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The Library has been responsible for the creation of other information services targeted at specific industries. For example in 1976 the National Library, with the Department of Health, introduced an Australian system of access to the American medical database Medline. Before the introduction of Medline, the Library had relied upon telephoning America for medical information. The new service saw enquiries made on a dial-up telephone service to a database, 24 hours a day. The service was an invaluable tool for doctors, pharmacists and health workers in its day, however, by the early 1990s increased public use of the Internet had made the telephone service redundant. It closed down in 1993.

A selection of National Library bibliographic products in print and microfiche form now available online

A selection of National Library bibliographic products in print and microfiche form now available online

 

In the same year that Medline became available, 1976, the Australian Public Affairs Information Service (APAIS) went online. The print version of APAIS originated in 1945 and was the oldest indexing service of Australian social sciences and humanities serials. In 2001 the last printed version of APAIS was produced.

By 1994 the Library was in a position to begin offering its services to Australia and the world over the Internet through the building of its first site on the  World Wide Web. The National Library’s web site went ‘live’ in May 1995 providing an important point from which online visitors could find information about most of the Library’s services. The Library’s web site also hosted a number of government web sites, for example the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet’s web site, the Director of Public Prosecution’s web site and the Office for the Status of Women’s web site.

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