RMIT Publishing has partnered with the Australia Council for the Arts to
produce a comprehensive digital archive of Australia's most iconic
literary and cultural journals.
As the newest addition to RMIT
Publishing's Informit databases, the 100% full text Literature &
Culture Collection will span more than 70 years, and contain over 1,800
issues and 30,000 individual items. Newly published items will be added
to the database as soon after publication as possible.
So far, confirmed publications include Griffith Review, Island, Meanjin,
Quadrant, Southerly and Wet Ink, with a number of others currently in
negotiation.
Download the current titles list
Writings by and about many of Australia's notable literary figures have
been published in these journals, as have many pivotal critiques and
analyses of Australian culture. Portraying the literature, politics,
society and artistic movements of the times, these archives allow
readers to revisit the 1950s' nationalist tensions, the Cold War, the
Menzies era, the counter-culture and feminist movements, the growth of
Indigenous writing in English, migrant writing, and the relationship
between the Australian people and the environment, as seen through the
eyes of our writers, critics and intellectuals.
Funding assistance from the Australia Council for the Arts and
collaboration with relevant publishers has made this exciting database
possible. RMIT Publishing plans to have items from 2005 - 2011 available
online by January 2012, with all earlier archive issues digitised and
made available by late 2012. The Literature & Culture Collection
Backfiles is available for one-time purchase, and recent content is
available on annual subscription.
RMIT Publishing's Director, Ms Heather Crosbie, is delighted with the
response so far: "Once again, RMIT Publishing has successfully
identified a rare opportunity to bring together in one place a digital
archive of important Australian cultural content, making it easily
discoverable for the world and preserving it for future generations. We
are honoured to work in partnership with Australia Council for the Arts
and all publishers who are involved in publishing the original
material."
The Informit Literature & Culture Collection is an essential
resource for academic, school and public libraries and for teachers and
students of literary studies, cultural studies and creative writing
courses. Researchers and students of Australian literature, history and
society will find this Collection a rich source of fiction, poetry,
cultural politics and the ideas that have helped define our Australian
identity.
This project has been assisted by the Australian Government through
the Australia Council for the Arts, its arts funding and advisory body.
For purchase enquiries, please contact:
Sales and Marketing
+61 3 9925 8210
sales@rmitpublishing.com.au
For media enquiries, please contact:
Mr Kevin Ormsby
Publishing Manager
PO Box 12058 A'Beckett Street
Melbourne VIC 8006
+61 3 9925 8265
kevin.ormsby@rmit.edu.au