of the Australian War Memorial and other civic institutions, and are regarded as fundamental to an understanding of critical aspects of Australian identity and commemorative practices.” Piggott has referred to the papers as “riches” and in the AWM publication, A guide to the Personal Family and Official papers of CEW Bean, has noted that they occupy 27 meters and document “practically every aspect of his life.” Lindsay has recognised the scope and significance of Bean’s papers as providing “a resource for the study of Australian society, not limited to military affairs, during the course of his [Bean’s] long life” observing that Bean’s “constancy of character, his personal growth in the opinions he held, and his role in shaping national opinion provide a means of calibrating national change.” Bean's First World War notebooks, diaries and folders According to the Australian Media Hall of Fame: "It is his [Bean's] extraordinary, painstakingly detailed (and often harrowing) private notes and diaries written during the war that remain one of his greatest achievements."Their significance was recorded in the 2021 UNESCO Memory of the World Register: “The heart of the (Bean) collection is an irreplaceable set of 286 diaries and notebooks that recount Australia’s part in the First World War. They describe the activities, conditions and experiences of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) from the perspective of an eye-witness and a journalist who sought the best possible evidence from a wide range of participants, including enlisted men of all ranks, the military hierarchy and political decision-makers.” The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918. The AWM website recognises that Bean’s work on the Official History established the tradition and set the standard for subsequent Australian official war histories and that the work is still used as an essential reference, often as a starting point for research today, because of Bean’s command of the sources and the clarity of his narrative. Bean’s history is further described as "notable" because "it was the work of a participant, one who instigated the collection of the archive on which it was based, and was the product of an individual vision of one man who worked with a tiny staff of co-authors and dedicated colleagues.” The Australian War Memorial, Canberra. The AWM has been listed on the Australian National Heritage Register. The AWM Memorial is unique among the world's war memorials in that it combines a shrine, a world-class