The Academy’s manuscripts collection was established in 1962, and manuscript or archival collections have since been donated to the Fenner Archives by numerous Fellows, other prominent scientists and scientific organisations.
The 233 manuscript collections of Fellows and other leading scientists, in particular, are valuable original sources of information on the history of Australian science.
The Academy’s digitisation and digital access project has recently received support from a number of donors, and we are very grateful for these contributions. Their contributions have aided the digitisation of archival material from the Nimrod British Antarctic Expedition (1907–9), documented by Australian geologist Leo Arthur Cotton, who travelled to Antarctica for the expedition voyage. The proof-of-concept pilot project can be viewed on eHive.
The most recent donation to the digitisation project has been used to purchase scanning equipment essential for this project.
The digitisation project aims to preserve and make available online some of the most significant and fragile items in the collection. The purpose is to better action research requests by those unable to visit the Academy in person—the archives are currently closed to external researchers due to COVID-19 restrictions.
It is not too late to donate to this project. Donations are tax deductable and will assist with expanding the scope of material digitised. Those interested in the archives may also consider volunteering time to this project.
Work already completed in preserving and recording the collections to best practice standards will be of great future value. It aims to support knowledge of the archives and will be crucial for the digitisation project to proceed.
A generous donation by Academy Fellow Professor Michael Barber is set to make an enormous difference to the career trajectory of emerging scientists by enabling the Academy to engage two science policy interns in the coming months. He has also pledged a further donation for next financial year.
Read more about Professor Barber’s donation
For more updates, visit the Philanthropy and Partnerships webpage
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