The Bibliography
The Torres Strait Bibliography was compiled by Anna Shnukal, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Unit, University of Queensland. This non-selective bibliography contains about 1500 entries. Although the focus is on scholarly material, it includes a range of non-academic material. For reasons of space and accessibility, it is confined to published items (including papers in electronic journals).
The bibliography excludes articles from newsletters, news magazines, bulletins (with a few exceptions) and newspapers, book reviews (which can be found in the Book Review Index and various on-line sources), brochures and leaflets, encyclopedia entries, press releases, unpublished conference papers and reports, or videos. Only English-language items (or non-English items which have an English summary) are included, with the exception of Torres Strait language material.
You can download the bibliography in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (*.pdf) below.
Arrangement
CATEGORIES: The bibliography is first arranged in broad subject areas, a mix of academic disciplines and topics with particular relevance to Torres Strait (see Categories below). However, many items are interdisciplinary and the user with an interest in a particular topic is advised to search in all related disciplines.
FORMAT: Within these broad disciplinary categories, items are arranged by Format: books, booklets, book sections, etc.
ORDER: Within these formats, items are arranged alphabetically by Author, Date, Title (omitting 'a', 'an', 'the').
Torres Strait Islander authors are asterisked (*) and also appear in a separate section, Torres Strait Islander Authors.
Another unconventional feature of the bibliography is that, where Torres Strait material is restricted to a single chapter of a larger work, the bibliography lists only that chapter, together with full bibliographical details, including pagination.
Compiler's comments are enclosed in square brackets.
Getting Started
- Bibliographies, Encyclopedias & Guides
Categories
- Aesthetics (includes Amusements, Architecture, Art, Cuisine, Dance, Games, Music, Poetry, Sculpture, Songs. Art includes carvings, sketches and paintings both by and of Torres Strait Islanders.)
- Anthropology & Sociology
- Archaeology
- Autobiography & Biography (includes only Torres Strait Islanders. See also individual entries in The Encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia and Australian Dictionary of Biography.)
- Community Development (includes Housing, Infrastructure, Telecommunications, Water supply)
- Defence (includes Torres Strait Defence Forces, War)
- Early Observations (pre-1900; includes Exploration)
- Earth Sciences (includes Geology, Mining)
- Education
- Fiction (includes fictional stories set in Torres Strait for both adults and children)
- General (includes Tourism, Travel)
- History
- Languages & Linguistics (includes works in Torres Strait languages)
- Law (includes Adoption, Border Dispute, Customary Law, Land & Sea Rights, Mabo Case, Marine Tenure, Maritime Boundary, Native Title, Torres Strait Treaty)
- Life Sciences (includes Botany, Entomology, Zoology)
- Marine Environment, Management & Industries (includes Beche-de-mer, Pearlshell, Trochus Industries)
- Politics & Government (includes Autonomy, Independence, Self-government)
- Population & Health (includes Medicine)
- Religion (includes both Indigenous and Christian religion)
- Torres Strait Islander Authors
- Traditional Stories (includes Folktales, Myths, Legends)
Format
Bibliographies, encyclopedias & guides
Books
Booklets (generally under 100 pages)
Catalogues
Book sections
Articles
Reports
Theses
Order
Alphabetical order by Author, Date, Title (omitting 'a', 'an', 'the').
Further Research
The following sources may be useful for people undertaking further research.
Archival Collections
National Archives of Australia (http://www.naa.gov.au/), including their Queensland office, for Commonwealth government material regarding immigration, indenture agreements, naturalisation, etc.
Queensland State Archives (search at http://www.archives.qld.gov.au/) for Queensland government reports and correspondence to and from the Colonial Secretary, Chief Protector of Aboriginals, Protector of Aboriginals at Thursday Island, Northern Protector of Aboriginals, Home Secretary's Department, Department of Harbours and Marine, Department of Public Instruction and Department of Treasury.
State Library of Queensland (http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/find/cat) for general searches of the library collection, including the North Queensland Collection (ex Cairns TAFE).
John Oxley Library Archive, State Library of Queensland (http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/find/cat#JOL) for the Margaret Lawrie Collection, letters of Hon. John Douglas, Government Resident of Thursday Island 1885-1904 and a large photographic collection.
Indigenous Library Services, State Library of Queensland (http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/serv/ind), which includes the Indigenous Libraries Unit, based in Cairns, North Queensland.
Queensland Indigenous Family History, State Library of Queensland (http://www.slq.qld.gov.au/serv/ind/footprint/fh/start) for getting started in Queensland Indigenous family history research.
National Library of Australia Mura Gadi (http://www.nla.gov.au/muragadi/) for a guide to the libary's holdings of Australian Indigenous source materials, covering manuscripts, pictorial collections and oral history records.
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies Library, Mura on-line catalogue (http://unicorn.aiatsis.gov.au/index.html) for published and unpublished Torres Strait material.
Noel Butlin Archive Centre, Australian National University (http://www.archives.anu.edu.au/nbac/html/index.php) for material on Burns Philp & Company.
Annual Reports, Bulletins, Newsletters, etc. (some have ceased publication)
Annual Reports
Aboriginal Hostels Ltd
British New Guinea
Government Resident, Thursday Island
Island Co-ordinating Council
Peninsula and Torres Strait Regional Health Authority
Queensland Chief Protector of Aboriginals
Queensland Department of Aboriginal and Islander Advancement
Queensland Department of Harbours and Marine Fisheries
Queensland Department of Mines
Queensland Department of Native Affairs
Queensland Department of Public Instruction
Queensland Department of Public Lands, Torres District
Queensland Northern Protector of Aboriginals
Torres Strait Protected Joint Zone Authority
Torres Strait Regional Authority
Bulletins & Newsletters
Aboriginal and Islander News
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Information Bulletin
Aboriginal Employment News
Aboriginal Employment and Education News
Aboriginal Health Information Bulletin
Aboriginal Human Relations Newsletter
Aboriginal News
Aboriginal Newsletter
ADC News
AIA Queensland News
AIAS Newsletter
Anthropology Society of Queensland Newsletter
AQIS Bulletin
ATSIC News
ATSIC Reporter
Cairns Historical Society Bulletin
The Carpentarian
Good News for Aborigines and Islanders
Hammond Island News
Hostel News
International Year for the World's Indigenous People Newsletter
IWGIA Newsletter
Mulgrave Shire Historical Society Bulletin
NAC Newsletter
Namalata Thusi
Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Newsletter
Queensland Department of Family Services and Aboriginal and Islander Affairs News Bulletin Queensland Disability Housing Coalition Newsletter
Royal Historical Society of Queensland Bulletin
Sacred Heart News
Torres Strait Historical Society Bulletin
Torres Strait Island Advisory Board Newsletter
TSIMA Newsletter
Almanacs, Directories, Gazettes & Yearbooks
Blue Book of Queensland
Diocese of Carpentaria Yearbook
Pacific Islands Yearbook
Pugh's (Queensland) Official Almanac Directory and Gazetteer
Queensland Government Gazette
Queensland Police Gazette
Queensland Post Office Directory
Thursday Island Business and Community Directory, incorporating Horn Island, N.PA., Bamaga and outer islands.
Newspapers
Horn Herald
Land Rights News
Land Rights Queensland
The Queenslander
Torres News
Torres Straits Pilot and New Guinea Gazette
Popular Journals
Bulletin
Cummins and Campbell's Monthly Magazine
Nautical Magazine
North Australian Monthly
Pacific Islands Monthly
Walkabout
Download Options
You can download the bibliography in Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (*.pdf) below.
Acknowledgements
The compiler gratefully acknowledges the assistance of Jeremy Hodes, Peter Jull, Barry Osborne, Clive Moore and the staff of the Fryer, Biological Sciences, Law and Herston Medical Libraries of The University of Queensland. Thanks also to Sean Ulm for technical assistance.