an internet search on “buy original Australian newspapers”. Trove is unable to provide any recommendations of websites that provide this service.

Get a particular edition

If you do care about getting a particular edition, such as the latest edition of a textbook, or the Norton Critical edition of Hamlet, you may need to click on the “Find a specific edition” button. This opens a list on the left of filters you can use to narrow your search. To find out where you can get this particular edition, click on the edition title and then click on the “Get this edition” button.

If the particular edition isn’t important to you, all you need to do is scroll down and look at all the editions of the work. This shows all the editions as well as how many libraries have that edition and also if it is online. Default filters are sometimes applied (for example, English text versions only).

Get newspaper copies from publisher

For the following newspaper titles, please contact the publisher to enquire about ordering higher quality copies of newspaper content.

Papua New Guinea Post-Courier (Port Moresby : 1969 - 1981)
Please contact the Papua New Guinea Post-Courier directly with details of the items you require at: https://postcourier.com.pg/contact-us/

Searching language groups in Trove

There was once over 250 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages spoken in Australia. While these languages were traditionally only spoken, after European settlement people started creating spellings for Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. Over time, the way something is spelt has varied from author to author.

Alternative spelling

The variety of spellings can make it difficult to search for the information in Trove. As an example, Gamilaraay is a Pama–Nyungan language of the Wiradhuric subgroup and has some alternative spellings. Historically, some alternative spellings include: Camileroi, Gamilaroi, Kamilaroi, Yuwaalaraay, Wallarai.

Finding alternative spellings

Alternative spellings for Indigenous languages can be found through Austlang and a Wikipedia article titled List of Indigenous Australian group names.

More information

You can request further assistance by visiting the Trove support page.