National Round Table on Access to Overseas Monographs through Australian Libraries
28 August 1998, National Library of Australia
RECOMMENDATIONS
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This Roundtable recognises that there are significant current and potential problems for the Australian research community in regard to the availability of overseas published monographs. However the meeting also recognises that improvements in resource discovery services are enabling scholars to more easily identify and access monographs held in Australian and overseas libraries.
The meeting notes that:
- the problem of the level of collecting and access to overseas published monographs differs appreciably across academic disciplines and fields of research;
- additional information on which to base national collecting policies is needed; and
- mechanisms to facilitate the development of national research level collections should be developed.
The meeting recommends:
- That the National Library convene an Australian Library Collections
Task Force to investigate and recommend strategies for improving access to
overseas monographs with particular reference to:
(a) the pattern of monograph use in particular subject areas; and
(b) access to foreign language monographs in subject areas where these are important.
- That the Task Force consist of representatives of the National
Library of Australia, the National Academies Forum, the Council of Australian
University Librarians, the Council of State Libraries, and the Commonwealth
Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation, with the National Library
providing secretariat support to the Task Force.
- That the National Library convene a Working Party to identify
base-line data to support the planning and evaluation of access to monographs
in Australia, and that it report its findings to the Australian Library
Collections Task Force.
- That the Task Force consult groups such as Heads of University
Departments and their equivalent in various fields of research, to facilitate
ways of increasing cooperation in the building of Australias monograph
collections.
- That the Australian Library Collections Task Force consider ways of
implementing the following draft resolutions which were put before the Round
Table meeting:
R1 That Australian research libraries examine options for the efficient analysis of strengths, overlaps and gaps in their collections. These options should include both the testing of the suitability of the Western Library Network (WLN) Automated Collection Analysis Services for collection analysis and the use of the Australian Libraries Gateway to make this collection information accessible to other Australian libraries and end users;
R2 (a) That the coverage of the National Bibliographic Database (NBD) should be extended to include overseas imprint monographs in Australian libraries that are either:
· uncatalogued, or
· recorded only in local library catalogues;
(b) To achieve this recommendation, an Australian Research Council Research Infrastructure and Equipment Funding (RIEF) proposal should be submitted for funding in 1999. The aim of this proposal would be to fund both the identification of eligible monograph collections and the addition of cataloguing information about them in the NBD;
R3 That national performance standards should be developed for all levels of interlibrary loan service. These standards should based on widespread consultation with libraries, and include performance indicators such as borrowing turn-around time, fill rate and client satisfaction;
R4 That Australian libraries be urged to make the majority of items in their collections (including monographs), available for interlibrary loan;
R5 That a Working Party be established to examine issues relating to international interlending of monographs. This Working Party should examine ways to facilitate user access to monographs published overseas not held by Australian libraries, and report its findings to the Australian Library Collections Task Force;
R6 That the Australian library community together with the Australian Academies should promote user understanding of the access mechanisms in the Australian library system, by implementing education programs to improve users' ability to locate, verify and borrow items from these collections;
R7 That Australian libraries in evaluating their services, take account of user needs and perceptions of the quality of access to overseas imprint monographs, whether through local collection provision or interlibrary loan.
- That the Australian Library Collections Task Force provide a
progress report on the implementation of these recommendations to Round Table
participants by the end of February 1999.
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Last Updated 16 September 1998
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