The Colonial Record Records of Colonial Australia

For institutions

The Record, for reading rooms.

Libraries, historical societies, councils, schools and universities can put the corrected, cited archive in front of every member and patron — on your terms, under one arrangement, with a person at the other end of the mail.

Who institutional access serves

Historical societies

Member access for the society's research nights and projects, plus a home for the documents your members lodge — credited to the society.

Public libraries

Patron access in the local-history room — including a public-access terminal option, so a walk-in researcher needs no account at all.

Councils & schools

Local-history curriculum and heritage work from primary sources: the original page beside the corrected text, every claim citable.

Universities

Cohort access for colonial-history and digital-humanities work, with export limits sized for real research projects.

What an institutional plan includes

Access

  • Multiple users — seat-based, or IP-range access for your building so patrons sign in to nothing.
  • Public-access terminal option for reading rooms.
  • Higher unlock and export limits than any individual plan.

Service

  • Custom onboarding for staff and volunteers.
  • Usage reporting for your committee or funding body.
  • Commissioned research reports on subjects you nominate.

What it costs

Historical society

Member access for societies and family-history groups.

fromA$750 / yr

Library

Patron access for a branch, including the public-terminal option.

fromA$1,500 / yr

Custom

Multi-branch services, councils and universities — sized to your users and your projects.

fromA$2,500 / yr

Every arrangement starts with a conversation, not a form — write to office@colonialrecord.com.au and tell us who needs access. Individual plans are on the pricing page.

For your due diligence

  • Every record is cited to its original page — the unaltered scan sits beside every transcription, so patrons can verify what they read. See how accuracy works and how to cite.
  • Uncertainty is always shown. Notices carry confidence ratings, and possible-but-unproven matches are labelled as exactly that — fit for teaching sound research practice.
  • No third-party trackers or ad pixels. Patron activity on a library terminal is between the patron and the Record — the policy is written to be read.
  • Independently Australian. The Record is built and kept by Blue Horse Studios Pty Ltd (ABN 37 689 863 670) in Bendigo, Victoria — who keeps the Record.

Tell us about your reading room, your members or your cohort, and we'll propose the shape that fits.

Write to the Office See all plans