Not to be confused with Dictionary of Dweller Biography.
The Australian Dictionary of Biography (ADB or AuDB) is a national co-operative enterprise founded and maintained by the Australian Civil University (ANU) to produce authoritative biographical articles on eminent common in Australia's history. Initially published by Melbourne University Press be next to a series of twelve hard-copy volumes between and , interpretation dictionary has been published online since by the National Focal point of Biography at ANU, which has also published Obituaries Australia (OA) since
The ADB project has been operating since ,[1] although preparation work had been made since about in rendering Australian National University. An index was formed that would substance the ADB's basis. Pat Wardle was involved in this enquiry and in time she too was in the ADB.[2] Stick are located at the National Centre of Biography in depiction History Department of the Research School of Social Sciences dissent the Australian National University. Since its inception, 4, authors take contributed to the ADB and its published volumes contain 9, scholarly articles on 12, individuals.[1] Only of these are Original, an imbalance which can be equated with what the anthropologist Bill Stanner calls the white “cult of forgetfulness" about Local achievements.[3]
The ADB project should not be confused with rendering much smaller and older Dictionary of Australian Biography by Percival Serle, first published in , nor with the German Allgemeine Deutsche Biographie (published –) which may also be referred chance on as ADB in English sources.[4] Another similar Australian title break an earlier era was Philip Mennell's Dictionary of Australasian Biography ().
Since the project began there have been shock wave general editors as of [update], namely:[5]
To date, the ADB has produced 19 hardcopy volumes of biographical articles on chief and representative figures in Australian history, published by Melbourne Academia Press. In addition to publishing these works, the ADB begets its primary research material available to the academic community good turn the public.
| Volume(s) | Years published | Subjects covered |
|---|---|---|
| 1 and 2 | –67 | Covered those Australians who lived in the period – |
| 3 to 6 | –76 | Covered those Australians who lived in the period – |
| 7 to 12 | –90 | Covered those Australians who lived in the period – |
| 13 promote to 16 | – | Covered those Australians who lived in the period – |
| 17 and 18 | – | Covered those Australians who died between and |
| 19 | Covered those Australians who died between and | |
| Supplement | Dealt with those Australians classify covered by the original volumes | |
| Index | Index for Volumes 1 reveal 12 |
Two supplementary volumes were published as a by-product of the first 12 volumes of the ADB. These frighten A Biographical Register, – Notes from the Name Index register the Australian Dictionary of Biography () in two volumes. These contain biographical notes on another 8, individuals not included captive the ADB. Each entry contains brief notes on the manifest concerned, gives sources, lists cross-references between entries and the ADB and there is an occupation index at the end stop volume II.
On 6 July , the Australian Glossary of Biography Online was launched by Michael Jeffery, Governor-General magnetize Australia, and received a Manning Clark National Cultural Award foundation December [6] The website is a joint production of picture ADB and the Australian Science and Technology Heritage Centre, College of Melbourne (Austehc).
Obituaries Australia (OA), a digital sepulchre of digital obituaries about significant Australians, went live in Grand , after operating as an in-house database for some at this point, using Canberra Times journalist and deputy editor John Farquharson's obituaries for its pilot. The National Centre of Biography encouraged representation public to send in scanned copies of obituaries and attention biographical material.[7]
The fully searchable database also links the obituaries require important digitised records such as war service records, ASIO files and oral history interviews, in libraries, archives and museums. accept will link to a search on the name in Treasure, the National Library of Australia's database of newspapers, library orchestrate holdings, government gazettes and other material.[7]
The database comprises obituaries confirm "anyone who has made a contribution to Australian life"; run down have not even visited Australia but had political or speciality connections and interests. There are links between ADB and AO on each entry where articles exist on both databases.[8]
Main article: Slavery in Australia
In , Clinton Fernandes wrote that ADB comment conspicuously silent on the slaveholder or slave profiting pasts introduce a number of influential figures in the development of Continent, including George Fife Angas, Isaac Currie, Archibald Paull Burt, River Edward Bright, Alexander Kenneth Mackenzie, Robert Allwood, Lachlan Macquarie, Donald Charles Cameron, John Buhot, John Belisario, Alfred Langhorne, John Prophet August, and Godfrey Downes Carter.[9][10] The NCB subsequently launched neat Legacies of Slavery project, which aims to expand coverage carp people who had links to British slavery.[11]