AIFS Library
The Institute's Library is dedicated to providing a nationally, and where possible internationally, accessible repository of Australian and overseas family research and information.
The Library Collection
The Library provides the most substantial and up-to-date collection of international and Australian research on family wellbeing in Australia.
Information and publications are selected in all formats, with preference given to electronic format, where available.
As the family studies area cuts across many disciplines, material is collected in the following areas:
- Child development and psychology
- Family dynamics and relationships
- Family law
- Social justice
- Social problems
- Living standards
- Economics
- Research methodology
The Institute hosts the National Child Protection Clearinghouse, the Communities and Families Clearinghouse Australia, the Australian Family Relationships Clearinghouse, and the Australian Centre for the Study of Sexual Assault, and consequently significant collections have been developed in child abuse, neglect and protection, strengthening families and sexual assault.
Australian Family & Society Abstracts
Family & Society Plus Text
Family Thesaurus
- Australian Family & Society Abstracts database has been compiled by library staff at the Institute since the 1980s to record the research, policy and practice literature about Australian families and the social issues that affect them.
- Family & Society Plus Text is an enhanced version of Australian Family & Society Abstracts developed by the Institute in collaboration with RMIT Publishing. In addition to citations and abstracts, it offers a collection of full text journal articles supplied under licence from journal publishers, as well as links to full text material available on the Internet.
- Family Thesaurus is a list of subject terms developed for indexing and retrieving information in the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database. Terms included in the thesaurus reflect the database's multidisciplinary approach to factors affecting life in Australian society and are drawn directly from the literature being indexed.
Accessing the Library
The Library is open to the public by appointment. Please contact us to make an appointment. We are open Monday to Friday 9am - 5pm (closed public holidays).
Photocopying facilities are available. Cost: 20c per page.
Loans / Photocopies
Loans and photocopies of material from the AIFS Library can be provided to people other than the Institute's staff via the interlibrary loan system. Your own library will borrow from us on your behalf, so please contact them to make arrangements. The AIFS Library follows the Australian Interlending Code for procedures and charges.
We are not a member of the CAVAL Reciprocal Borrowing Scheme.