ACT Heritage Library Ephemera Collection

Ephemera is produced for a specific and immediate purpose and intended to be thrown away.  Some examples of ephemera include posters, brochures, flyers/dodgers, programs, tickets, invitations, menus, catalogues and paper-based promotional items such as coasters and napkins.

We collect ephemera because it:

• Is often the only record of an event, particularly of short lived organisations and reactive events
• Provides documentary evidence of business, community, social and cultural life
• Offers evidence of trends in communication, psychology of selling, consumerism, fashion, art and design
• Has a display value

The collection is extensive and dates back to the very beginnings of the ACT.  We arrange our ephemera in five main categories:

1. General - Items which do not fit into any of the below categories.

2. ACT Government - File title list coming soon.

3. Performing Arts

• Complete company and venue list
• Canberra Theatre Centre 1965-2006 (RTF 7.9 MB) (PDF 2.1 MB)
• Australian National University Venues 1965-2006 (RTF 6.5 MB) (PDF 1.6 MB)

4. Visual Arts - Files of invitations, posters, flyers and other promotional material concerning exhibitions of visual arts in the ACT and immediate district.

5. Posters - Due to their size, items A3 size and larger in all categories, are filed as posters and are arranged by subject.