'The Solomons News Drum' was a weekly newspaper published by the Solomon Islands Government. A trial edition was published on 25 Oct 1974 followed by a further 366 issues published from 7 Feb 1975 until 7 May 1982. The name of the newspaper changed to the 'News Drum' in July 1979. Its predecessor was the 'BSI News Sheet'; it was succeeded by 'Solomon Islands News'.

Reel 1 'The Solomon News Drum' trial edition 25 Oct 1974; Nos.1-46, 7 Feb-19 Dec 1975;
Reel 2 Nos.47-96, 9 Jan-17 Dec 1976;
Reel 3 Nos.97-147, 7 Jan-23 Dec 1977;
Reel 4 Nos.148-195, 13 Jan-22 Dec 1977; Nos.196-220, 12 Jan-29 Jun 1979; 'News Drum' Nos.221-245, 6 Jul-21 Dec 1979;
Reel 5 Nos.246-295, 11 Jan-19 Dec 1980;
Reel 6 Nos.296-348, 9 Jan-25 Dec 1981; Nos. 349-360, 362, 8 Jan-9 Apr 1982.

The Solomon Star was originally published as a regular Government Information Service newsheet. In 1975 it was turned in to a weekly newspaper called The Solomons News Drum. In mid-1982 it was taken over by five Solomon Islanders and renamed the Solomon Star, and has run as a private newspaper ever since.

<b>Reel 1 </b>
Nos.1-11, 28 May-6 Aug 1982
Nos.13-31, 20 Aug-23 Dec 1982
Nos.32-82, 7 Jan 1983-23 Dec 1983
<b>Reel 2</b>
Nos.83-133, 6 Jan 1984-21 Dec 1984
Nos.134-152, 11 Jan 1985-17 May 1985
<b>Reel 3</b>
Nos.153-183, 24 May 1985-20 Dec 1985
Nos.184-207, 10 Jan 1986-20 Jun 1986
<b>Reel 4</b>
Nos.208-233, 27 Jun 1986-19 Dec 1986
Nos.234-256, 9 Jan 1987-11 Jun 1987

Members of the Young, Deck and Grant families established the Queensland Kanaka Mission in 1886 and extended it to various centres along the Queensland coast. A Solomon Islands Branch of the Queensland Kanaka Mission was formed in 1904. It established a principal mission station at Onepusu on the west coast of Malaita in 1905 and changed its name to the South Sea Evangelical Mission in 1907. The Mission continued to operate in the Solomon Islands, and in New Guinea after World War II, till it was localised in the 1980s.

• 'Queensland Kanaka Mission Annual Report', Nos.1-9, 1887-1895
• ‘Not in Vain.’ What God hath wrought amongst the Kanakas in Queensland, (Annual Reports, cont.), Nos.10-28, 1895-1914
• South Sea Evangelical Mission, Not in Vain (Annual Statistics)', 1915-1919
• SSEM Letters by Northcote Deck and others (untitled, un-numbered series), 1909-1919
• SSEM Letters, includes Annual Statistics and Financial Report (untitled series continued), Nos.1-26, 1920-27; followed by
• Not in Vain, Nos.29-297, 1928-1995 (Nos. 163, 176, 270, 273, 294 and 295 are missing), includes Annual Statistics and Financial Report, 1928-1975.

See Finding aids for details.

A Solomon Islands Branch of the Queensland Kanaka Mission was formed in 1904. It established a principal station at Onepusu on the west coast of Malaita in 1905 and changed its name to the South Sea Evangelical Mission in 1907. The Mission continued to operate in the Solomon Islands, and in New Guinea after World War II, till it was localised in the 1980s. Post-war issues of 'Solomon Soldiers’ News' cover the political events in Malaita.

Nos 1-163, 1945-1966

Early issues of the <i>New Hebrides Magazine</i> were edited by Dr William Gunn of Aneityium and promoted by Rev. Dr Robertson of Erromanga under the auspices of the Foreign Missions Committee of the Presbyterian Church in Victoria. Dr Gunn also printed some of the early issues. The Synod then decided that the journal should be printed in Australia. A few issues were printed in Sydney, but after 1905 it was printed by Arbuckle, Waddell & Fawckner in Melbourne. In 1905 Rev. T Wattlegatt of Malekula became Editor for about three years, but he moved to Victoria in 1906 and as he felt out of touch with the New Hebrides resigned as Editor. Rev. F H L Paton, Foreign Missions Secretary of the Presbyterian Church of Victoria then took over as Editor. The <i>New Hebrides Magazine</i> was succeeded by <i>Our Missionaries at work : a journal of missionary information</i> (Vol.1, no.1-Vol.6, no.4, Dec 1911-Oct 1917) issued by the Presbyterian Church in Victoria.

Nos.1-41, Oct 1900-Oct 1911. See Finding aids for details.

<i>Black & White: the Territory’s monthly magazine</i>, was edited by Henri Lachajczak and published by the Southsea Publishing Company in Boroko, Port Moresby. A well illustrated satirical magazine for the expatriate community, Black & White “set out to prove that the people of this Territory are capable of having a laugh at themselves”. It includes cartoons of Gordon Tripp, attacks on the Territory’s administration and commentary on race relations leading up to independence in Papua New Guinea. It was eventually suppressed by legislation in the House of Assembly preventing publication of written matter which could be construed as “threatening, provocative or offensive to people of other races or tribes.” See also Max Harris, “A few blacks and whites on New Guinea”, The Australian, 26 Oct 1968.

Vol. 1 Nos.1-20, Nov 1966-Oct/Nov 1968;

Vol.2, Nos.1-6, Dec 1968-Jun 1969;

Final issue (un-numbered), Jul 1969.

<b>See Finding aids for details.</b>

Custom stories of the Solomon Islands were published in 5 volumes.
In addition to these 5 volumes, a bound volume of stories collected by Father Peter Geerts and edited by Dick Keevil has also been microfilmed. Dick Keevil lived and worked in the Solomon Islands from 1958-1983. Father Peter served in the Solomon Islands for 25 years, of which 20 were with the Are’ Are’ people. Father Peter learned the Are’ Are’ language and transcribed the stories as he heard them in the vernacular. Keevil made two copies of the bound collection of Custom Stories of the Solomon Islands, and gave them as a gift to his daughters in August 1999.

Custom stories of the Solomon Islands, collected by Father Peter Geerts and edited by Dick Keevil, 1999.
Custom stories of the Solomon Islands, Vol.1, 1972, edited by Dick Keevil, published by the Solomon Islands Museum Association.
Vol.2, 1972, edited by Dick Keevil, published by the Solomon Islands Museum Association.
Vol.3, 1972, edited by Dick Keevil, published by the Solomon Islands Museum Association.
Vol.4, 1978, edited by Alfred Aihuni, Anna Craven, Matthew Keniparea, Christine Price, collected by the late Father Peter Geerts. Published by the Solomon Islands Cultural Association.
Vol.5, 1979 – From the Eastern Islands, Collected by W. Davenport, S.H. Elbert and B.F. Kirtley. Edited by Anna Craven, Salome Samou and John Tealiklava. Published by the Cultural Association of the Solomon Islands.
See Finding aids for details.

‘The Times of Papua New Guinea’ newspaper (also ‘The Times’ and ‘The Times of PNG’) was launched in September 1980 and ran until 1995. It was published by Word Publishing Company, Boroko, Port Moresby. Franz Albert Joku was editor from 1980-1995. Published on Fridays from 1980, a second edition, ‘The Mid Week Times’ was introduced on Tuesdays from August 1982. This run is from September 1980-December 1982 only.

In May 1995, it was rebranded ‘The Saturday Independent’ and later ‘The Independent’.

Dr. Andras Balint was a linguist based at the University of Papua New Guinea from 1965-1973, with an ongoing interest in ‘the emerging New Guinean dialect of English’, or Tok Pisin. He promoted the use of Tok Pisin in the Territory of Papua and New Guinea and amassed an extensive collection of Tok Pisin publications, mainly published by the Territory of Papua and New Guinea government and various missionary presses.

Tok Pisin publications on agriculture, health, education and literacy, government, religious texts, children’s books, grammars and phrase books, etc. Also some publications in local indigenous languages (Tok Ples) such as Fore and Atzera, some English publications concerning Tok Pisin, and one short typescript manuscript in Tok Pisin on an account of a first time visit to Port Moresby.

The Balint collection is divided under the following headings: Agriculture, Bible stories, Religious tracts etc., General, Health, Literacy/Primers/Readers/Grammars and Tok Pisin pubilcations.
A summary of the content of each of the collections is below.

Agriculture
This collection ranges from the late 1960s to early 1970s. It includes various guides and public awareness publications focusing on increasing agricultural skills and output. A number of topics are coveredincluding growing rubber, passion fruit and coconuts along with guides on animal husbandry. These texts are primarily in Tok Pisin and English.

Bible stories, Religious tracts etc.
This collection includes publications from the 1930s until the early 1970s. The texts focus on bibles stories, extracts from the bible translated into Tok Pisin and stories of missionaries to PNG. There are also publications of reports on PNG by Christian organizations and hymns recorded in Tok Ples (local language). Publications are either in English, Tok Pisin or bilingual.

General
These publications date from the early 1970s. They are a collection of short stories and information booklets recorded in Tok Pisin and Tok Ples. Their content focuses on public awareness and covers topics such as the introduction of currency, local and international geography, insurance and basic skills and knowledge of carpentry. There is also a collection of short stories and poems.

Health
This collection ranges from the late 1960s to early 1970s. The publications cover various illnesses and include information such as prevention, symptoms and treatment. Public awareness and treatment of Malaria is of a particular focus.

Literacy/Primers/Readers/Grammars
This collection includes publications from the 1950s to the early 1970s. It includes a number of shorts stories and grammars in both Tok Pisin and local languages. The majority of these texts are design to supplement and assist in understanding, speaking and writing in Tok Pisin. This collection also includes a trilingual English, French and Tok Pisin phrase book.

Tok Pisin
These publications range from the 1950s to the early 1970s. They examine Tok Pisin and language in PNG in detail. Some of the texts focus on currents affairs in language and also more broadly with one publication in a newsletter format.

See Finding aids for details.

This collection includes printed papers and reports relating to forestry and logging in the Solomon Islands up until around 1999. They are mainly of a technical nature by specialist assessors, non-Government organisations or governmental reviews.