About

The Federation University Australia Historical Collection is held in the Geoffrey Blainey Research Centre (GBRC), with some items held on our Gippsland campus. The Federation University Historical Collection is an extensive collection of historical material dating from the formation of the Ballarat School of Mines in 1869. The collection covers material from Federation University's predecessors including the Ballarat School of Mines, Ballarat Teachers' College, State College of Victoria, Ballarat; the Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education, Ballarat College of Advanced Education, Ballarat University College, Wimmera Institute of TAFE, Monash University Gippsland Campus, Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education and the University of Ballarat. It is particularly strong in the themes of mining, education, and local history.

The GBRC is located on the top floor of the E.J. Barker Library at the Mt Helen Campus, and includes a supervised reading room, and three special book collections of the library - the Geoffrey Blainey Mining Collection, the Federation University Australia Research Collection, and the Creedy Economics Collection. Titles from the three library special collections can be searched online via https://federation.edu.au/library, but must be read in the Geoffrey Blainey Research Centre.

On 01 January 2014 the University became Federation University Australia with the amalgamation of the University of Ballarat and Monash University’s Gippsland campus. Federation University brings together skills and expertise throughout Ballarat, Gippsland and the Western region of Victoria for the benefit of our regional communities.

Our collection

Federation University Historical Collection (1869)

The Federation University Historical Collection is located at the Geoffrey Blainey Research Centre (GBRC) on the top floor of the E.J. Barker Library (Mt Helen Campus) and includes a supervised reading room where collections can be accessed and read. The GBRC also houses the Geoffrey Blainey Mining Collection and the Federation University Library Special Collections.

Book titles from the Federation University Library collections can be searched online at http://innopac.federation.edu.au (select Mt Helen Campus). The Federation University Historical Art Collection online catalogue is located at https://victoriancollections.net.au/organisations/federation-university-australia-art-collection and the Federation University Historical Collection is searchable via this site.

Federation University Historical Collection is an extensive collection of historical material dating from the opening of the Ballarat School of Mines in 1870. The collection covers material from the Federation University's predecessors including the Ballarat School of Mines, Ballarat Teachers' College, State College of Victoria, Ballarat; the Ballarat Institute of Advanced Education, Ballarat College of Advanced Education, Ballarat University College, Wimmera Institute of TAFE, Monash Gippsland and University of Ballarat.

Themes: Connecting Victorians by transport and communications, Transforming and managing land and natural resources, Building towns, cities and the garden state, Governing Victorians, Building community life, Shaping cultural and creative life