Report on the Holdings of Australian Physical-Format Digital Publications in National and State Llibraries
Prepared for the First National Consultative Meeting on the Management of Australian Physical-Format Digital Publications, October 27-28 1997, National Library of Australia
- Background
- Number of Physical-Format Digital Publications held by the Australian National and State Libraries
- Distribution of Holdings of Australian Physical-Format Digital Publications between National and State Libraries
Background This analysis was conducted to provide background information for the formulation of strategies to preserve access to physical-format electronic publications. Its aim was to identify the current pattern of holdings of this material (primarily CD-ROMs and floppy disks) among the Australian National and State Libraries.
The analysis was based on 1959 titles. These titles were identified from three sources:
- The Directory of Australian CD-ROMs, 1996, Edited and compiled by Tom Denison, White Room Publishing Pty Ltd. Aims to include all CD-ROMs produced for publication within Australia, whether or not the publisher is an Australian or overseas organisation. Current December 1995.
- Australian Multimedia Catalogue, 3rd Edition, February 1997, Australian Film Commission. Includes titles currently in development or completed in 1995 or 1996.
- Supersearch of the National Bibliographic Database. This database contains around 26 million holdings of over 800 libraries in Australia. A search was done of the non-book material section of this database (ABNN: Non-book material database) using computer adj file and Australia. pl. Records which used the alternative, unofficial, term interactive multimedia were not retrieved.
A single list of titles was compiled from the three sources. Some of the items had similar titles but differed in edition, version or format. Because they had unique identification (ABN) numbers, for the purposes of this analysis they were treated as separate publications. Whether this is appropriate remains an issue for discussion.
These figures should be viewed as indicative only and not a definitive view of what is published and held. This is because of the way the Supersearch of the National Bibliographic Database was done, and because the results also depend on the cataloguing practices of libraries. For example, the Directory and the Catalogue identified 271 items that were not found in the Supersearch, making it clear that the latter search was not comprehensive.
This analysis has highlighted the fact that currently much of the published output of physical-format publications is not acquired by deposit libraries and so it unlikely to be preserved. It also shows that it is difficult to establish an accurate picture of Australian publishing output of physical-format publications.
The results of the analysis of the holdings of the 1959 publications are presented below in tabular and graphical form.
Number of Physical-Format Digital Publications held by the Australian National and State Libraries
This table and graph show the number of unique titles held by the National and State libraries. While there is quite a lot of overlap between the holdings of the National Library and those held in at least one other state, it is also evident that each state holds quite a lot of unique titles.
The ACT Library Service has indicated that they currently do not accept a preservation role for any physical-format electronic publications. Hence the holdings of the ACT Library Service have not been included in the results of this analysis. It should be noted that the ACT Library Service held no titles exclusively.
| Library | Total Holdings | Held by only one State Library (may also be held by NLA) |
Exclusive Holdings |
| NLA | 363 | 113 | 113 |
| NSW | 297 | 147 | 89 |
| NT | 110 | 51 | 50 |
| QLD | 19 | 12 | 10 |
| SA | 118 | 42 | 19 |
| TAS | 37 | 5 | 2 |
| VIC | 187 | 75 | 50 |
| WA | 108 | 46 | 38 |
Data obtained from the analysis of 1959 physical-format digital publications identified from the 'Directory of Australian CD-ROMs', the 'Australian Multimedia Catalogue', and a search of the 'National Bibliographic Database'.
Distribution of Holdings of Australian Physical-Format Digital Publications between National and State Libraries
Of the 1959 items, 1264 (65%) were not held by any National or State Library. A further search was not done to determine how many of these 1264 items are held by other libraries such as university, public and departmental libraries, and how many are not held at all, because for the purposes of this analysis, it can be assumed that these items are unlikely to be covered by any preservation management plan.
| Category of holding | Number of publications held | % of publications |
| held only by the NLA | 113 | 6 |
| held only by one State Library | 258 | 13 |
| held by NLA and one State Library | 125 | 6 |
| held by NLA and more than one State Library | 126 | 6 |
| not held by any National or State Library | 1264 | 65 |
Data obtained from the analysis of 1959 physical-format digital publications identified from the 'Directory of Australian CD-ROMs', the 'Australian Multimedia Catalogue', and a search of the 'National Bibliographic Database'.
Analysis undertaken in August-October 1997 by staff of the National Initiatives and Collaboration Branch (NIAC) of the National Library of Australia.
Comments or queries can be directed to:
-
Charu Sood
National Initiatives and Collaboration Branch
National Library of Australia
Telephone: +61 (0)2 6262 1571
Facsmile: +61 (0)2 6273 4535
E-mail: csood@nla.gov.au
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Last updated 12 November 1997
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