A National Library for Australian Educational Research

The Australian Council for Educational Research is Australia’s national educational research organisation. Its mission is to “create and promote research-based knowledge, products and services that can be used to improve learning”. The ultimate goal of ACER’s work is to improve outcomes for learners. We do this through reliable, scientific research and through the development of products and services grounded in dependable research. We create and disseminate research-based knowledge and develop and offer a variety of research-based professional resources and services. The Cunningham Library serves the ACER and as such is Australia’s national library for educational research. It is a unique, comprehensive collection of Australian educational research material dating from the early 1900s to the present day. The vast resources of Cunningham Library offer the researcher an up to date collection to support educational research. ACER is a national research organisation which has a corporate structure – a non-profit company – and is not financially supported by government. The Cunningham Library is not only a national research library, but is funded directly by research activity. A major research library both supports research and disseminates it. This paper demonstrates the role of the Cunningham Library in both providing access to information to support research, and playing a major role in disseminating research