Peak Bodies Forum 2003
Issues Summary
17 November 2003
Council Room, National Library of
Australia
Agenda
Finding: Discovery
Getting: Access
- Opt in/opt out national site license
- Service model for individual access
- Access to government information
- Digitisation: possible national approach
- Research into electronic serials
Keeping: Preservation for long-term access
Supporting: National: Policies and Strategies
- Research into user behaviour
- Inquiry into libraries in the online environment
- Digital Agenda Act review
- Public Libraries Australia
- National Forums
- Information literacy
- Valuation of collections
- Independent scholars
- Library education
- Other business
1. DEST projects - report from CAUL
The following information is taken from the Press Release issued by the Acting Minister for Education, Science and Training, 22 October, 2003.
The funded projects are:
- Meta Access Management System
- Towards an Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories
- The Australian Research Repositories Online to the World (ARROW)
- Australian Digital Theses Program Expansion and Redevelopment.
Meta Access Management System
Macquarie
University.
This project allows for the integration of multiple solutions to managing authentication, authorisation and identities, together with common services for digital rights, search services and metadata management. The project provides and essential "middleware" component to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of Australia's higher education research infrastructure. It will develop a new conceptual architecture which is capable of supporting multiple, independent models of (a "meta access management system" of "MAMS"), which is implemented locally within organisations, but with the potential for inter-institutional communication.
Partners and advisory groups: National Library of Australia; Education.au; Telstra; University of Southern Queensland; University of New England; University of Tasmania; University of Newcastle; University of Western Australia; Curtin University of Technology; Edith Cowan University; Murdoch University; Notre Dame University; INternet2/MACE Shibboleth' University of Ulster/Athens DA; National Library of New Zealand; Massachusetts Institute of Technology OKI Group; JISC/CETIS UK
Towards an Australian Partnership for Sustainable
Repositories
The Australian National University.
APSR has three parts. First, the proposal has an overall focus on the critical issues of the access continuity and the sustainability of digital collections. Second, it will build on a base of demonstrators for digital continuity and sustainability, embedded in developmental repository facilities within partner institutions. Third, it will contribute to national strength in this area by encouraging the development of skills and expertise and providing coordination through out the sector. APSR will actively provide international linkages and national services.
Partners and advisory groups: National Library of Australia; University of Queensland; University of Sydney; Australian Partnership for Advanced Computing
The Australian Research Repositories Online to the World
(ARROW)
Monash University.
The ARROW project will identify and test a software solution or solutions to support best-practice institutional digital repositories comprising e-prints, digital theses and electronic publishing. A wide range of digital content types will be managed in these repositories. The National Library of Australia (NLA) will develop a repository and associated metadata to support independent scholars (those not associated with institutions). A complementary activity of ARROW is the development and testing of national resource discovery services (developed by the NLA) using metadata harvested from the institutional repositories, and the exposing of metadata to provide services via protocols and toolkits.
This will include a potential path for the redevelopment of the Australian Digital Theses (ADT) metadata repository incorporated into the NLA's national resources discovery services. Initially ARROW will be tested in the four partner institutions, prior to it being offered more widely across the higher-education sector. The solution will be open-standards based, or will support open standards, and will facilitate interoperability within and between participating institutions.
Partners and advisory groups: University of NSW; Swinburne University of Technology, National Library of Australia
Australian Digital Theses Program Expansion and
Redevelopment.
University of New South Wales.
This project will redevelop the existing central metadata repository of the Australian Digital Theses Program (ADT) to increase its coverage and utility to the national and international research community. The repository's content will expand to include metadata about all Australian higher degree theses, whether in digital form or not. This goal responds to a clearly stated desire of the Australian research community, who report difficulty in finding information about theses. The redevelopment of the ADT metadata repository is an essential adjunct to institutional initiatives by providing efficient search services and metadata support services. The partnership with ProQuest Information and Learning provides opportunities for retrospective digitisation of Australian higher degree theses, enabling more rapid growth of a critical mass of online content.
Partners and advisory groups: Curtin University of Technology; University of Melbourne, University of Queensland; Sydney University of Technology; ProQuest Information and Learning
MusicAustralia will be a single service facilitating access to
music resources and information held or managed by a small range of national
organisations. MusicAustralia will provide access to digital music resources
where available and descriptions of music in physical formats.
Project
development commenced in late 2001 with a pilot delivered in August 2002, and
version 1 of the production service due in February 2004.
MusicAustralia
contributors in the first instance will include:
- National Library of Australia
- ScreenSound Australia
- State Library of New South Wales
- State Library of Victoria
- State Library of Western Australia
- State Library of Queensland
- State Library of Tasmania
- National Archives of Australia
- Australian War Memorial
- Australian National University
- Australian Music Online ( an initiative of the Australia Council)
There is interest from a number of possible future participants,
including universities and museums.
Participants will contribute
bibliographic records, digitised and born digital scores, digitised sound
recordings and multimedia items, and information about Australian musicians and
music organisations.
The National Library hosted a meeting in October
attended by 17 Australian universities, to discuss future developments.
3. Opt in/opt out national site licenses
Comments from CAUL
- Comment: The document which resulted from the last Forum was produced by David Toll with input from Eve Woodberry as Chair of CEIRC. The document was produced for discussion purposes. This document is attached to the papers for this agenda item.
- The similarity of requirements and infrastructures for CAUL members enables the negotiation of contracts. The different requirements for cross-sectoral licences would necessitate more complex negotiations.
- It has been possible to keep the management fees for the negotiation, payment, renewal processes to a minimum for CAUL due to the similarity of the institutions involved. Expanding the scope of the involvement would require changes to the structure and cost of managing the overall process.
- Suitability of products for cross-sectoral licences. What would be considered as appropriate?
- The future of cooperative purchasing is being questioned in the university sector as the pressure to be competitive and for institutions to differentiate themselves increases.
- There are questions surrounding the future of the 'big deal'. What would be the preferred model for national site-licencing in the cross-sectoral environment?
- Sustainability needs to be considered in an environment where government funding may be available initially but not recurrent. The Canadian experience is a good example of this.
- Reliance on the willingness of larger institutions to remain involved in an environment which is increasingly emphasizing competition.
Comments from FLIN
- Definition of what constitutes 'National' under a national site licence? Concern that a National Site Licence may be looking at National, State and Public libraries which would exclude the FLIN members - need to expand the inclusiveness of such a position.
- Coordinating Consortia - establishment of a 'consortia broker' in Australia to manage the efforts of the disparate consortium. A 'consortium of consortia' approach.
- FLIN Consortium, CAUL, CASL and others - how can we work together? Here is where the opportunity for national site licensing really seems to be viable.
- A national approach to the development of an information management (including acquisitions) program - national information infrastructure / policy?
Comments from Health Libraries Australia
National licensing of health resources is an important issue for health libraries but cannot be examined in isolation from the need for structures to support achievement of the objectives of such licensing. HLA is considering a structure (and ways to fund and implement it) to support not just national licensing but also other aspects of national coordination for the efforts of health libraries.
Definitional Issues
National licensing may manifest in two ways: one where a national site license is purchased for access to a resource for all Australians who connect from a recognised Australian IP address; the second is where license deals are negotiated at a national level for 'opt /buy in' by various groups.
Current Situation
- One national site license (the Cochrane Library) has been purchased on behalf of all Australians by the Federal Government and administered by National Institute of Clinical Studies (NICS). There have been calls for other resources to be purchased on a national basis (such as for Clinical Evidence from BMJ Publishing Group).
- Various state health department based licenses to health resources exist around Australia. These are bought for defined health units in a variety of models and organisational structures. (CIAP, SALUS, CIAO, CKN, Clinicians' Channel) Apart from the South Australian SALUS, these are not licenses managed by health librarians, and two of the others are facing uncertain financial futures. The purchasing model is used by all but SALUS is likely to be unsustainable.
- No single organisation has the responsibility to broker and offer national licensing deals in health and no structures exist to support such an objective. The NICS license to Cochrane is a response to the need to make available the outcomes of evidence-based systematic reviews of the literature to support best clinical practice. It is not necessarily the body that is likely to take on licensing for a broader range of health information resources.
Issues
- While HLA provides a framework for the professional activities of health librarians, no national coordination body exists for health libraries and this is a weakness across the whole system for licensing but also for many other aspects of health libraries operations.
- Health is a mixture of private and public providers - any national licensing needs to consider how to address a mixed customer base.
- Any national initiative needs to consider how to develop and build relationships with the state-based publicly funded systems and with the universities associated with teaching hospitals.
- Many models now exist that should be considered in planning a national approach to licensing. These include the Joint Information Systems Steering Committee (JISC) from the UK higher education sector, the National Electronic Library for Health (NeLH) in the UK, and CAUL in Australia.
- The mix of public and private, state and national health authorities makes the establishment of national licensing or broader coordination for health libraries complex.
Prepared by Cheryl Hamill, Fremantle Hospital & Health Service
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Attachment - draft produced by David Toll (NLA) and Eve Woodberry (CAUL), April 2002National licensing of electronic data sets
Background
At the Peak Bodies Forum, held on 15 February 2002, it was agreed
that the most obvious area for cooperation is in acquisition of datasets. A
discussion on the issue of consortia approaches to dataset licensing resulted
in a decision that the National Library and CAUL work on a model which would
allow institutions to opt in or opt out as they wished. At present there are no
national site licenses for electronic datasets in Australia.
The most
successful cooperation in this area has been achieved by the Council of
Australian University Librarians (CAUL). CAUL has negotiated over 40
cooperative purchasing arrangements that are available to Australian
universities and to some other organisations. No one product is taken by all 38
universities. While the universities have different priorities, the cooperative
approach does allow each institution to opt in if the deal is considered to be
financially beneficial. The National Library has also over the last two years
sponsored a site licensing consortium on behalf of the members of the Council
of Australian State Libraries (CASL). Five products have been taken by some
members of this group. The original vision of extending access to this
consortium to public libraries has not been realised to a significant degree.
Other arrangements operate such as Viclink which provides access to selected
electronic datasets to public library members.
There are various models in
place in other countries. For example, in Canada and the United Kingdom
centralised funding has been provided within the higher education sectors which
enable an "all in" approach at least for as long as the external funding is
maintained. In some jurisdictions within the United States and Canada,
governments have funded state-wide site licences covering a wide range of
libraries in various sectors. The key issue is that these types of arrangements
are dependent on government funding support.
Australian options
As noted above, there are some arrangements already in place in Australia that allow individual libraries to opt in or out depending on the perceived benefits of the arrangement. There is scope for a more extensive arrangement that could cover a wider range of libraries with resulting overall savings and provide benefits to a large number of library users.
National site licensing
The optimal approach would involve working towards a national site licensing system that is funded externally, and available to the users of all publicly funded Australian libraries. There are some examples of this type of approach in North America:
- The Alberta Library (TAL), serving a population of 2.7 million in Alberta, Canada, is a not-for-profit consortium set up to facilitate resource sharing among all libraries in the province. Database licensing is one of a number of activities of the consortium, which in 2001 included 269 libraries. 80% of consortium funding is from government grants, and additional funding comes from member subscriptions and private foundations. Members include public, post-secondary, government, regional and special libraries. In 2001, over 40 databases were made available, at a cost of just over Can$2 million. Individual library subscriptions to the same databases would have cost Can$4.7 million. The Alberta Library is administered by a Board of Directors which includes representatives from all library sectors.
- TexShare is a cooperative program covering academic, medical and public libraries. It serves the Texas population of 21 million by providing database licensing as part of a package of services which focus on efficient sharing of library resources. The program is run by the Texas State Library and Archives Commission, with an Advisory Board which includes representatives from the various library sectors as well as members of the general public. Over 50 databases are made available, at a cost of approximately US$10 million annually. The database program is funded by the state Telecommunications Infrastructure Fund, from taxes on telephone services. Core databases are made available free of charge to users and libraries, and additional databases are made available at concessional rates to those libraries wishing to use them. It is estimated that if all member libraries subscribed separately to the databases the costs would be over $150 million.
Such an approach in Australia would require the support of governments within the policy context of improving national and local outcomes as a result of widespread access to information. While this approach is considered optimal, there would be major obstacles to overcome in gaining financial support and the necessary agreement of libraries from various sectors to collaborate in the national interest.
Extended cooperative opt in-opt out approach
This approach would involve extending the cooperative "opt in-opt
out" model to all library sectors in Australia. It would effectively be a more
extensive version of the CAUL arrangement. There would be the need to establish
a team of approximately three staff would be required to manage this type of
extended cooperative scheme on behalf of participating libraries. A team of
this type would need to be funded through levy on those libraries participating
in the arrangements.
If this cooperative approach were established, it
would be useful to establish some principles of operation that would have
national benefits. The principles outlined for CAUL provide a good guide
on this with areas covered such as:
- appointment of a management committee;
- administration of licences, including financial aspects;
- the definition of an eligible user, and associated authentication mechanisms;
- the rights of users, including permitted and prohibited uses of the databases, and the responsibilities of the online providers;
- service levels;
- support and training;
- provision, if necessary, for archiving of the databases;
- monitoring and use statistics; and,
- privacy issues.
Future action
The above models are put forward for further
discussion. If consensus emerges on a preferred approach, funding would be
required to undertake a feasibility study.
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4. Service model for individual access - comments from the National Library
Action from previous meeting: Define a service model to ensure that individuals can access information easily regardless of their location.
- The National Resource Sharing Working Group has over the past 12 months reviewed issues which would make libraries more efficient suppliers of resources to individuals and also considered the potential of a "Borrow direct scheme" to enable users to have unmediated access to resources in a cooperating group of libraries.
- At the IFLA ILDS conference in Canberra in October 2003, organised by the National Resource Sharing Working Group, a presentation was made on the Yale, Columbia and Princeton Borrow Direct cooperative which answered a number of questions relating to cooperative borrowing schemes.
- The National Resource Sharing Working Group is planning to facilitate a trial of a Borrow direct scheme in late 2004.
- In the meantime the National Library has developed a portal with public libraries for public library customers offering access to electronic resources, the National Bibliographic Database and resources from the National Library. The report on the demand from the trial, which commenced in October 2003, will provide valuable information on the requirements and success of direct borrowing schemes.
- The National Library has also developed the "Copies Direct" service which allows any individual to order copies of material directly from the collection. Information on the success of the service will be promoted by the National Resource Sharing Working Group.
5. Access to government information
Comments from ALIA
Arrangements for public
access to government publications changed with the announcement in the 2003
Federal Budget that a new business model for the distribution of Commonwealth
publications will be introduced - with the intention to provide improvements
for customers in accessing government publications and building on existing
distribution methods used by individual agencies. A consequence of the new
model is the closure of Government bookshops due to falling sales. The new
arrangements are administered by the National Office for the Information
Economy.
In August NOIE launched the Publication Services Directory, an
online resource for providers of publication distribution and related services
to promote their services to Australian Government agencies through a single
mechanism, and agencies to source appropriate publication distribution and
related services, seek end-to-end publishing solutions and take advantage of
advances in technology.
In October the new online Publications Register was launched. This is a
key component of the new business model. NOIE was required to meet an October
deadline, and will continue to develop the Register, in consultation with
Government departments, agencies and key stakeholders including the National
Library of Australia.
It is essential that consultation with the library
and information sector continues so that developments by NOIE are compatible
with and complementary to government publications services (eg GovPubs) and
facilities being provided or developed by library agencies. Consultation
between NOIE and the sector is also promoted in the recommendations of the
report of the Senate Inquiry into the role of libraries as providers of public
information in the online environment.
Through the Register, users can search or browse government agency listings for publication information, then follow the links to existing on-line publication resources and agency publication pages. The Register also provides access to a range of resources such as the National Library of Australia's catalogue, Parliamentary resources and legislation databases.
Further refinements aim to allow for searching of specific publication titles using data automatically collected from Department and agency websites. The Register also includes information about new distribution arrangements for publications that were previously distributed through the Government Bookshop Network.
Suggestions made by ALIA and discussed with NOIE following the Budget announcement of the new business model included:
- Development of the electronic register of currently available Government publications by NOIE; and in doing so consult with deposit libraries concerning required features of the register, for example the capacity to move from the relevant citation direct to the document in various formats;
- Agencies to contribute bibliographic information for their publications to the NBD so that the records and material are available to all citizens through libraries;
- Library sector participation in the:
- Development of the principles for the Commonwealth Library Deposit Scheme;
- Development of directives to Commonwealth agencies to deposit publications;
- Advisory body that will inform the process for using independent contractors for publishing and distribution;
- Development and dissemination of a policy on the archiving of Commonwealth government electronic publications.
- Maintenance of central points as a physical presence for assisting customers to access government publications.
ALIA's Expert Group on Government Publications is planning to review the Register. It is suggested that this Group continue to monitor developments in public access to government publications and liaise with NOIE.
Comments from FLIN
- FLIN has an interest in involvement in projects aimed at making government information available - particularly at the Commonwealth level & primarily in electronic form.
- FLIN has done some preliminary work with NLA on developing metadata collections of Commonwealth publications.
- Concern over duplication of effort between Pandora, the new Publications Register, and the NLA metadata project - noting that this situation has been created/exacerbated by the closure of Government Bookshops.
6. Digitisation: possible national approach - comments from the National Library
- Many libraries are involved in collaborative digitisation projects (for example, the National Library is working with Deakin University on the Alfred Deakin Virtual Prime Ministerial Library digitisation project).
- There has been some discussion amongst libraries and other cultural institutions about a national approach or policy for digitisation but no formal action has taken place.
- Most institutions undertake digitisation to facilitate access and/or preservation of their Australian collections. Many have policies similar to the National Library's Digitisation Policy 2002-2004 that outlines priorities, goals and principles underpinning digitisation.
- A 'national' policy may have some value is terms of informing government of the benefits of and the need for funding for digitisation. This needs further consideration.
- The ECITA References Committee in its report on the Inquiry into libraries in the online environment recommends "the addition of a new National Heritage Grants program for peak cultural institutions to assist in the digitisation of their collections". The National Library will wait for the Government's response to the report before commenting publicly on the recommendations.
- The National Library is currently preparing a feasibility report on the potential for a national newspaper digitisation project. The Council for Australian State Libraries (CASL) is supporting this work. The National Library is seeking expressions of interest from other members of the Library sector for a national newspaper project. The project would be dependent on external funding sources such as grant from Government and/or a grant from a foundation such as the Mellon Foundation.
7. Research into electronic serials - comments from the National Library
- At the meeting of the Australian Library Collections Task Force (ALCTF) on 9 October 2003 the topic of trends in use of electronic journals provided by libraries was discussed. This was triggered by the observation that some libraries have cancelled their subscriptions to large aggregated e-journal services in favour of subscribing to online journals on a title basis.
- A key consideration is the use of the aggregated services. Usage information that is now emerging suggests that user behaviour with electronic journal services might be quite different from use of print collections and from what was expected.
- Relevant issues include:
- The extent of use of titles in aggregated services - there is some evidence that use is concentrated on a few titles and that a large number are rarely used.
- Whether areas of heavy use in print journal collections are reflected in electronic collections usage - some libraries report that usage is quite different.
- How users know about and access titles in aggregated collections- the catalogue?
- How use is measured - with emergence of the COUNTER standard that provides a comparable basis for measuring use of vendor services, more reliable information about level and type of use of electronic journal services should be possible.
- The ALCTF meeting was advised that CAUL would be considering the topic of trends in use of electronic journals at its April meeting and that the CAUL Executive Officer would advise the National Library of issues that emerge. The National Library undertook to scope a collaborative, national project during 2004 to address issues and to gather more information, if such a project is considered important and supported by the library sector.
8. The National Electronic Collection - comments from the National Library
- The National Library, in collaboration with the state libraries and other national collecting institutions, has been building the National Web Archive (PANDORA) since 1996. The activity is now mainstreamed and considerable improvements in productivity and efficiency have been gained through enhancements to the archive management system developed by the National Library to support PANDORA. The National Web Archive includes online publications and web sites from a range of sources that involve a wide range of file formats and media types.
- The Library's digital archiving is now at the stage where it is necessary to overcome some significant barriers in order to expand the scope and scale of activity. These include the resource intensive nature of the selective approach to archiving and technical constraints such as the inability to collect online databases. To develop collaborative solutions to such issues, the Library has joined the International Internet Preservation Consortium (IIPC), a consortium of national libraries with digital archiving experience that have joined together to research and develop practical solutions to commonly shared problems. The Library is contributing to the work program of the consortium by leading an international work group to develop ways of collecting and archiving deep web resources.
- The National Library has always viewed its role in collecting and managing web resources as part of a national distributed effort, with the PANDORA Archive one of the nodes in a network of digital repositories that cover a wide range of digital objects. To operate effectively and to serve the interests of researchers and others long-term, such a network must be based on shared standards, responsibilities and best practices relating to sustainability and digital preservation.
- In the interests of promoting and facilitating continuing access to digital resources and the need to develop sustainable archives, the Library is a partner in the Australian Partnership for Sustainable Repositories (APSR), a national research infrastructure project lead by the Australian National University and funded by the DEST Systemic Information Infrastructure Program. This project has at its centre a digital continuity program to which the Library will contribute its experience and knowledge in the field of digital preservation. This is an area that has received very little attention at the national level by the different sectors concerned with developing a national infrastructure for access to digital resources.
- Long-term public access is a core objective of the Library's digital archiving activity. Consequently, digital preservation practices and strategies have been built into the Library's approach from the outset. The Library has built up considerable expertise in this area and has participated in several international initiatives led by bodies such as RLG, OCLC and JISC.
- Digital preservation concerns are not limited to the big issues of how to overcome software and hardware obsolescence to provide on-going access to digital information, but also include good data creation and management practices from the start of the life-cycle of a resource. To help raise awareness among cultural and research institutions of the full range of issues involved, in 2002 under contract to UNESCO the Library's Preservation Manager, Colin Webb, prepared extensive practical and technical guidelines for preservation and continuing access to cultural heritage resources. (The publication Guidelines for the preservation of digital heritage is available through the UNESCO web site.)
- To continue to explore solutions to digital archiving and preservation issues of particular relevance to institutions with long-term access responsibilities, the Library is intending to organise and host an international conference in November 2004. Planning has just commenced and information about the conference is available.
9. Protocols for a national store - comments from CAUL
At a 1999 national meeting convened by CAUL, the elements to be addressed in the design of protocols for a national store were agreed.
- Low-use collection vs Collection developed for research
support.
Participants strongly supported a focus (at least initially) on the concept of a store for low-use material, rather than a store which might be developed as an alternate research collection. The latter would require selection policies and potentially acquisitions policies whilst the former would rely on receiving a member library's de-selected items. - Low turnover vs Good turnover.
Participants strongly supported low turnover, in line with the support for a low-use collection. The latter would aim to produce income in order to sustain its existence while the former would rely on the shift in costs from capital (requirements for increased space) to operational (management of the store).
The dividends to be reaped by relocating low-use material to store include the reduced cost per item of storage space, the reduced number of items to be stored (if an item is already held in the store), the improved accessibility of less crowded retained items. - Last copy store vs Collection duplication.
Participants supported the concept of a store which would guarantee the maintenance of a "last copy" which would permit others to discard all other copies of that item. This concept would rely on the cession of ownership to the store, or permanent loan to the store. Any item which could potentially be recalled to the library of the original owner could not be treated as a last copy.
The framework for a national network should address whether each member of the network maintains its own last copy or whether a network last copy is sufficient. It could also address whether one copy is sufficient or whether an archival, not-for-loan copy is also required. Consideration could also be given to locating material in a specific discipline or in a specific language together in a single store in the network. Consideration should be given to whether the network needed any additional emphasis on Australiana, given the responsibilities (and also restrictions) of the National and State libraries in this area.
It was strongly agreed that the deliverables such as response time of delivery to the user were key to most decisions pertaining to the location of items. - Joint ownership vs Individual ownership.
Participants considered both options to be valid. In the former, the library cedes ownership of stored items to the store, while in the latter, contributors retain ownership. Catalogue records may continue to reflect individual ownership. This issue overlaps with that of permanent vs temporary storage. - Permanent storage vs Temporary storage.
Participants considered both options to be valid. In the former case, members agree to the items being permanently located at the store, while in the latter, members may recall items to their own collection at any time. In the latter case, the location of one library's items in store may be physically distinct from that of another library.
Participants agreed that there is room for both options in any given arrangement, although the collections would generally be handled differently. For example, in the CARM store, the collection proper is a last copy store where ownership is ceded to the store, yet members may temporarily relocate their own items which are held in a distinct area of the store. - Print vs Digital.
Participants strongly supported a focus (at least initially) on print. They did discuss briefly however whether there might be some benefits in locating items in particular formats together. Maps and vinyl sound recordings were mentioned in this context. - Current store member vs New store member.
Participants strongly agreed that the capital investment by current members needed to be acknowledged in a tangible way when membership of the store was widened.
10. Research into User Behaviour (Houghton report) - comments from CAUL
Changing Research Practices in the Digital Information and Communication Environment [by] John W. Houghton. With Colin Steele & Margaret Henty. August 2003 © Commonwealth of Australia 2003 ISBN 0 642 77387 4 ISBN 0 642 77388 2 (Internet copy) This report is funded under the Research Evaluation Programme of the Department of Education, Science and Training.
This report was commissioned by DEST and funded by DEST, so is not
a CAUL report per se. It is a review of research practices by a targeted group
of senior, active researchers in Australian and research organisations, both
public and private.
[The author recommends reading chapter 5, Discussion
and Conclusions and section 4.5 Summary of Findings.]
CAUL members will be looking to the report to assess how their services are addressing the needs of these researchers, and to expanding the research to others in their communities of users eg post-graduate students, new researchers, etc.
11. Enquiry into Libraries in the Online Environment
The Senate. Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee
Libraries in the online environment
October
2003
______________________________________________________________________________________
CHAPTER 5CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
5.1
Perhaps the most striking impression the Committee has formed in this inquiry is that Australia is remarkably well served by its current library services. Constrained for space and funds and beset by technological problems though some of them may be, their representatives gave considerable time and effort in assisting the Committee by way of submissions and oral evidence. Most have given considerable thought to the issues confronting libraries in the online environment and have already taken many practical steps not only to survive but to prosper and to better serve their communities into the future. They are strongly committed to serving their users and their propensity to band together and to share resources was an object lesson in what can be achieved by cooperation across jurisdictional boundaries.
5.2
A common refrain was the lack of recognition library services receive for the valuable role they play in the community. Libraries are merely taken for granted, not valued. Sadly, the Committee has to concur that this is the case. Amongst some sections of the populace, there remains the perception that all libraries do is lend books. The reality is far different. Particularly in rural and regional Australia, the library is in some cases the one remaining piece of infrastructure so it takes on the role of technology access centre, meeting place, social support system.
5.3
The Committee cannot stress more strongly the importance of the role of libraries in Australian society. The perception that private access to online services would replace, or at the very least radically reduce, the need for libraries was regularly reported to the Committee. This is clearly not the case. In the first instance, libraries contain a wealth of information that will never be digitised and available online. And secondly, even with an increasing level of online access in the home, public Internet access will continue to be required in perpetuity on equity grounds. In the Committee's view, it is preferable that that provision be in an environment where professional assistance in finding information (rather than strictly ICT assistance) is available - namely, in libraries. That so many library users with personal Internet access continue to use library resources is testimony to the value-adding role libraries play in the online environment.
5.4
While it is probable that some kinds of library usage will drop off in the future as more services and more content are provided online, the library's role as a safety net for those Australians without personal Internet access will continue in perpetuity, and must be supported. Libraries too will be involved in providing assistance, either in person or through websites, to the world wide web.
Connectivity
5.5
Perhaps the most significant practical issue confronting all libraries today is their capacity to make suitable provision for their users' online access and to sustain that provision. There are still technological black spots which need to be addressed; and there is the pressing need to provide greater bandwidth to enable users to make full use of the ever-increasing range of online services. While it is almost certain that raw bandwidth price will continue to fall, it is likely to be more than offset by demand growth.
5.6
In view of the pressing need for improved broadband access in the nation's public libraries, the Committee recommends:
- (a) that the Government negotiate with telecommunications carriers to establish an 'erate' or discount rate for broadband access to public libraries and that, if negotiations are not successful, consider imposing a requirement on carriers under the Universal Service Obligation arrangement; and
- (b) that further funds be allocated under an expanded National Broadband Strategy for expanding broadband access in libraries.
Content
5.7
As the Internet is largely unregulated, libraries have a role in negotiating for, selecting and promoting worthwhile online content for their users while at the same time balancing online provision with the more traditional resources. To be affordable, online content will increasingly have to be purchased through consortia arrangements.
5.8
The Committee recommends that the National Library of Australia receive additional funding to provide improved access to Kinetica for all Australian libraries and end users.
5.9
The Committee recommends:
- (a) that NOIE continue to consult closely with the library community over the development of the register of Australian Government publications;
- (b) that NOIE publicise the availability in public libraries of the online register; and
- (c) that NOIE commission research to ascertain the level of public awareness of government information and the means of access thereto.
5.10
The Committee recommends:
- (a) that the National Library of Australia identify a number of key databases for which national site licencing might be desirable; and
- (b) it recommends that additional Australian Government funding be extended to the National Library for this purpose.
5.11
The Committee recommends:
- (a) the continuation of the Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Community Heritage Grants digitisation program; and
- (b) the addition of a new National Heritage Grants program for peak cultural institutions to assist in the digitisation of their collections.
5.12
The Committee recommends that the Australian Research Information Infrastructure Committee consider the question of the availability online of Australian postgraduate theses as a matter of priority.
Promotion
5.13
Although public libraries are used by a majority of the Australian population, their ability to assist their users to harness the potential of online services has not been adequately recognised. There should be much more promotion of what libraries have to offer, above and beyond their role as a supplier of recreational reading.
5.14
The Committee recommends that whenever the Australian Government advertises its electronic services, it adds a statement to the effect that further information can be obtained from the local public library. And it encourages the states to do likewise.
Skills
5.15
The Internet is a dynamic and ever changing medium. Library staff need ongoing skills training to stay up to date and to be able to assist their users efficiently. The Committee is impressed with the profession's commitment to training and with the efforts it is making to promote skills in users. Technology is advancing so quickly that ongoing and regular professional development will be necessary. In particular, developments to assist disabled Internet users are constantly being upgraded. If there are no alternative funding mechanisms for ongoing research into the identification and testing of adaptive technologies for the use of online equipment in public libraries by persons with disabilities, the Committee recommends the funding of another round of AccessAbility grants.
National leadership
5.16
The Committee recommends:
- (a) that the Cultural Ministers' Council appoint a standing libraries working group to provide regular reports on library and information matters which need to be addressed as a priority;
- (b) that the proposed Cultural Ministers' Council standing libraries working group develop, in consultation with other interested parties, a national information policy; and
- (c) that NOIE be required to consult with the appropriate national library representatives on all matters of substance affecting the library community and the online provision of services.
Legal deposit
5.17
In its inquiry, the Committee did not consider the
question of legal deposit in sufficient detail to form a definitive view on the
matter of its extension to digital material. Noting the requirement that the
Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Act 2000 be reviewed after three years of
operation, the Committee recommends that that review consider the Act's
extension to digital material.
Funding
5.18
The Committee concludes that local government is now
carrying a disproportionate share of public library funding, compared with the
more equitable situation of the 1970s, when state governments contributed up to
50 per cent in some cases. It is incumbent on state governments to recognise
the important role public libraries play in providing equitable access to
online information by ensuring that they receive adequate support. Where there
is shared responsibility for public library funding between state and local
government, the Committee recommends that the States significantly increase
their share of public library funding, moving towards matching local government
levels of contribution.
12. Review of the Digital Agenda Act - comments from ALIA
Library users' access to copyright material will be affected by two political processes, running concurrently and influencing each other, but formally separate - the Digital Agenda (Copyright Act) review and the US-Australia bilateral Free Trade Agreement.
(1) the review of the Digital Agenda Amendments, carried out by consultants Phillips Fox on behalf of the Commonwealth Department of the Attorney-General [see the review page for more information and link to the report]
The main issues for the library and information sector involve:
- the retention of the definition of libraries in s.18 and the access of non-profit libraries, whether they are publicly or privately funded, to the library "exceptions" in ss49 and 50, and the removal of the further definition of libraries in s.49(9) (re a library run for the indirect profit of an individual);
- the ability to circumvent technological barriers to otherwise legal access to information;
- and the right to supply information digitally, if such information is legally able to be supplied in print.
The Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee report on the Inquiry into the role of libraries as providers of public information in the online environment recommends (8) that "the review consider the Act's extension to digital material. The Committee expresses the view that "the current balance between the rights of copyright owners and access to information by users in the digital environment is an acceptable one, and that the current 'fair dealing' exceptions in current copyright legislation should not be overridden by contract provisions in licences for online resources." (4.41) and that "rather than seeking protection solely in legislation which is inevitably a slow process, copyright owners should continue to look to technology to protect their interests, if they fear they are under threat." (4.43)
Submissions to the review are on the Phillips Fox website (Note: appear to have been removed(Nov 05)). The final report is due at the beginning of 2004.
(2) Trade agreement negotiations between Australia and the United
States.
In line with other bilateral trade negotiations, the United States wants Australia to extend the copyright term of protection to death of the author plus 70 years. The argument, informally accepted by the AGs Dept and Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is that this will bring us in line with Europe and with the US. Two problems are that this will take back information now in the public domain and that US copyright owners are pursuing an agenda of ongoing extensions to the period of copyright protection. The Australian Copyright Act does not, unlike the US DMCA, prohibit bypassing technological barriers for lawful purposes. If we permitted ourselves to be governed by US or European copyright law, Australian libraries would lose present access to resource-sharing, to digital document supply and to voluntary adoption of filtering.
Finally the process by which the Digital Agenda review and the trade negotiations are quarantined formally, while informal consultation arguments from the latter are being used in the review, leads to confusion.
Of concern for Australian librarians is determining the most effective ways of lobbying politically for a nation whose interests are primarily those of copyright users, unlike the US copyright industries which are 5% of US GDP and growing (a stated political objective); and within a bilateral trade environment where indications have been given that copyright and multimedia may be 'traded off' by the Australian government in pursuit of wider trade agendas and timeframes. ALIA and ALCC have been active participants in the Federal government's consultative process and ALIA has also been lobbying through the Australian Coalition for Cultural Diversity. One major disadvantage for the sector is its limited ability to demonstrate evidentially or by estimate the effect on resource-sharing and access to information of the above developments.
13. Public Libraries Australia - summary from the PLA website
Public Libraries Australia Ltd (PLA) has been established to work
for public libraries across Australia. Its structure as a company limited by
guarantee allows it to work in all states without being incorporated separately
for each state. The Board of Directors governs PLA's activities and the
Executive Officer facilitates its work.
At present the focus of the Board
is the membership drive. It has commenced on 1 July 2003 and is progressing
very well with members joining from several states and across all categories.
This includes councils and public libraries, associations, suppliers, State and
National libraries, and individuals.
PLA will move to the next phase of
its development and begin work on the identified projects in November 2003.
Objectives and values
According to the Constitution the objectives of PLA are:
- representing public libraries at a national level
- providing advocacy for public libraries
- lobbying the Federal Government on behalf of public libraries
- being the voice of Australian public libraries
Structure
PLA is a company limited by guarantee and is governed by a Board of Directors. The Executive Officer performs the administrative and operational duties for the company. An annual general meeting of members will be held every year.
Funding
The majority of the State Libraries, National Library and some of the public library associations contributed funds to enable the project to proceed. As from 1 July 2003 funding of PLA has been provided through membership fees.
History
A meeting of representatives from a number of Australian public
libraries was organised by the Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) in
May 2000 in Adelaide to discuss national issues impacting on public libraries.
The forum agreed that there was a strong national agenda for public libraries.
As a result a consultancy was commissioned to investigate the business case for
a body that would represent and promote the interests of all public libraries
in Australia, under the working name of the Australian Public Library Network
(APLN).
The final consultancy report APLN: the Will - or the Last
Testament? was submitted to CASL in November 2001. Following CASL's approval of
the recommendations, a workshop was held in Adelaide in February 2002 to
brainstorm these recommendations and decide on the resulting actions. The
participants agreed on changing the name of the project to Public Libraries
Australia (PLA).
PLA was registered as a company limited by guarantee on
25 November 2002. Lynne Makin has become the Company Executive
Officer/Secretary (part-time).
PLA's progress to date:
- formal registration of PLA as a company limited by guarantee
- PLA Constitution formally adopted by the Board of Directors
- initial work on service-based initiatives undertaken
- concept designs for a logo produced by Sadgrove Design Partners
- membership model and a fee structure developed
- membership drive commenced in July 2003
14. National meetings - comments from the National Library
National forums are planned for :
- Library services for people with disabilities.
This meeting, to be held on December 10, will review progress against the recommendations agreed at the previous Forum on this topic in March 2002. Papers and minutes from the previous meeting are online. During the meeting in December there will be presentations from the Royal New Zealand Foundation for the Blind, and the Royal Society for the Blind (SA), about developments in digital talking books. Organisations which participated in the 2002 Forum have been invited to attend, as well as several which were unable to send a representative last year. - Visual arts information resources. This Forum will be held in May 2004. As a preliminary step, a major survey of visual arts libraries in Australia has been conducted and the results are being analysed. The Forum will investigate the need for, and mechanisms for, improved access to information resources and information sharing in the visual arts library sector.
It is apparent that there are a number of visual arts libraries with unique holdings which are not linked into the NBD and interlibrary loans networks, and many which are run by volunteers. A number of these smaller libraries are indicating that database access is beyond their means, as is cataloguing of their collections.
15. Information Literacy - comments from the ALIA TAFE group
Since the 2002 meeting and general discussion about developments in the area of information literacy the following has taken place:
- The establishment of the National Coalition for Information Literacy and the current collaboration between the ALIA InfoLit Group and Adult Learning Australia to develop the coalition
- Annual online forums held each August/September on the ALIA InfoLit Forum discussion list (and facilitated by this group) . The 2003 discussion was held during Adult Learners' Week and focused on information literacy in the workplace. This will now be followed up as the focus for the 2004 Lifelong Learning conference in Yeppoon, Qld.
- ANZIIL (Australian and NZ Institute for Information Literacy) has held two symposia in 2003. Symposium #1 held in July focussed on the CAUL Information Literacy Standards and their use, as well as providing professional development for those undertaking formal and informal research in the area of information literacy. Symposium #2 will take place in NZ in December and will focus on assessment of information literacy as aligned to generic and workplace skills. ANZIIL's other achievement for 2003 has been a complete revision of the Standards to be launched as the Information Literacy Framework at the NZ Symposium. These Standards have been jointly revised by both the higher ed. And vocational education sectors.
- More information about ANZIIL can be found on the website.
- Information literacy will feature as part of the ALIA 2004 biennial conference and is featured as part of the VALA 2004 conference
- A great deal of interest was generated from the Senate Inquiry into the Role of Libraries in the Online Environment in the area of information literacy skills development in such an environment. This has had an impact on educational libraries specifically and all information providers more broadly.
Draft National Accord
Library collections that are held, developed and conserved by
public universities in Australia are an irreplaceable world resource for use in
enhancing the intellectual capital of society.
The Council of Australian
University Librarians, at its seminar held in Cairns, Queensland, calls upon
the Commonwealth government to adequately support and fund public universities,
including their diverse and irreplaceable libraries, and to recognise that the
intrinsic value of public university library collections to society lies in
their educative, research, cultural, heritage and other non-financial
attributes.
Accordingly, it is also important to recognise that the value
of public university library collections is unable to be reliably measured in
monetary terms. It is virtually impossible to place a verifiable financial
valuation on such material for meaningful audited financial reporting purposes,
and the disclosure of arbitrary valuations is potentially misleading. Within
the context of the mission/objectives of Australian not-for profit public
universities there appears to be no demonstrable benefit in undertaking this
resource intensive task.
Cairns, 9 September 2003
Draft document, prepared by Professor Garry Carnegie
17. Independent scholars - comments from the National Library
- Independent researchers make up a significant proportion of clients at the State and National libraries. They have traditionally been a key client group of the nation's research libraries, both academic libraries and the state and national libraries.
- It is difficult to quantify the number of independent scholars in Australia, and in some cases to determine when a 'life long learner' or 'private researcher' may be an independent scholar. A June 2003 onsite client survey at the National Library identifies the purpose of research being undertaken at the Library as being: postgraduate 15%, for a publication 9% and private research 28% of respondents. The same survey identified frequent visitors, with 58% of respondents reporting using the library once a week or more.
- Additionally, there are those who are formally members of the Independent Scholars Association of Australia (ISAA). ISAA defines eligibility for full membership according to publication of a scholarly work with an established publisher; publishing articles or papers in major journals or magazines and newspapers of general circulation; public performances of plays or scripts; or on the basis of professional standing, as assessed by ISAA's membership committee.
- ISAA was formed in 1995, has active chapters in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra and asserts that the number of independent scholars is growing rapidly due to the restructuring in universities, the public sector and elsewhere. ISAA describes its membership as being isolated, with a scattered presence and lack of access to resources. ISAA's aims include advocacy on issues of concern, providing opportunities to reduce isolation and build the profile of independent scholars
- Since the formation of the ISAA the National Library and some State Libraries have supported the organization through the provision of free access to meeting rooms and conference facilities, as well as to the usual library services and resources. The ISAA regularly collaborates with these libraries to organize public events such as seminars and conferences.
- In academic libraries they have been able to take advantage of the customary completely open access to traditional print collections and to the privileges offered by university libraries to graduates who pay an access fee, are members of friends organisations etc.
- Anecdotal evidence suggests that the licence provisions of electronic resources and key data sets restrict access in university libraries to authenticated staff and students of the university in many cases. This may be an obstacle to the conduct of private research.
- Another issues which has been identified is the lack of access to e-print repositories. There may also be limited opportunities for traditional print publication for independent scholars and researchers.
Page last updated 8.Dec.06
