Based on research within a series of one-year institutional projects Croatian Emigrant Press at the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, a need for more detailed research into Croatian libraries in Australia emerged. The number of such libraries is not negligible. Sometimes they have smaller collections, and sometimes large ones. Some are parts of Croatian associations, Croatian Catholic Centers, universities, and there are also valuable private collections that are not available to the public. Therefore, a project was designed in 2025 with the aim of researching some of these collections, and the project will be able to serve as a template for future research into the remaining libraries and collections.
Croatian libraries in Australia contain rare materials that are an important part of Croatian cultural heritage, but there is a risk of permanent loss of the materials. The result of the research will be a bibliography, i.e. a supplement to the existing bibliography created as part of the Croatian Emigrant Press project. The bibliography is created in library software that meets all national and international cataloguing standards and ensures searchability, visibility and interoperability based on the metadata schemes used. Since it is expected to find material that has not been found and is not available in other institutions, important part of the national identity, cultural creativity and heritage will be preserved. Cooperation with Croats abroad will be established in order to encourage cultural unity and cooperation with the Republic of Croatia in the fields of culture, education and science.
The applicant for the project is the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb, the head is Assoc. Prof. Ivana Hebrang Grgić, and the project is financed by the Office for Croats Outside the Republic of Croatia.
Bibliography of books connected to Croats in Australia
Project report
