Directions for 2006-2008
Replaces: Directions for 2003-2005
See also: PDF
Version
The National Library of Australia actively supports learning, creative and intellectual endeavour and the dissemination of knowledge, ideas and information. We have a strong national focus in our outlook, services, products and programs and are committed to a leadership role in sharing our expertise and coordinating key projects.
We serve a culturally and socially diverse Australian community and aim to make our collections accessible to all. Consistency and continuity are also important to us. We maintain long-term objectives and will continue to ensure that a significant record of Australia and Australians is gathered and safeguarded, building a national collection of resources in many forms. We will acquire overseas material which supports research and consolidates key collecting strengths, and will extend our repository of electronic resources to provide access to a range of research material.
The Library will become more visible in the information-seeking world, reaching new audiences and expanding the community’s awareness of our resources and their relevance. Innovative technologies, digitisation and the Internet continue to provide opportunities to streamline and broaden our services, providing users with simple and easy access to library collections and a wealth of information from elsewhere. We will continue to develop services designed around particular kinds of content or themes, such as MusicAustralia.
We will support the creation of online ‘spaces’ so that our users can deposit material in new ways, communicate more easily, explore different ways of learning and further develop communities of shared interest. Some ‘spaces’ will contribute to the long-term development of our collections and services, and will be targeted at the scholarly and research communities. Others will be more informal, facilitating discussion in the wider community and providing opportunities for creators to contribute material not necessarily selected for long-term preservation. We will continuously monitor emerging global trends in accessing information and will be flexible in developing services that ensure our continued relevance to the broad Australian community and encourage new use of our resources.
We will maintain our prominence in Australia ’s cultural, intellectual and social life by providing a range of public programs and actively engaging with the broader community. We will invite individuals and organisations to support us in a variety of ways, including through philanthropy, sponsorship, volunteering and our Friends’ organisation. Selected collaborative projects, including national initiatives, will remain a priority. We will seek partnerships to achieve particular strategic goals.
To achieve our objectives we will encourage and support innovation, experimentation and creativity in our staff, and enable staff to acquire new skills. We recognise the important heritage values of the National Library building and will identify, conserve and disseminate these values.
Our Objective
Our major undertaking in 2006–2008 will be to enhance learning and knowledge creation by further simplifying and integrating services that allow our users to find and get material, and by establishing new ways of collecting, sharing, recording, disseminating and preserving knowledge.
Desired Outcome 1
To ensure that a significant record of Australia and Australians is collected and safeguarded, we will
- collect Australian publications comprehensively, selected digital materials such as websites and email archives, and other documentary resources such as archives and manuscripts, pictures, maps, music and oral histories
- cooperate with other collecting organisations to enhance access to the distributed national collection of documentary heritage materials
- maintain a particular interest in Asia and the Pacific
- collect other selected overseas print and electronic resources which consolidate existing strengths in our collections and support research
- protect, store and maintain our collections to ensure their longevity
- implement relevant preservation strategies for priority areas of the collection, including electronic resources.
Desired Outcome 2
To meet the needs of our users for rapid and easy access to our collections and other resources, we will
- describe the content of our collections and reveal them to the world through new technologies
- increase the range and quantity of digitised Library collection materials
- explore technologies that aid interrogation of our collections and simplify and improve processes for requesting and receiving resources
- continue to provide for onsite users a high level of research access to our collections through our reading rooms, reference services and the exhibition of collection material
- enable the collections of Australian libraries and cultural institutions to be searched online and easily obtained
- establish relationships that, as far as possible, will overcome access barriers to restricted or charged-for materials
- work with other Australian libraries to broaden access to materials held within those libraries.
Desired Outcome 3
To demonstrate our prominence in Australia ’s cultural, intellectual and social life and to foster an understanding and enjoyment of the National Library and its collections, we will
- promote the importance to an open society of the Library’s collections and services, and the relevance of these to Australians
- selectively interpret and highlight the Library’s collections through publications, exhibitions and events
- ensure that the Library is an inviting place that encourages interaction between users and the free exchange of knowledge and ideas
- make Australian culture visible online to the world
- reflect through all we do the diversity and richness of the Australian community
- develop relationships to enlist support for the Library’s work through philanthropy and sponsorship.
Desired Outcome 4
To ensure that Australians have access to vibrant and relevant information services, we will
- work collaboratively with libraries and other institutions to implement a national plan of action
- advocate the importance of library services on behalf of Australian libraries
- play an active and influential role in international library developments
- undertake a leadership role through coordination activities, facilitation and sharing our expertise.
Desired Outcome 5
To ensure our relevance in a rapidly changing world, participate in new online communities and enhance our visibility, we will
- provide services that support the creation of knowledge by our users
- explore new models for collecting digital material, such as the deposit of resources by the Australian public and the capture of the Australian web domain from time to time
- support the dissemination of knowledge created by our users in the online environment
- enhance opportunities for existing and new users to share ideas, including the development of innovative online ‘spaces’ for Library users to interact with us and among themselves.
