Basser Library

Overview

The Library is named after the philanthropist Sir Adolph Basser (1887-1965) whose gift of £25,000 ($50,000) in 1960 enabled it to be established. It collects both published and unpublished material documenting the history of science in Australia, and promotes related historical research. There is particular emphasis on collecting biographical material about prominent scientists.

Manuscript collection

The manuscript collection contains 219 sets of papers, ranging in quantity from a few sheets of correspondence to many hundreds of items. Individual scientists represented in the collection include significant figures in CSIRO such as Sir David Rivett, Sir Ian Wark and Dr Lloyd Rees, academics such as Professor Frank Fenner and Sir Ernest Titterton and more than 60 other Fellows of the Academy. The collection is not limited to Fellows, however; the papers of Sir Neil Hamilton Fairley, for example, are heavily used by people interested in malarial research. A number of scientific societies have also chosen the Basser Library as the repository for their archives with the Australian Institute of Physics and the Geological Society of Australia providing the largest collections.

The Library's manuscript collections are publicised throughout the archival community. In addition to being listed on the Academy's Website, they are accessible through RAAM, the National Library's Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts.

Books and journals

The collection of printed material also contains much of value to research workers. Of particular interest are the back sets of Australian scientific periodicals including those produced by the early colonial Royal Societies and the other voluntary scientific associations that flourished in Australia in the 19th century, such as the Linnean Society of New South Wales.

Staffing and use

The library is currently staffed 4 days a week (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday) by a qualified librarian with training in archives work. Opening hours are 9.30am to 5.30pm. It is open to all bona fide researchers. Queries are received from a variety of sources ranging from family historians to scholars. Our biographical resources, in particular the biographies of Australian botanists compiled for the Hunt Institute, are regularly used, for example by the staff of the Australian Dictionary of Biography.

Contact with potential donors

Information about the Library's activities is disseminated throughout the scientific community, particularly by personal contact with scientists and their families. In this respect the Fellowship of the Academy is the Library's main resource.

Material of value

Any collections of 'personal' papers will in fact include much of general interest in the form of contact with other institutions and members of the scientific community in Australia and overseas. We are seeking material such as draft manuscripts, laboratory daybooks and field books, notes of experiments, personal diaries, letters, photographs, autobiographical notes and memoirs. Material of this type provides valuable source material for historians of science.

Tax deductions for donations

Donations of material to the Basser Library can be claimed as a taxation deduction under the Cultural Gifts Program. The librarian will arrange to have material valued and gifts approved by the appropriate authorities.

Moran Award for History of Science Research

Each year the Library offers an award of $2,500 to encourage use of the collections by postgraduate students and other independent researchers. Further information is available here.