Background This report offers a review of recent significant acquisitions by the Library and of collecting activities. It does not describe the large volume of acquisitions of both Australian and overseas materials that are routinely acquired through deposit, purchase or donation.
CBRLife = 堪 生 活 is now being received through legal deposit. Published by a group of young Chinese Australians, it is a ‘magazine for Chinese Australians living in Canberra, recording their lives and memories with connection of this City . While many multicultural publishers are pleased to deposit their works with the Library, others can be less responsive to the Library’s standard ‘official’ approach. There was a good example recently with the acquisition of three volumes of Aodaliya hua ren nian jian = Yearbook of Chinese in Australia, which we believe to be the first Chinese language yearbooks published in Australia. The acquisition was achieved indirectly, as the publisher did not respond to direct approaches requesting deposit. One of the Library’s volunteers made contact with the editor via his personal network, at which point the volumes were deposited. In these situations, the ‘community-based’ collecting approach is liable to be more successful, and applies in a multitude of other situations as we.