Information for Academic and Professional Researchers
Access to the Sydney Diocesan Archives for research is strictly by application and appointment.
If you are researching your family or working on a genealogy project, please refer to Information for Family Historians & Genealogists.
Catalogue
The Sydney Diocesan Archives does NOT have an online searchable catalogue, and there is no catalogue for the researcher to consult. The SDA is an in-house business archive and so much of the collection is of a confidential nature. The finding aids can be accessed by the Archivist only.
Cost and Fees
There is no charge for visiting researchers. It would be impossible to levy an affordable fee which reflects the true cost of the time and resources allocated to each visiting researcher. As a result, research appointments are arranged to work around the in-house requirements of the Diocesan Archives.
Planning & time management for research appointments
Research using primary materials is always more time-consuming than many people imagine. Some researchers need only visit once for one day, some find that they need to visit up to four or five times, and some researchers visit regularly over a period of several months.
Citation and Acknowledgement
Researchers will be provided with a guide to correct citation of the records used, and a detailed listing of all records consulted at each visit. The Sydney Diocesan Archives requires that due acknowledgement be given to:
- records consulted and referred to in publication
- provision of access to the Sydney Diocesan Archives
- assistance provided by the Sydney Diocesan Archivist
Donation of Published Works
The Sydney Diocesan Archives appreciates donation from the author or commissioning body of all publications for which research was undertaken using this collection. In this way, a small library of published work in the field is of tremendous assistance to future researchers.