Digital Collections FAQ

Digitised-Collections aims to collect, preserve, and showcase resources from cultural, special and faculty collections of the University of Melbourne. Digitised-Collections includes resources from the University of Melbourne Archives, Special Collections and Faculties.

• Architectural Drawings
• Audio Recordings
• Calendars
• Handbooks
• Images
• Journals
• Maps
• Photographs
• Reports

You can search for terms and phrases in both metadata records and full-text resources in Digitised-Collections. Here are a few examples of searches that can be used and adapted.

Searching for University Handbooks

• Search for university handbooks =  university AND handbooks (both terms anywhere)
• Search for "university handbooks" = university handbooks (both terms together as a phrase)
• Search for "university handbooks" AND journalism = university handbooks AND journalism
• Search for "university handbooks" AND journalism AND dc.date.issued:1930 = university handbooks AND journalism AND created in 1930

Searching  University of Melbourne Calendar Collection 1858 - Collection

All calendars are full-text indexed which enables searching of text within calendars.
As the calendars are in a distinct collection it is also possible to search across all calendars at the same time for names, phrases etc.

To search across all calendars run the search from the Calendar Collection search box

For name searches the best option is to put the name in inverted commas.
Example: "Thomas, David John" 

Sometimes it is worth trying different variations and order of the name.
"David John Thomas"
"Thomas, D. J."

The inverted commas force a specific phrase search. The search will retrieve all of the calendars that contain the search terms used.

Select one of the retrieved calendars and snippets of text related to the search will be displayed.

Select the link above the snippet and the relevant pdf will load.

Run the search (ctrl + F) again within the loaded pdf, you may have to remove the inverted commas to retrieve the information required.
Example: Thomas, David John

You can add the following to any search to identify which records have an available file attached: melbourne.accessrights_keyword:"Open Access"

Example: music AND melbourne.accessrights_keyword:"Open Access"

This will return all records that have the term music as well as having an open access file attached.

Digitised-Collections has basically two access conditions which are displayed prominently in each record.

• Open Access (attached file available to all for viewing)
• Only available to University of Melbourne staff and students, login required (attached file only available to staff and students of the University of Melbourne for viewing)

Staff and Students can login using their University of Melbourne username and password and will be able to access any of the resources designated as "Only available to University of Melbourne staff and students, login required". Staff and students will also be able to save list of records and export metadata record in csv format.

Guest access is for people who are not staff or student at the University of Melbourne who wish to be able to save and export lists of records in csv and ris formats. A Guest login does not provide access to any restricted content.

Minerva Access makes available the research outputs of the University of Melbourne staff and students.

The following materials are accepted:

• Journal articles, including:
  • editorials
  • book reviews
  • letters
• Conference papers, including:
  • accepted abstracts
  • poster sessions
  • video recordings
• Books and book chapters
• Theses:
  • University of Melbourne research theses
  • some University of Melbourne minor and coursework theses
• University of Melbourne internal publications
• Creative works
• Non-traditional outputs (NTROs)

All Minerva Access records include a persistent “Handle” URL in the URI field. A Handle is a persistent, long-term link to a resource, similar to a DOI.

Here is an example of a handle linking to record: http://hdl.handle.net/11343/39592

It is possible to request a copy of a restricted thesis, although we cannot make copies available for some theses due to author’s wishes.

Types of access restrictions on theses:

• Access restricted to University of Melbourne staff and students: you may be able to access a digital copy of the thesis by submitting a request.
• Restricted theses: you may be able to access a digital copy of the thesis by submitting a request.
• Embargoed theses: it is not possible to access a thesis that is currently under an embargo.

For more information on how to request a thesis, please go to: https://library.unimelb.edu.au/digitisation/thesis

Not all University of Melbourne theses are available in digital format. For information on how to access print theses, see the Thesis Collection information page.