Collections Overview
Discover the University’s cultural collections – unique for their calibre, depth and size. These valuable collections include rare books, artefacts, maps, musical instruments and biological specimens. Items range from the earliest days of the University’s history, right through to the present day. Regular new acquisitions keep the collections dynamic and relevant for today’s society.
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Architecture, Building & Planning
Discover rare books, archives, photography, and rare and historical maps.
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Botanical & Zoological
Explore the herbarium, animal specimen and entomology collections, and rare books.
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Business & Commerce
Access the archives for more than 300 Victorian businesses.
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Classics & Architecture
Discover rare books, archaeological objects, and rare and historical maps.
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Earth, Physics & Chemistry
Discover antique scientific instruments and equipment, and geological and fossil samples.
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Asian Collections
Find rare books, historical maps, and old manuscripts.
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Engineering & Cartography
Discover surveying and geomatic tools, historical computing equipment and technical drawings.
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History & Australiana
Find newspapers, historic maps, art, medical history, and the Malcolm Fraser collection.
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Indigenous Collections
Learn about Indigenous life, including language, customs, trade, and knowledge of the natural world.
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Law & Politics
Access early legal texts, legal and political archives, and collections of Malcolm Fraser and Robert Menzies.
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Medicine, Dentistry & Health Sciences
Explore rare medical books, equipment, human tissue specimens, art, and social history records.
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Music
Find old instruments, early music manuscripts and first editions, photographs, printed scores and rare books.
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Veterinary & Agricultural
Discover animal skeletons and dissected organs, rare book collections, campus archive materials.
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Visual Arts
Experience Australian art in all media, rare books, film and television archives, print collections and artefacts.