During the research in the National Archives of Australia in Canberra, two publications were find. It was previously supposed that the publications were lost. The publications are Iskra (The Sparkle) i Oganj (The Flame), both of them published probably only once in 1933 as a substitution for the banned newspaper Borba.
Within the project and in cooperation with National and University Library in Zagreb, until the end of February 2021 nine publications were digitized. All of them are available on the link to the project in the digital collection of National and University Library and on the web pages of the project.
4th Croatian Diaspora Congress took place in Zagreb on the 5th and 6th November 2020. A presentation that was based on the project Croatian Emigrant Press was held. The authors are Ivana Hebrang Grgić and Ana Barbarić and the title is Preserving Cultural Heritage: Newspapers of Croats in New Zealand. In the photo: Ana Barbarić, Ivana Hebrang Grgić, Ivana Bačić Serdarević and Drago Šaravanja. Ivana Bačić Serdarević and Drago Šaravanja are Croatian writers who lived in Australia.
In Matica, monthly magazine of the Croatian heritage foundation, a text about the first digitized book in the project Croatian Emigrant Press was published in October 2020.
Although the digitization of publications is not the primary goal of this project, in cooperation with the National and University Library in Zagreb the digitization of selected publications is being carried out. The first publication was digitized in July 2020. It was book Hrvatske zajednice u Australiji (Croatian communities in Australia) by Fabijan Lovoković.
Ivana Hebrang Grgić, the manager of the project, was a guest on the show Globalna Hrvatska (HRT, July 1, 2020). The topic of the show was Croatian emigrants and the media.
Team members on the Croatian Emigrant Press project have made an agreement about collaboration with the National and University Library in Zagreb. The consent for the collaboration was signed by the Director General of the Library, professor Ivanka Stričević. Here is a part of the text of the agreement:
In accordance with its task of ensuring the complete Croatica Collection, the National and University Library in Zagreb agrees to collaborate with the Croatian Emigrant Press project in the digitization of material in accordance with all legal regulations and previously defined criteria for digitization. The library is ready to provide professional and technical assistance for establishing digital collection and permanent storage, as well as software for creating virtual exhibitions.
During the Night of the Book on the 23rd of April 2020 two posts were published on the Facebook page of the Croatian Heritage Foundation) – one post is a recommendation of two books and another is a short overview of the project.
In National and University Library in Zagreb some issues of newspapers Zora (The Dawn), Novi svijet (New World) and Vjesnik (Herald) are available. For example, there are 15 available issues of Zora that are not available in New Zealand libraries, when there are 36 issues of Zora that are available in New Zealand libraries, but not in the National and University Library in Zagreb. The material has been preliminary reviewed to prepare for digitization.
Croatian Emigrant Almanac 2020 was promoted in Croatian Heritage Foundation on the 12th of February 2020. Paper entitled A Virtual Bibliography of Diaspora Periodicals, by Ivana Hebrang Grgić and Ana Barbarić, is published in the publication.
