More than ten thousand articles on eleven thousand people who have played a significant role in Australia’s history are now available free online – making a valuable national treasure easily accessible to librarians, teachers, schoolchildren, university students, academics, researchers, genealogists, journalists, speech-writers, diplomats and any one else needing concise, accurate accounts of the lives of important people in Australia’s history.

The Australian Dictionary of Biography Online, which is based in the Research School of Social Sciences at The Australian National University, will be officially launched by the Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia, His Excellency Major General Michael Jeffery AC CVO MC at The Australian National University today.

The Australian Dictionary of Biography is a national, co-operative enterprise in Australian historical scholarship that began in the late 1950s and has been described as “arguably the nation’s most substantial and significant publishing venture.” 

The ADB Online, a project which took three years, will publish the text of the printed volumes on the Internet as a database with links to other resources.

Its establishment has been made possible by funding from the Australian Research Council, nine Australian universities and three national cultural institutions.

The General Editor Dr Di Langmore said that the ADB Online would unlock an eight-million word treasure.

“The hardcopy version of the ADB, now up to its 17th volume, has long been an essential and vital resource for anyone studying history in Australia.

“Now that it’s online, anyone with an interest in Australian history – from school children through to academic historians will be able to search, free, for information on historical figures. The ADB Online has a range of search options from a simple text search right through to some very sophisticated structured searches by categories such as occupation, cultural heritage and religious influences.

“The 10,000 articles range between 500 and 6000 words each and each entry contains pointers to further information. Australian history now really is at everyone’s fingertips.”

In addition to a grant from the Australian Research Council, the ABD Online project received support from The Australian National University, University of Melbourne, University of Sydney, Macquarie University, Griffith University, Monash University, University of South Australia, Curtin University of Technology, Charles Darwin University, National Library of Australia, National Museum of Australia and the National Archives of Australia.

More information: Jane O’Dwyer, ANU Media Office, 02 6125 5001 / 0416 249 231

To access ADB Online, go to http://www.adb.online.anu.edu.au/