Thomas Edison was one of the world’s most prolific inventors, holding over 2,000 different patents. One of his earliest inventions was the phonograph. The Edison Phonograph Company was formed on October 8, 1887, to market Edison's machine. The original machine went through many modifications. The Patent information on this machine indicates that it was manufactured after May 1906. Sound was recorded on wax cylinders. Edison cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. These hollow cylindrical objects have an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which can be reproduced when they are played on a mechanical cylinder phonograph Beginning in 1889, pre-recorded wax cylinders were marketed. They featured professionally made recordings of songs, instrumental music or humorous monologues in their grooves. The earliest cylinders were made from soft wax and later hard wax was utilised. Further developments by several companies, led to the introduction of celluloid cylinders. In late 1908, Thomas Edison had introduced wax cylinders that played for about four minutes (instead of the usual two) under the Amberol brand. The Amberols were manufactured with flat rim-ends, to prevent confusion with the earlier bevel-edged two-minute version. In 1912, the Edison company eventually acquired patents to the celluloid technology, and almost immediately started production of the new brand as Edison Blue Amberol Records. Cylinder records continued to compete with the growing disc record market into the 1910s. In 1912, Columbia Records, which had been selling both discs and cylinders, dropped the cylinder format, while Edison introduced his Diamond Disc format, played with a diamond stylus. From 1915, new Edison cylinders were re-recordings from Edison discs. Although his cylinders continued to be sold in steadily dwindling quantities, Edison continued to support the owners of cylinder phonographs by making new titles available in that format until the company ceased manufacturing all records and phonographs in November 1929.This item is significant because it is representative of early home entertainment in the late 19th and early 20th century.An Edison Home Phonograph in a wooden case. No trumpet included.On outer case' Edison On metal plate: Thomas A Edison TRADE MARK On large metal plate: Detailed inscription of Patent informationphonograph, thomas edison

First annual report for the National Information Library Service, which was created through the merge of the Library and Material Production Units of RVIB and RBS. In August 2001, Roxanne Missingham (National Library of Australia) launched NILS which was designed to reduce duplication between state-based services, increase the variety of Braille, audio and e-text materials and reduce costs. This report shows the progress towards these goals, the future inclusion of Vision Australia Foundation and the number of books, loans and materials produced over the year.national information library service, corporation records, jamie kelly, tim mitchell, ann carlson

Second annual report for the National Information Library Service, which saw the joining of the Vision Australia Foundation library and alternative format production areas join NILS. This report shows the progress towards reducing duplication between state-based services, increasing the variety of Braille, audio and e-text materials and reducing costs, as well as the number of books, loans and materials produced over the year.national information library service, corporation records, alan egerton, ted johnson, kelly thong, tim mitchell, robert de graauw, james wright, john turner, jane evans

Third annual report for the National Information Library Service, which saw the joining of the Christian Blind Mission International (CBMI) with NILS. This report shows the introduction of CDs and Daisy titles into the collection, the development of an online catalogue and the progress towards increasing the variety of Braille, audio and e-text materials and reducing costs, as well as the number of books, loans and materials produced over the year.national information library service, corporation records, malcolm daubney, jane evans, tim evans, pam wansink, libby sturrock, brian hardy, tim mitchell, jamie kelly, anna fairclough, dorothy hamilton, alan bates, ted johnson

Various images taken of library processes and staff, for the NILS Annual Report. These include: - the Circulation area, where items were returned via post and stacked on trolleys. Cassette books were checked for completeness (as a book could require multiple cassette containers or having missing cassettes) and if they had been rewound, before returning. The computer system either re-circulated the book out to another borrower or put to storage in the Hanging Carousel, which was 1 storey high and housed 1000's of books. Books being sent out again were issued a card with the address label printed on it, and were required to be placed in the address rack on the book, before being shipped out via post. - Computer Access Centre was located in the Browsing Library and consisted of two computers, one with a larger screen for increased font size and a trackball mouse designed for people with limited mobility. - Duplication where blank cassettes are loaded into 'slaves' and a master recording duplicated on to multiple tapes - Browsing Library where a small selection of Braille, audio and large print books are kept and can be viewed. - Braille and Large Print Production, where text is scanned then transformed into the desired format, before proofing and dispatch to the client. - Audio Production studios where text is recorded by single or multiple narrators, and produced. 298 images of NILS staff, clients and volunteersnational information library service, john turner, carl sayo, tim mitchell, marnie rose-smith, ted johnson, craig carey, jamie kelly, alan egerton, alan bates, bernadette jolley, debbie cooke, kelly thong, robert de graauw, karl hughes, justin bates, jean watson

Edison cylinders were the earliest commercial medium for recording and reproducing sound. These hollow cylindrical objects have an audio recording engraved on the outside surface which can be reproduced when they are played on a mechanical cylinder phonograph. Beginning in 1889, pre-recorded wax cylinders were marketed. These have professionally made recordings of songs, instrumental music or humorous monologues in their grooves. The earliest cylinders were made from soft wax and later hard wax was utilised. Further developments by several companies, led to the introduction of celluloid cylinders. In late 1908, Thomas Edison had introduced wax cylinders that played for about four minutes (instead of the usual two) under the Amberol brand. The Amberols were manufactured with flat rim-ends, to prevent confusion with the earlier bevel-edged two-minute version. In 1912, the Edison company eventually acquired patents to the celluloid technology, and almost immediately started production under new brand as Edison Blue Amberol Records. Cylinder records continued to compete with the growing disc record market into the 1910s. In 1912, Columbia Records, which had been selling both discs and cylinders, dropped the cylinder format, while Edison introduced his Diamond Disc format, played with a diamond stylus. From 1915, new Edison cylinders were re-recordings from Edison discs. Although his cylinders continued to be sold in steadily dwindling quantities, Edison continued to support the owners of cylinder phonographs by making new titles available in that format until the company ceased manufacturing all records and phonographs in November 1929.This item is significant because it is representative of home entertainment in the late 19th and early 20th century.Two phonograph cylinders in cardboard boxes. The first cylinder is an earlier 2 minute Edison Gold Moulded Record with Issue Number 9184. It features a recording of "Paddle your own Canoe" by Arthur F. Collins and Byron G. Harlan and was released in January 1906. The second cylinder is a 4 minute Edison Amberol Record (NO. 647) featuring the Levy-Athan Polka performed by Charles Daab on xylophone and accompanied by an orchestra. It was released in February 1911. The case is cylindrical in shape and made of cardboard. It is coloured green, white, and black on the outside, while the base is not coloured. The tube is open at the top, and sealed at the base. Inside the tube is a white fabric lining. The top section of the outside of the tube is dark green. Below this is an outer sleeve. The outer sleeve has a half white, half green background with a black stripe, with gold outline, running horizontally around the top and bottom. The words "Thomas A. Edison" are printed in green cursive along the band. In the centre of the sleeve is the text " EDISON AMBEROL RECORD FOUR MINUTE" in green ink. To the left of that text is a green-toned image of Thomas Edison in an ornate, gold border. This is surrounded by the words “Copyright 1900 by the National Phonograph Co. Orange N.J. U.S.A". To the right of the text is a rectangular text box with a black border, which contains patent information in green text. edison phonograph, home entertainment, music early 20th century