About AustLit

  • Frequently Asked Questions

    Here you will some some frequently asked questions about access, terminology, citations, collaboration and more...
  • —What does the 'five free views' notification mean?

    AustLit relies on income from subscriptions paid by research and education institutions, and libraries. Without this income, AustLit would cease to operate. To allow a people to see what information is available through a subscription, the 'five free views' option allows you to navigate through a few pages and records to get a sense of the database. The 'free view' does not count if the page is already freely available.
  • —What do I do if I have an agent (author) record but not all of my works are included?

    We welcome receiving updates to AustLit entries relating to authors, works and activities within our scope. Please contact us  if you would like us to add additional materials, or to update your biographical record.
  • —How do I know if my library or institution is a subscriber?

    The first step is to search your local, state, national or university library catalogue for 'AustLit'. If the library subscribes, a record for AustLit (and instructions for access) will appear.
  • —Where can I find help navigating the database?

    We will be adding videos and new how-to's in the new year. For instructions of searching and advanced searching, please visit How to Search AustLit.

  • —What is an AustLit 'Work'?

    'Work' is an abstract concept, for example, the novel Voss by Patrick White, where the 'work' is all publications, republications, and translations of the novel. AustLit uses the term work to represent this concept in its bibliographical records. The subsets of works (e.g., 'novel, 'short story', 'poetry') use the term 'form'.
  • —What is an AustLit 'Agent'?

    AustLit treats all organisations and all people, including authors, as Agents. Agents can have attributes, such as names, including alternative writing names, gender, nationality, cultural heritage, and personal awards. Agents can also have relationships: they can be the subjects of works, or they can influence other writers or other works.
  • —How do I collaborate with AustLit as a researcher?

    If you have a research project that you feel would work as a collaboration with AustLit, please email us at info-austlit@austlit.edu.au.

    If you're not sure whether your research project would work as a collaboration with AustLit, check our current and previous research projects at AustLit Research and Publications.

  • —How do I cite (reference) AustLit?

    Citing AustLit in your research publications and as a source of authoritative information helps us enormously in demonstrating our value to the research community. When using AustLit as an information resource that you have relied on for your research, it is important you cite the database as a source of data and information. Adding AustLit to your reference list is also useful.

    If you are using author records, bibliographical records, organisation histories or other notes, or using AustLit data empirically, you should cite AustLit in this manner:

    AustLit (www.austlit.edu.au), St Lucia: The University of Queensland, 2002-.

    and, when relevant, include the name of the author or work title, for example:

    For an author's or an organisation's record:

    Author record, Patrick White, AustLit (www.austlit.edu.au), St Lucia: The University of Queensland, 2002-. [Retrieved dd/mm/yyyy].

    For a work's record:

    Work record, Voss, AustLit (www.austlit.edu.au), St Lucia: The University of Queensland, 2002-. [Retrieved dd/mm/yyyy].

    Follow standard citation rules when citing full text works published by AustLit.

    There may also be other rules you will need to observe about the citing of internet publications. This generally depends on the publications for which you are writing, and the citation style they expect you to follow.

  • —How can I access AustLit if I do not have a personal subscription?

    AustLit relies on income from subscriptions paid by research and education institutions, and libraries. Without this income, AustLit would cease to operate.

    Please support AustLit by asking your library to subscribe.


    AustLit is available to patrons of subscribing libraries, educational institutions, other organisations, and individuals. Currently, all registered users of subscribing libraries or institutions have full access to AustLit for personal research only. This means personal subscriptions must not be used by teachers to prepare for teaching Australian texts. Schools are encouraged to subscribe to AustLit so that their teachers, students, and teacher librarians have access to the best resource for Australian literary studies available. 

    Registered users of almost all Australian universities, the National Library of Australia, Australian state libraries and a number of local council libraries around the country have access. 

    Visit the website or catalogue of your local, state or territory library or of the National Library of Australia, and use your library membership details to access AustLit. Access by users of subscribing libraries and other organisations must comply with the terms and conditions specified by the subscribing library.


    Universities

    At universities around Australia, access is usually provided through the catalogue of your subscribing library or by IP address recognition if you access AustLit on-site. Search for 'AustLit' in your university library catalogue and you will find details about how to gain access.


    Local Libraries

    Check with your local library to see if they subscribe. Why not suggest they do so if they don't currently make it available?


    International users

    A number of international research libraries subscribe to AustLit. Check with your university library, major state or public library to find out if you have access. Individual subscriptions are also available. Contact us for details.


    Individuals

    Registered patrons of Australian libraries, such as National, State and territory libraries, may have full access to AustLit through their membership of those libraries. Visit the website or catalogue of your local, state or territory library or of the National Library of Australia, and use your library membership details to access AustLit. Access by users of subscribing libraries and other organisations must comply with the terms and conditions specified by the subscribing library.

    Please contact your library if you need help.

    If you are not a member of such a library, or if your library does not subscribe to AustLit, please contact us for access details. Individual subscriptions are available.


    ORGANISATIONS

    If you are seeking access on behalf of your organisation, please email us with the details of your requirements, and we will forward access details to you.


    Guest access

    In certain circumstances, we will provide guest access for a limited time. However, we encourage researchers to use the service through a subscribing institution whenever possible. Please contact us for details.


    Australian Authors - creative writers, critics, researchers

    Please contact us for access details. We are happy to provide guest access for you to view details about your work. We welcome receiving updates to AustLit entries relating to works and activities within our scope.


    Volunteers

    We welcome approaches from independent scholars who would like to participate in building this amazing resource. If you have an area of interest you would like to build content around, or would like to help us index poetry, short stories, criticism, the literary content in old newspapers, get in touch for free access, and a crash course in indexing.


    Subscribing

    If you wish to find out information about subscribing to AustLit, please contact us for pricing details.

  • —Can I volunteer to work on the database?

    We have created a simplified indexing interface to allow volunteers to assist with indexing and describing individual poems, reviews, and other works published within journals, collections, and online.

    If you would like to volunteer to add publication details to AustLit, please indicate your interest by email.

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