About the Guide
GovPubs: the Australian Government Publications Guide is a guide to selected Australian Commonwealth and State Government publications located in Australia's National and State Libraries and on the Internet. A historical description of each publication is provided, and location information will enable you to locate resources in each library or online.
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Introduction
This NSLA (National and State Libraries Australasia) initiative aims to provide a centralised source of knowledge on certain types of Australian Government publications available both online and within its member institutions.
The objective of GovPubs was to redevelop the existing online guides of the National and State Libraries to a database structure which would reduce duplication in the different libraries, facilitate the maintenance of the resource, and enable effective and efficient access to information that met users' needs.
Previously the government publications guides comprised static html pages on four of the ten state and territory libraries' websites. That structure required duplicate information to be entered in multiple relevant pages on multiple sites that might be viewed in a range of contexts. There were no provisions for input from people other than the website coordinators at each site.
Advisory Group
The NSLA Reference Issues Working Group provided advice, guidance and input to the GovPubs initiative. Its members comprised representatives from:
- - National Library of Australia
- - Australian Capital Territory Library and Information Services
- - State Library of New South Wales
- - Northern Territory Library and Information Service
- - State Library of Queensland
- - State Library of South Australia
- - State Library of Tasmania
- - State Library of Victoria
- - State Library of Western Australia
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Background
The GovPubs site owes its existence to a meeting of the NSLA Reference Issues Working Group meeting at the National Library of Australia, on 23 October 2000, when the current status of online Government and Family History guides was discussed. At that meeting it was decided that the National Library would develop a concept paper for a subject gateway, with key topics, using the PADI model. As work on the project continued, the types of publications to be covered were selected, and a data model was developed to cater for the complexities of the selected government publications. The proposal for distributed access to the database was replaced with a database administered by the National Library. Update forms for the participating libraries were developed, allowing them to keep their information current, or to advise of new developments in the publications covered.
Capabilities
The GovPubs website provides the following features and capabilities
- The capacity to browse contents by publication type, jurisdiction, and location online or in a participating library
- The capacity to search the database in two ways
- Multiple paths to retrieve results
Credits
Fran WilsonWorking Group Convenor
Bronwyn
LeeRequirements Modelling
Patrick ONeillContent
Development
Ralph SandersonWebsite Design
Matthew
WalkerDatabase Design








