Libraries Australia Databases

The following databases can be searched simultaneously on Libraries Australia

Authorities Databases - These databases can only be searched one at a time


The Australian National Bibliographic Database and Libraries Australia Authorities can also be searched using the Libraries Australia Cataloguing Client. In addition, most of these databases can be accessed via Z39.50.

The Australian National Bibliographic Database

The Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) has been developed and maintained by the National Library to serve the needs of the Australian library community.

The ANBD is Australia's largest single bibliographic resource with millions of entries for books, magazines and items in non-print or alternative print formats such as films, sound and video recordings (including captioned), maps, pictures, CDs, braille and talking books, music scores, computer files and electronic journals.

With over 42 million locations recording the collections of over 1,100 Australian libraries, the ANBD can locate material held all over Australia. This means greater access to information for all Australian library users through the provision of local and interlibrary lending in Australia. Though there are some exceptions, most libraries in Australia participate in interlibrary lending at the regional, state or national level.

Libraries can use the ANBD to search, create, retrieve and share bibliographic information for a wide range of materials held by Australian libraries. Every time libraries contribute their cataloguing or locations information to the ANBD they help strengthen the Australian library system which is a significant benefit to all Australians.

Size and coverage of the ANBD

Category Current size
Bibliographic records 17.5 million records
Locations information 42 million records

From time to time updates on Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) statistics are provided to subscribers to librariesaustralia-l.

Sources of bibliographic information on the ANBD

The ANBD is updated regularly with MARC records from the following national and international agencies.

Agency subscriptions  
Australian National Bibliography 1972+
British National Bibliography 1971+
New Zealand Bibliographic Network 1982-1999
New Zealand National Bibliography 1982+
Singapore National Bibliography 1967+
Library of Congress Books 1968+
Library of Congress Serials 1973+
Library of Congress Films 1972+
Library of Congress Music 1984+
Library of Congress Maps 1973+
Selected bibliographic records purchased by Australian libraries for formed collections, e.g.: Underground Press collection, History of Women and Rehabilitation and handicapped literature 1981+
Vietnamese National Bibliography 1986-1995

Australian Higher Degree Theses on the Australian National Bibliographic Database
Microform Collections

Libraries Australia Authorities

Libraries Australia Authorities enables you to search on all authorised headings added to the Australian National Bibliographic Database by the National Library and other contributing libraries around Australia. There are currently more than 1.7 million authority records available, searchable by name, subject, title and Amicus number.

Picture Australia

An internet-based service hosted by the National Library of Australia, that allows searching of image collections of libraries, museums, galleries, archives, universities and other cultural agencies, in Australia and abroad.

For further information check the Picture Australia homepage.

APAIS (Australian Public Affairs Information Service)

APAIS (Australian Public Affairs Information Service) is a subject index to scholarly articles in the social sciences and humanities published in Australia since 1978, and to selected journal and newspaper articles, conference papers and book chapters on Australian economic, social, political and cultural affairs. The APAIS title search through Libraries Australia searches on both article and journal titles.

Small libraries which are located in Australia and are members of Libraries Australia are eligible to search APAIS at no extra cost. The term 'small library' does not include academic libraries, state libraries, the National Library or any of the libraries who are part of NSW.net.

For further information check the APAIS homepage.

APAFT

APAFT (Australian Public Affairs Full Text) is an enhanced version of the APAIS database providing access to full-text articles from the top 200 Australian journals, and article references on Australian political, economic, legal, social and cultural affairs. If you do not see links to the full text of an article in the bibliographic citation, you can request a copy through Copies Direct via the "At Other Suppliers" option

For further information check the APAFT homepage

ARROW Discovery Service

The Australian Research Repositories Online to the World (ARROW) Discovery Service is now available for searching through Libraries Australia.  Use the “Select databases” screen to select the ARROW target for searching.  ARROW is a database of Australian Academic research which has been deposited into individual repositories at universities, the National Library of Australia and other research agencies such as Australian Policy Online.  ARROW is a free target.  Search ARROW to find all of the works by a researcher (even if they have moved universities), or a topic of research (from its beginnings to the current day), or the combined output of a consortium of universities

British Library Catalogue

Provides access to over twelve million items in the British Library’s collection including manuscripts, books, serials, newspapers, sound recordings, maps and printed music.

For further information check the British Library homepage.

Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information (CISTI)

The Canada Institute for Scientific and Technical Information is one of the world's major sources for information in all areas of science, technology, engineering and medicine. Its collection is one of the largest of its kind in North America with more than 45,000 different serial titles and more than 600,000 books, proceedings and technical reports. CISTI specializes in the collection of conference proceedings and makes a special effort to locate and purchase this material from around the world.

CISTI's fast and flexible Document Delivery Service processes about 4,000 orders from around the world every day. Most documents are delivered within one business day. The CISTI Source database offers a customizable platform for integrated article searching and ordering across 20,000 journals.

For further information check the CISTI homepage.

The Consortium of [British] University Research Libraries (CURL) OPAC (COPAC)

COPAC is now available for searching through Libraries Australia.  Use the “Select databases” screen to select the COPAC target for searching.  COPAC is a free target.  COPAC is a union catalogue, providing access to the merged online catalogues of members of the Consortium of Research Libraries (CURL) in the British Isles. There are over 31 million records on COPAC with holdings from over 27 institutions including the British Library, the National Library of Scotland, and the National Library of Wales / Llyfrgell Genedlaethol Cymru.

Library of Congress Catalogue

Provides access to the Library of Congress’ collection in the United States of America, including books, serials, government publications, manuscripts, photographs, maps.

For further information check the Library of Congress homepage

Singapore National Union Catalogue

The Singapore National Union Catalogue (SNUC) consists of bibliographic records representing the collections of over 70 libraries in Singapore, and provides a rich source of Malay and Indonesian language material.

Te Puna

The Te Puna database contains records of New Zealand publications and resources held in New Zealand libraries. The database contains over 10 million records. The National Library of Australia and National Library of New Zealand have reciprocal arrangements for access by Libraries Australia and Te Puna users to the Australian National Bibliographic Database and the Te Puna database.

For further information check the Te Puna homepage.

Powerhouse Museum

The Powerhouse Museum, Australia's largest and most popular museum has a unique and diverse collection of 385,000 objects which spans history, science, technology, design, industry, decorative arts, music, transport and space exploration. The Powerhouse Museum is an OpenSearch target, and as such only supports keyword searching.

National Film and Sound Archive

The National Film and Sound Archive, is the home of Australian audiovisual history. The Archive collects a diverse range of material from the 1890s to the present day.
The National Collection includes more than one million items. In addition to discs, films, videos, audio tapes, phonograph cylinders and wire recordings, the Collection includes supporting documents and artefacts, such as photographic stills, transparencies, posters, lobby cards, publicity, scripts, costumes, props, memorabilia and sound, video and film equipment. The National Film and Sound Archive is an OpenSearch target and searches against this database are restricted to keyword searches and as a result, are excluded from Advanced and Command searching to reflect this limitation.

OCLC WorldCat Authorities

RLG Name Authorities and RLG Subject Authorities have been merged into OCLC's WorldCat Authorities as of 1 October 2007.

OCLC WorldCat Database

The OCLC WorldCat database is produced by OCLC Online Computer Library Centre in Dublin, Ohio. WorldCat is the OCLC Online Union Catalogue.
WorldCat contains more than 54 million records contributed by libraries around the world, including material dating from 1000 A.D. It is updated on a daily basis.

Through an agreement between the National Library of Australia and OCLC, access to WorldCat is available to all Australian libraries who subscribe to Libraries Australia.
Access to WorldCat is included in the cost of their annual subscription.

For further information check the OCLC WorldCat homepage.

On 1 October 2007, the Research Libraries Information Network (RLG) and SCIPIO Art and Rare Book Sales Catalogs merged with OCLC.
RLG and SCIPIO records can be searched by selecting OCLC's WorldCat database. RLG name and subject authorities are searchable by selecting OCLC WorldCat Authorities.

For further information on the merger check the RLG/OCLC FAQs webpage.