The National Library of Australia further reduces accessibility with its new catalogue system. "Request this item" doesn't work in Windows XP. This follows on from Trove search failing under XP from April last year. Other institutions can release new catalogue systems without cutting off their XP users. (Issue reported to NLA.)

#NationalLibraryAU #TroveAU

@wragge It’s quite a bumpy graph and yet your trend observations in alt-text look spot on. The largest %age drop looks to be immediately after June 2020 “new Trove”. It really is poor accountability that NLA doesn’t publish its own performance analyses (especially time series). Their absence makes your many analyses even more important. #TroveAU #NationalLibraryAU

Turns out there was economic depression in 1848 (Britain) and it would have affected demand for art. (Having written about the downturn in the 1849 chapter I should have remembered this!)

To get a further handle on its impact I used @wragge's QueryPic - thanks Tim! - to graph use of the word "depression" in - in this case - South Australian newspapers from 1839 to 1851.

The graph's October 1848 peak is really obvious. Also shows the late 1840s copper boom and December 1851 gold rush.

Tool: https://glam-workbench.net/trove-newspapers/#querypic (You'll need a TroveAPI key.)

Image: frequency chart of "depression" mentions in South Australian newspapers from 1839 to 1851.

#HistoryAU #ArtHistoryAU #S_T_Gill #SouthAustralia #GLAMWorkbench #TroveAU

Images (including newspapers) currently unavailable at NLA and Trove.
#NationalLibraryAU #TroveAU

Looks like #TroveAU and nla.gov.au is offline this morning. :-(

All NLA webites, including Trove, are currently unavailable.
#NationalLibraryAU #TroveAU

All NLA websites including Trove are currently unavailable.
#NationalLibraryAU #TroveAU

Arvo, Toots! I’m still feeling grumbly, so instead, let’s have some more #FamilyHistory fun. This lovely silhouette is my Dad, c.1952, and was made by a famous travelling silhouette artist artist, S. John Ross, using scissors, in about 45 seconds, at the #Quirindi show. #Trove #TroveAustralia #TroveAu #AustralianHistory #Histodons #HistodonsAu

http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article132080563

Nostalgia is all over social media and it’s the bread and butter of Australian cultural institutions like NLA, Trove, NAA and a lesser extent NMA. ABCTV has its fair share too. It presumably sells. Not being nostalgic myself I’ve wondered about this.

So, a thoughtful ABC News opinion piece by Stan Grant on the danger of nostalgia: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2023-04-16/counting-crows-sydney-concert-1993-nostalgia-dangerous/102222800
(I’ve reserved the cited book at the library.)

I guess there’s a sliding scale of danger/risk. A shift from now to then, action to inaction.

#nostalgia #NationalLibraryAU #NationalMuseumAU #NationalArchivesAU #TroveAU #ABCnetAU

Evening, Toots. Long day. Recovering from the flights to #Adelaide yesterday, I think. Dad was unwell, but we talked about a little #FamilyHistory. I helped Mum clean out the expired medicines, to take back to the pharmacy, so that was useful. After tea, my brother and SIL came over, so we had a catch up, and more family history. Turns out my brother is a #TroveAu devotee too, I had no idea! He even had some #OralHistory from local friends at #WoolBay about the #LimeKilns.

And so to bed.

In comparing the #FundTrove campaigns of 2022-23 and original 2016, I consider a question of ethics. Does it matter whether the public is well informed?

ICYMI, see my article “Trove - Funding, Campaign and Performance”: https://coombe.id.au/blog/TroveFundingAndMore.htm#CampaignEthics

#TroveAU #NationalLibraryAU #TroveFunding #FundTrove

Yet another article on Trove relying on anecdote to tug on your heart-strings and avoiding accountability for poor performance revealed by the numbers. (#Canberra Times today p.10)

For measures and analysis of what’s going on, ICYMI, see my article “Trove - Funding, Campaign and Performance”: https://coombe.id.au/blog/TroveFundingAndMore.htm

#TroveAU #NationalLibraryAU #TroveFunding #FundTrove

A new graph (not seen before?) - Trove newspaper text corrections for all time. I copied 177 monthly counts from Trove's "hall of fame" and plotted them as a daily average. It shows a steady climb to a peak in May 2020 – the last full month of "old Trove" – followed by decline ... #TroveAU #Trove

More analysis in my article: https://coombe.id.au/blog/TroveFundingAndMore.htm#PerformanceCorrections

I have run into a common curse in #FamilyHistory - an ancestor with a remarkably common name. Fortunately, he gave one of his sons an uncommon family name as a first name, and that son did well for himself, and lived a long life. It’s hard not to get sidetracked in #Trove - so many fascinating side articles to read! One of the sisters married a farmer who became famous for a breed of wheat! #TroveAu #TroveAustralia

Trove - Funding, Campaign and Performance

- #FundTrove 2022-23 campaign reviewed with timeline (plus original 2016)

- #TroveFunding untangled

- “Love” & ethics

- Where NLA went wrong.

My new (longish but with pictures) article ICYMI: https://coombe.id.au/blog/TroveFundingAndMore.htm

#NationalLibraryAU #TroveAu

My #Trove addiction has spilled over, partner is now quite happily reading out history of where we live, including many letters to the editor from a curmudgeonly orchardist who originally owned the block our house stands on.
I am giggling.

#TroveAu #Histodon #LocalHistoryAustralia

Trove - Funding, Campaign and Performance

A review of the #FundTrove campaign 2022-23 as it happened and glance back to original 2016.

#TroveFunding untangled.

Where Trove went wrong.

Plus: ethics & “love”!

And a summary and detailed timelines!



#NationalLibraryAU #TroveAU

My new (longish but with pictures) article: https://coombe.id.au/blog/TroveFundingAndMore.htm

Phone call with parents. My #TroveAu research paying off again, Dad ( #dementia) engaged in the conversation, adding details, filling in #FamilyHistory that they’ve never told me before. Think I might have to spend an arvo at the #StateLibrarySA when I visit next month - they hold maps that aren’t #digitised yet. Looking at #PaynehamRoad in #StPeters #Adelaide around the early 1920s, and #Glenelg.

Trove’s 50% decline in sessions over 2 reporting years was brushed off by NLA’s DG as just one stat. But it’s the one they publish in their annual report and they have ignored request for other performance figures.

Blaming Google is a cop out. The decline coincides with Trove2020 release which, presumably unintentionally, blocked access by the Internet Archive to Trove lists.

The usage decline continued in April last year when users with older devices lost access to Trove.

#ABCRN #SundayExtra #NationalLibraryAU #TroveAU

I think next week I’ll have enough to post a brief history of Trove funding.

#NationalLibraryAU #NLAgovAU #TroveFunding #TroveAU