About our collection

IMAGES

Source: The majority of the images in the Heritage Noosa collection have come from private collections and have been donated to Noosa Council/Noosa Libraries to contribute to telling Noosa’s story.  Generally, images are loaned for scanning and the originals are returned to the owners.

If you have images (any format – print, slide, negative) or other material that you would like to share with the collection, please contact us at heritage@noosa.qld.gov.au. 

Quality: The images are scanned ‘as is’ with no touching up or restoration undertaken to accurately represent the artefact as it was given to us.  Some images are in poor condition and are included in the collection despite this as they may be the only image(s) of a particular place or subject that is in the collection. Sometimes the damage or deterioration is in a less important area of the image and does not impact on viewing the key aspects of the image.

Duplicates: You may find some images are doubled up in the collection (or even tripled). This is due to the fact that in earlier times, it was uncommon for people to own a personal camera. There were generally only a few photographers in an area and locals and visitors all purchased copies of the same image to add to their albums. With a collection of 12,000+ images (and growing) it is challenging to cross reference the entire collection (or recognize at a glance) to assess whether the image is already held. However, a duplicate is generally very evident once added to the collection. We do regular checking to remove duplicates and keep the collection unique.

Similar images: You may also find that there is a sequence of very similar images. We include these for a number of reasons, including: expressions on people’s faces (one person may look good in one photo but not the other), different angles that show different features in the background, or different stages of the same activity that help to tell a story.

Out of area images: There are also a small number of images included that are from outside the Noosa area. We occasionally include images from neighbouring regions (e.g. Sunshine Coast and Gympie) if it is an image of a particularly significant place or event and the image is part of a collection of primarily Noosa based images.  There may also be images of places further afield (e.g. Brisbane, Sydney or Birdsville) – generally the main focus of these is a person or subject with a strong connection to Noosa and are included to showcase the full story of that person or subject (e.g. a Noosa boat that sailed to Brisbane).

“Missing” images: If you are searching for an image of a particular person, place or event and do not find it in the collection, this is not because it has been deemed unimportant or insignificant. Very simply, it is because an image of that has not yet been donated to the collection.  We are continually adding content and welcome donations.

OTHER MATERIAL IN THE COLLECTION

As with images, the majority of other material in the collection (e.g. maps, ephemera, postcards, e-books) have been donated to the collection.

The exception is oral history interviews. Noosa Council/Noosa Libraries has an ongoing project to identify people who have a significant connection to Noosa and record their stories and memories. These are unscripted and told in their own words. If you would like to nominate yourself or someone you know as a potential interview candidate, please contact us at heritage@noosa.qld.gov.au