Traffic flowing smoothly on the Sydney Harbour Bridge after two new lanes were opened, July 1959. Credit: National Archives of Australia (A1200, L32700)

Since it first started in 2009, over 1.5 million words have been published on the Dictionary of Sydney including 940 entries, 4,217 multimedia items, 12,735 entities and 38,639 factoids. With a free mobile app, resources for schools linked to the national history curriculum and regular local radio spots on Sydney's history, our audience continues to grow.

New partnership

From June 2016, the Dictionary of Sydney will enter into an exciting new partnership with the State Library New South Wales. With assistance from our long-time supporter, the City of Sydney, the Dictionary will move its main website to a new platform at the library. The library will preserve and maintain the Dictionary of Sydney website, ensuring that we can all enjoy the Dictionary of Sydney for many more years to come.

Impact

Between July and December 2016, no new content will be added to the Dictionary. The current website will still be accessible and we will continue our weekly radio segments, blog posts and newsletters. Behind the scenes we will begin transferring the Dictionary of Sydney to a new and more sustainable platform. We will resume publishing once the site is up and running early in 2017. The Dictionary’s URL will remain the same: www.dictionaryofsydney.org

Future

The City of Sydney has provided cash and in-kind support to help transfer the Dictionary's website to the State Library of NSW. The City has extended our lease at Benledi House in Glebe until December to support this transition period. After December, with our website safely housed at the State Library, the City will no longer fund the organisation on an annual basis. The Dictionary of Sydney will continue to work with our existing partners while pursuing new opportunities for collaboration and funding. You can read more about the transition here: City of Sydney 'Past and future of Sydney's history secured.'

Thank you to the City of Sydney, all of our existing supporters, partners and contributors for making the Dictionary of Sydney the wonderful resource it is today.

We appreciate your letters of support and look forward to continuing to work with you in the future. You can read the History Council of New South Wales' letter of support for the Dictionary here.