This week, the Culture WA search portal, a free digital platform providing access to 1.6 million items from WA’s main cultural institutions, was launched.
Users will be able to search across all these state cultural organisations (including the WA Museum, State Library of WA, and State Records Office) at the same time using keywords. Collections from the Art Gallery of Western Australia will be uploaded in 2020.
At the time this article was written, a search for ‘Swan River’ already returns an amazing 2528 results, complete with stunning photographs from as early as the late 1800’s.
Types of collection items uploaded to the portal include:
- single documents
- research papers
- maps and papers
- clothing
- medals and toys
- scientific and historic specimens
The portal features many fascinating objects, including C.Y. O’Connor’s heartbreaking suicide note. The story of C.Y. O’Connor has been included in a ‘Features’ section on the site, alongside the story of ‘Perth’s Prohibited Area’, stories of shipwreck and discovery (including the story of the Batavia), and photographic timelines. You can view these incredible featured stories here.
Culture and the Arts Minister David Templeman said that the Culture WA portal will “[…] provide so many new opportunities, whether that be to carry out family history research, find information about Australia's Aboriginal heritage, or learn more about our culture, environment and way of life.”
As more of the Western Australia's collections are added to the Culture WA portal, more information and stories will become available.
You can read more about the portal and featured stories on the ABC website or see the DLGSC article.
