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History and memory in the Tasmanian Public Library: The curious case of The Hermit in Van Diemen's Land
Citation
Gaunt, HM, History and memory in the Tasmanian Public Library: The curious case of The Hermit in Van Diemen's Land, History Australia: journal of the Australian Historical Association, 6, (1) pp. 10.1-12. ISSN 1449-0854 (2009) [Refereed Article]
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Copyright Statement
This material was published by Monash University ePress in History Australia, the journal of the Australian Historical Association (vol. 6, no. 1, April 2009 issue). Monash University is the definitive repository of this material. DOI: 10.2104/ha090010
DOI: doi:10.2104/ha090010
Abstract
Although public libraries have been generally characterised in academic literature as repositories of public memory along with museums and archives, little specific work has been undertaken in Australia into how the public library performs this role, and how the public library influences – or responds to – the development of historical consciousness and the vicissitudes of social memory within its community. This article considers these questions through a case study of the Tasmanian Public Library in Hobart, and a particular culturally significant text, The Hermit in Van Diemen’s Land: From the Colonial Times (1829), by Henry Savery. The circumstances surrounding the acquisition and subsequent disposal of a copy of The Hermit by the Tasmanian Public Library are examined, in the context of the contested and changing value placed on the text by the institution and members of the community through the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
Item Details
| Item Type: | Refereed Article |
|---|---|
| Research Division: | History and Archaeology |
| Research Group: | Historical Studies |
| Research Field: | Australian History (excl. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander History) |
| Objective Division: | Expanding Knowledge |
| Objective Group: | Expanding Knowledge |
| Objective Field: | Expanding Knowledge in History and Archaeology |
| UTAS Author: | Gaunt, HM (Ms Heather Gaunt) |
| ID Code: | 59207 |
| Year Published: | 2009 |
| Deposited By: | History and Classics |
| Deposited On: | 2009-11-25 |
| Last Modified: | 2010-08-19 |
| Downloads: | 335 View Download Statistics |
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