Thoughts from an Idle Hour

Here are some sites I visit regularly. I believe them to be reliable and reputable sources of information.

Databases and Depositories

•  National Library of Australia—a collection of over 10 million items including ‘books, journals, newspapers, music scores, maps, e-resources, websites, manuscripts (personal papers and organisational archives), documentary pictures, oral history and folklore recordings’ (‘Facts an Figures’).
• Trove—a composite site providing access to resources about Australia. Trove describes itself as ‘a community, a set of services, an aggregation of metadata, and a growing repository of fulltext digital resources’ (‘Getting to Know Us’).
• AustLit—a database about Australian literature and storytelling.
• Australian Dictionary of Biography—carefully researched and concise accounts of the lives of ‘significant and representative persons in Australian history’ (‘About Us’).

Language and Grammar

• Macquarie Dictionary—widely recognised as the standard reference on Australian English.
• Oxford Dictionaries—the online site of the Oxford English Dictionary.
• Australian National Dictionary Centre—‘conducts research into Australian English, and provides Oxford University Press with editorial expertise for their Australian dictionaries’ (‘Welcome’).

Writing

• Australian Society of Authors—‘the professional association for Australia’s literary creators’ (‘About’).
• Australian Writers’ Centre—founded by Valerie Khoo to help ‘people achieve their writing goals’ (‘About Valerie Khoo’).

Children’s Literature

• Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA)—a volunteer organisation that aims to ‘engage the community with literature for young Australians’. The Council presents the annual CBCA Book of the Year Awards ‘to books of literary merit, for outstanding contribution to Australian children’s literature’ (‘About Us’).
• Australian Children’s Laureate—a non-profit organisation promoting ‘the transformational power of reading in the lives of young Australians’ (‘About’).
• National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature (formerly the Lu Rees Archives)—’a comprehensive collection of books and other resources about authors, illustrators, publishers and their creative works’.

Philanthropy

• Indigenous Literacy Foundation—‘aims to raise literacy levels and improve the lives and opportunities of Indigenous children living in remote and isolated regions’ (‘Who We Are’).
• Aboriginal Literacy Foundation—‘seeks to transform the lives of Indigenous children by focusing on literacy and numeracy education’ (‘About’).
• Room to Read—works ‘in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa’ to achieve literacy and gender equality in education (‘About Us’).
• The Song Room—a national not-for-profit organisation providing ‘Australia’s most disadvantaged children with tailored, high-quality music and arts programs’ (‘About’).