Collection

Collection

The collection includes histories of Victorian:
cities; towns; regions; localities; schools; churches; businesses; hospitals; clubs; bands; transport; crime; police; politics; military; sport; mining; immigration; Indigenous history; community services; biographies. Australian art and literature also feature in the collection.

Our collection also features a growing range of indexes, pioneer registers and other very useful resources for Victorian family history. Ancestry Library Edition is available for members to use at the PMI on a library computer or your own laptop. For more information on family history resources at the PMI see Research Guide: Family History.

We collect national and interstate material that have Victorian content or have influenced Victoria.

You can read our Collections Development Policy here: Read Icon

We are keen to respond to our members’ needs, so please request an item not in our collection about the history of Victoria.

Searching the Collection

To make the most of your research time at the library, you can access the library catalogue at the PMI or from home before you visit. If you have some distance to travel you may email us before you come with a list of items you’re interested in and we will reserve them for you. There is no charge for this service. If you are a member you can reserve items by logging into the catalogue as well.

Our library holdings are also shown in the Trove database.

Recent Additions to the Collection

The PMI Library produces a monthly Recent Additions list which contains items recently added to the library arranged by place and subject.  You can find out more about our Recent Additions list here.


Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that items in the PMI’s collection may contain images, videos or names of deceased persons.

Additionally, some material in the collection contains terms that reflect authors’ views, or those of the period in which the item was written, but may not be considered appropriate today. These views are not the views of the PMI Victorian History Library Inc. This material is presented as part of the record of the past; contemporary users should interpret the work within that context.

If you find material in the PMI Collection which is considered sacred and should have restricted use, please see staff and the matter will be dealt with on case by case basis.