One Million Images: PictureAustralia Database Reaches Milest

MEDIA RELEASE - Tuesday, 20 April 2004
Heroic nurse one millionth PictureAustralia image
If every picture tells a story, then PictureAustralia, the nation's premier image bank, now tells a million as it reaches a major milestone.

The millionth PictureAustralia image, which comes from the Australian War Memorial's collection, is that of heroic Australian army nurse Vivian Bullwinkel, the sole survivor of the Banka (Sumatra) massacre of World War II.

PictureAustralia, a collaborative Internet-based service hosted by the National Library, allows users to search the online pictorial collections of many cultural agencies from the one website. The service commenced in 1998 with five participating organisations and 470,000 images; it has grown to 34 organisations and one million images.

In a national celebration of ANZAC day and Vivian Bullwinkel's achievements during wartime and as a civilian, a picture trail is being developed drawn from the collections of PictureAustralia contributers showing women at war.

Jan Fullerton, Director-General, National Library of Australia commented on PictureAustralia's significant benefits.

"Within a relatively short period of time PictureAustralia has become not only Australia's, but also one of the world's premier image services, and a model that has been copied by libraries in Canada and New Zealand.

"Its strength lies in the partnership with the other cultural organisations whose collections bring such a variety of images and information about Australia. Once added to PictureAustralia they become easily available through a single search process.

"We are delighted that the millionth image is that of inspirational Vivian Bullwinkel. Her story of great courage while a prisoner of war and throughout her life is fitting for this critical milestone," she said.

Steve Gower AO, Director, Australian War Memorial said, "Vivian Bullwinkel's courage exemplifies the bravery of Australians in war. This photograph, as well as her uniform and personal papers, are an important part of our collection.

"PictureAustralia is a great initiative for all Australians. It gives access to images relating to ANZAC Day and so many other important events, people and places. Naturally we are very pleased that Vivian Bullwinkel's image has been added at such a significant time in PictureAustralia's development.

Visit www.pictureaustralia.org for the one millionth image and accompanying picture trail