Costume design 'Freedom' by Thelma Thomas Afford created for South Australia's centenary celebrations in 1936. It's one of a series of images held in the Mortlock Library of South Australiana (PRG 689/1). Image used with permission, State Library of South Australia.

Online exhibitions are a great way to get allow greater access to your resources.

Below are descriptions of just a few.

Women and Politics in South Australia

A few years ago it was difficult to find Australian content online. That's all changed and any number of Australian cultural organisations and institutions are making parts of their collections more accessible through online exhibitions.

The image to the left is from an online exhibition 'Women and Politics in South Australia' curated by the State Library of South Australia. As the title suggests the exhibition explores the role of women in the social and political development of South Australia.

In 1894 South Australia was one of the first places in the world to give women the vote and it was the first in the world to enable women to enter Parliament. The online exhibition is based on archival materials held in the exhibition bays in the historic Mortlock Wing and includes sections on women's suffrage, the role of women in federation (and also in the Constitutional Convention of 1998), and the use of proportional representation as a voting system. It profiles Catherine Helen Spence who was an activist for electoral reform and the exhibition has sections on Parliament, the workplace, the Aboriginal voice and cultural diversity.

Victoria's Biggest Family Album, 1870s to 1950s

The 'Biggest Family Album', put together by the State Museum of Victoria, is an extensive collection of online exhibitions. The exhibitions have a strong educational focus, but can be used for general interest purposes, providing an insight into the history and social development of the State of Victoria.

Photo Courtesy Australian Antarctic Division, Photo by Dail Opulskis 1997 © Commonwealth of Australia

Mawson: explorer

Sir Douglas Mawson was an extraordinary man - scientist, polar explorer, geologist and mineralogist - he was one of the brave few who opened Antarctica to human exploration. 'In the Footsteps of Sir Douglas Mawson' is an online exhibition of Mawson's life, a joint exhibition of the South Australian Museum and the University of Adelaide. It contains information about different parts of Mawson's career and plenty of archival photographs demonstrating the range of activities undertaken by Mawson and of life in Antarctica.

Harold Cazneaux: photographer

The Photographs of Harold Cazneaux 1878-1953 presents photos and excerpts from letters held in the collections of the National Library of Australia and is curated in association with the Historic Houses Trust of NSW. It includes photographs on the subjects of the Sydney Skyline, Steam and Sunshine, Sydney Old and New, the Spirit of Endurance and life at Frensham, a girls' boarding school.

Cazneaux's photo, 'Sisters', in the Home section of the exhibition is a masterpiece of light, shade and portraiture. The remaining areas of the exhibition are the Wheel of Youth and The Cazneaux Family of Photographers which provides considerable biographical information. The exhibition also incorporates a Catalogue, contextualising Cazneaux's work.