Because,in order not to exceed the capacity of the surnames list,I have been covering four pages per journal, I will need about 500 journals to detail all the people appearing in the photographs. Therefore I have decided to conduct an experiment. The first person, not already mentioned, to appear on page 9 is Sir Isaac Isaacs.

If I do a search for him on trove there are 183 760 results, and as anyone who has used trove a lot would know, a lot of them are about Sir something else, Isaac someone else etc. The summaries of these results may not indicate whether there is a photo with the article. There are some photos on the right of the newspaper articles but not many and the Fairfax Collection is not mentioned. However it is unlikely that any photos would be found there for some of the people recorded in the Fairfax Collection.

What if we do a trove search for "Fairfax, Isaacs"? A bit better, with one photo at least implied in the summaries of the first 20 results. The information regarding photos and data sets to the right of the articles does not mention the Fairfax Collection. The aim of the experiment is to find not only the Fairfax collection but all the photos of Sir Isaac Isaacs within it (to avoid the necessity to scroll through all 3994 photos to find them.)

Now we try "Fairfax, negatives, Sir Isaac Isaacs". Only 79 results, one photo and no mention of the collection.

Now "Fairfax collection of glass plate negatives, Sir Isaac Isaacs". Absolutely useless.
The same search terms in the pictures, photos, objects category rather than digitised newspapers and more. No!
The same search terms on google. No.
A search for FAIRFAX COLLECTION OF GLASS PLATE NEGATIVES on google. Plenty of results but the aim of finding all the photos of a nominated person in the Fairfax collection has not been achieved.

It is great that the N.L.A. has digitised the collection but to save family historians having to scroll through 3994 photos to find the photo they seek (or to find if there is one there at all) more needs to be done. That was the aim of my journals about the collection. Have they helped? Let's try Mr Bromley.

First result on trove under pictures etc.:
Victorian cricketer Mr Bromley, 1933
Fairfax Corporation
[ Photograph : 1933 ]

Let's try a search for Doug Nichols (No 171 on page 9) in the same way.
Fourth result but others as well:


Photograph of Doug Nicholls
[ Object, Photograph ]
View online
At National Museum
Photograph of Doug Nicholls

Lois Briggs
Herald and Weekly Times
[ Photograph : 4 images : 1961 ]
Keywords: Briggs, Lois.; Models (Persons) - Victoria.; Aboriginal Australians.
... and Mrs Selwyn Briggs, shows her diploma to her uncle, Pastor Doug Nicholls, right, and Mrs Nicholls, left ...



Indigenous Victorian Australian Rules footballer Doug Nicholls, 15 August 1931
Fairfax Corporation
[ Photograph : 1931 ]
View online
At National Library

Now I'll try Thomas Dunbabin (No.3981 on page 200.)


Thomas Dunbabin at his desk speaking on the telephone, New South Wales, ca. 1915
Fairfax Corporation
[ Photograph : 1900-1930 ] This was No.3981.


Miss B. [Beatrice] Beedham (later Mrs Thomas Dunbabin), Tasmanian Exhibition, 1894-5, Season Ticket Holder - Warick Street
[ Photograph ]

Thomas Dunbabin with W.R. Sudgrove, Captain Green and an unidentified man on the deck of a ship, New South Wales, ca. 1915
Fairfax Corporation

Now I'm pretending to be a family historian and I haven't a clue whether the collection contains a photo of this person. THOMAS SMITH.(I just made the name up.)


Thomas Smith
Duryea, Townsend, 1823-1888, photographer
[ Photograph : 1870 ]
Keywords: Smith, Thomas
... Thomas Smith, Bank Manager at Gawler ...

Unidentified
[ Photograph : 2 images : 1895-9402 ]
Keywords: Smith, Thomas (Portraits); portraits; beards
... Mr Thomas Smith posing in his Masonic regalia

It works. I don't need to do another 498 journals.