The National Library of Australia has announced that it will be publishing a new release of its popular TROVE database next Thursday, 25 February.Trove is an essential tool for any family historian with Australian connections. It's probably best known for its database of digitised copies of historical Australian newspapers, most of them published between 1803 and 1954, but it also holds all kinds of goodies including journal articles, reports, theses, books (full, or individual chapters), maps, diaries, letters, photos, music and written/video/oral interviews.
This content comes from a number of libraries, museums, archives and other research organisations. The site also has a busy forum and other services. And it's free.
The update, one of the largest in Trove history, is eagerly awaited. It will include faster, more responsive searching and improved viewing on mobile devices. In addition the newspaper zone will see a simplified interface, customisable view displays and new browse features. Samples from the NSW Government Gazette (1832 to 2001) collection will also give a taste of what is to come from this one million page digitisation project.
Before Trove 7 is released, however, there will be three days of 'shut down' to allow the upgrade to be put in place. From 5pm AEDT on Monday 22 February until the relaunch on Thursday 25 February, Trove will be offline.
If you're new to Trove, check out the introductory video below:
(Thanks to Nick Reddan for letting me know about the temporary Trove shutdown.)