Staff Papers

Innovation in practice: redeveloping the Australian national bibliographic service

Missingham, R., Boston, T. (2005) "Innovation in practice: redeveloping the Australian national bibliographic service”, The Electronic Library, 23 (6): 641-651

Keywords

National union catalogues; Kinetica; Resource sharing; Resource discovery; International cooperation; Case study

Abstract

This paper reports on the redevelopment of the Kinetica which provides Australian libraries with access to the Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD), and international resource discovery services. The first phase of redevelopment is based on innovatively using new technology to enable searchers to find and get resources through a single resource discovery interface. The new search service will be launched in late 2004. The structure of the project and deliverables are described, together with details of the “get” component of the search service.

The paper is significant in outlining issues in developing a seamless national resource discovery and resource access service. Innovative use of a software toolkit is enabling the Library to achieve its goals for a national online service to support the Australian library network and Australians access resources in the nations collections.

Autobiographical note

Roxanne Missingham is Assistant Director General, Resource Sharing, National Library of Australia and has had a long career in libraries and IT focused on the development of digital delivery and digital services. She has been a library educator, library manager and researcher

Tony Boston , is Director, Kinetica Redevelopment Project, National Library of Australia and has over 20 years experience in developing client-server and web-based applications for the discovery, management and delivery of library and cultural heritage collections and environmental and geological data sets. From 1999-2003 Tony led the development of the National Library's infrastructure for management and Internet delivery of digital collections and multi-agency resource discovery services such as PictureAustralia and Music Australia . Since late 2003, Tony has been managing the redevelopment of the search service for the National Bibliographic Database as part of the Kinetica Redevelopment Project.

Introduction

For the past twenty three years the National Library of Australia has provided an online service to support resource sharing and collaboration between Australian libraries. The development of a national online resource discovery service in 1980 fulfilled a major goal of the Library to develop greater cooperation between libraries and support an efficient national library network. The Kinetica service, including a national union catalogue and national document delivery services provides this national infrastructure to Australia .

The service built upon a history of national initiatives identifying collections held around the nation – these were originally published in print and then microform, such as the National Union Catalogue of Monographs and Serials in Australian libraries: Social Sciences and Humanities. Kinetica enables Australian libraries, wherever they are, to contribute to the national online catalogue and to benefit through shared collection building, cataloguing and interlending. It has also enabled libraries to link to other networks such as those of RLG, OCLC and the National Libraries of New Zealand and Singapore .

The service is an essential part of the Library’s strategic aim to:

“ provide rapid and easy access to the wealth of information that reside in libraries and other cultural institutions – and to break down the barriers that work against this”

National Library of Australia , Directions 2003-2005

For individuals, access to this service is currently limited to those with subscriptions or who are members of organisations which pay for end user access. A key challenge is to enable access by all individuals.

Australia is a large country, with a network of public, state, university, research and special libraries spread across 7.7 million square kilometres. Libraries in Australia have a strong history of cooperation, built on the recognition that the national collection would inevitably be distributed with a range of strengths in libraries across the nation. Kinetica has a key role in contributing to this collaboration.

At the heart of the Kinetica service is the Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) with almost 38 million items held against 13 million bibliographic records. The service is Internet-based, offering resource discovery, resource sharing (through automated interlending) and a basis for extended cooperation in collection building. Creating links to international services to enable Australian libraries to participate in the world’s library network is also a feature of the service.

The Kinetica service is currently being redeveloped through as a modular system over two years (2004 and 2005), using new technology to develop a national resource discovery and access (or “find” and “get”) service. By undertaking these developments the Library will enable users to, as easily as possible, find resources in Australian libraries and online, and to access or ‘get’ the range of information resources that are available to them. Our goal is to increase access to the service in addition to increasing its effectiveness.

Redevelopment of national resource discovery service

Kinetica operates as a national service, providing access to subscribers, libraries and individuals, to identify and request a wide range of resources. Records describing Australian library collections and Australian online resources are stored in two central databases. The database is in two separate systems because of the need to store Chinese, Japanese and Korean script records as well as records in Romanised scripts. One of the key drivers for the redevelopment is to provide an integrated technical architecture bringing these two components of the national database together.

While Kinetica is a subscription-based service, an increasing number of Australians, through the majority of Australia ’s universities and some public libraries can access Kinetica for searching. A challenge for the redevelopment is to further increase access to Kinetica by individuals while maintaining the current business model.

Demand for a comprehensive range of services and the high level of use (approximately 6 million searches per annum) has formed the background to the National Library’s analysis of the future of the service. The Library approached planning for future directions by examining both the current demands of users and the opportunities provided through developments in technology to meet new demands. Kinetica users (over 1000 Australian libraries) were consulted during 2002 about their requirements for future development. The consultation occurred through an Expert Advisory Group on Enhancements including workshops conducted in every Australian state and territory. The results of the investigation were a prioritised list of 166 enhancements or developments.

More significantly, in 2003 the National Library took the opportunity to strategically review the service. It concluded that a centralised database and national service, connecting users to library collections in Australia and to international services, remained essential for the nations libraries to truly access information on a global basis. Additional services and functionality were also identified to enhance the service to provide greater relevance to Australian libraries and end users.

In summary the reasons for the redevelopment of Kinetica are:

  • to introduce improvements for customers in areas such as search functionality, record contribution and online performance (response time);
  • to give the Library an improved capacity to innovate, and thus introduce further future improvements;
  • to integrate the Kinetica Chinese Japanese and Korean (CJK) service into the core system, and to provide the ability to handle all non-roman scripts supported by the Unicode standard;
  • to develop new search interfaces to meet the needs of individuals; and
  • to provide an affordable solution, supporting service development within the available budget with an appropriate risk management approach.

Over the next two years the redevelopment will deliver a solution which more closely realises the wishes of Australian libraries and users, and provides an innovative technical solution to enable improved resource discovery and resource sharing across the nation.

Kinetica search service

The redevelopment of Kinetica is being undertaken in two major phases, the first dealing primarily with the search service, while the second will introduce a new system for the national bibliographic utility. In stage 1, due for completion in December 2004, the new Kinetica search service is being developed based on the TeraText database, which has been used by the Library in applications such as PictureAustralia and MusicAustralia. The new search service is being branded “LibrariesAustralia”.

An illustration of the proposed architecture at the completion of stage 1 of the project follows. The shaded areas of the diagram indicate the developments which will occur in this phase.

Figure 1: Proposed Stage 1 developments

Figure 1: Proposed Stage 1 developments

The primary areas of development and innovation for this phase are described in more detail below.

Improved searching through LibrariesAustralia

Used by librarians and end users, this interface is essentially a resource discovery service. In the redesign and redevelopment occurring for Kinetica, the range of services offered will be expanded and, in addition, a newly developed service aimed at users in public libraries, (see Moloney 2004), will be included within the range of core interfaces. Response time will be improved as will the ease of use of the service.

The major areas of improvement within the phase of the redevelopment are:

Ease of use: The new interface has been developed using the design principles identified from international research and best practice, in addition to the new expectations of users for a “Google” type interface. Input for specifications included the reports of the Kinetica Expert Advisory Group on Reference and End User Access and the Kinetica Expert Advisory Group on Enhancements.

There are three search interfaces– a simple search based on a Google-style approach with Boolean functionality, an “advanced” search offering the ability to select indexes for searching from drop down boxes and a command search which supports the Z39.50 Common Command Language (CCL) query syntax. The simple and advanced search interfaces also include limits enabling the user to easily restrict searches to resources of various formats, such as newspapers, theses, pictures, music; or types, such as Australian, online, government or conference.

Figure 2: Basic search screen

Figure 2: Basic search screen

Better results: Searchers expectations have changed with the development of web search engines, in particular Google. Not only do users expect to be able to search with very simple terms, they also expect that the system will assist through fuzzy logic for any misspellings. The new search interface provides this functionality; for example misspelling English language words, countries, places or names will result in a suggestion from a dictionary of over 270,000 terms (see Jspell 2004) . These suggestions are hyperlinked to enable users to then immediately search with a single click. The search service also supports searching via common synonyms, for example a search for “~car” will also search for the terms automobile, auto, motorcar and machine (see WordNet 2004).

A display based on FRBR (Functional Requirements for the Bibliographic Record) principles will be piloted in 2005. A recent study (Rajapatirana 2004) found that the NBD can support the creation of FRBR displays and potentially even data structured according to the FRBR entity model. A pilot using the LC algorithm, with revisions to adopt the OCLC work-set matching logic, will be developed into an FRBR tool and interface. This implementation will also build on the work of RLG with the RedLightGreen service and OCLCs Fictionfinder project.

Records will also be available in a greater array of formats. In addition to html and text, RIS format for record loading to Endnote and Procite formats will be available. Records will also no longer be restricted to supply on a one by one basis. Sets of records will be able to be chosen and supplied to users as a single file. Records can also be easily selected and saved for future use.

Improved accessibility: Compatibility with adaptive technologies and compliance with the W3C level A guidelines is essential for the service. Testing will be undertaken to ensure that the service is fully accessible. This testing is a standard part of the Library’s IT environment and will be undertaken using a range of approaches including the use of automated tools such as screen readers and by undertaking Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) testing in a usability lab.

Delivery of full access: For users in the 21 st century there is an expectation that they will be able to “get” as well as “find” resources. Building a “get” service into Kinetica is essential to the delivery of a relevant service for end users as well as libraries. When a user finds a record they will have four options available to “get” the resource:

  • online – providing direct access to the online resource, where this is available (currently approximately 500,000 resources are available online), or to online pages relating to the resource;
  • through their library – including checking for availability from their local catalogue where this is possible;
  • through other libraries – again with the ability for checking of availability and, where the subscribing library agrees, the ability to place an ILL request electronically; and
  • through other suppliers including bookshops, document supply services such as Infotrieve, CISTI and SCIPIO or the National Library’s Copies Direct service.

For bookshops that support a Web Services interface such as Amazon (see Amazon 2004), the new service is able to automatically check availability using an ISBN query against the bookshop’s database.

Figure 3: Online supply option screen

Figure 3: Online supply option screen

Figure 4: @Your Library screen

Figure 4: @Your Library screen

 

Figure 5: At other libraries

Figure 5: @ Other libraries

 

Figure6: At other supplier's screen

Figure 6: @ Other suppliers screen

Databases available through KineticaWeb will also be increased. Users will be able to search the existing databases on a pay per search or annual licence as occurs now. They will also be able to search the catalogues of the Library of Congress and British Library without charge. Searching of full text databases such as the Australian Public Affairs Full Text (APAFT) will be supported in addition to databases of records about resources. The interface will offer an easy ability to select and search multiple databases in parallel via a broadcast Z39.50 search.

Z39.50 gateway: The new service will provide a Z39.50 service through a gateway proxy service. This will provide external Z39.50 targets which can be used by a Kinetica customer’s local system – whether it be a cataloguing client, or a search service such as an OPAC or portal. The Zgateway will enable a connection to be made to databases and pass on details of the user, enabling reports to be generated using individual logons for better access and better information service. Users will be able to have their cataloguing software, for example, link directly through to other databases, rather than having to use KineticaWeb. This will enable significant efficiencies in cataloguing workflows. It will provide more flexible services for Kinetica users.

Response times : A significant improvement in connect, search, present and scan response times is expected with the new search system.

Improved business systems: One of the innovations offered in this phase is the development of support of IP authentication. This enables libraries to provide access through computers within a range of IP addresses and eliminate the need to enter password information, providing a better level of security and enabling much easier end user access.

In summary, phase 1 provides for innovation in the development of significantly improved interfaces, a supply chain based on supply from libraries and commercial suppliers, checking of availability for supply where possible and greater functionality, while using tested technology to underpin the developments. In moving to new standards such as Unicode, the focus is on improvements in the efficiency and effectiveness of services, to support a vital national resource discovery and access service.

Redevelopment of the National Bibliographic Utility

The modular approach used for the Kinetica redevelopment moves to focus in phase 2 on the update database and business systems. A “National Bibliographic Utility” (NBU) will be implemented using OCLC PICA’s CBS software. This utility will support record contribution and management, together with a new online cataloguing system, including contribution of records through a web interface.

The primary areas of development and innovation for this phase are:

Improved searching: The web search interface and Z39.50 gateway will not undergo major redevelopment but some additional functionality will be delivered. The major area for development is offering interfaces which would display selected sets for records from the NBD. One set would be an “Australian” view of the data, offering functionality to support better access to Australian resources for libraries and end users. This will enable our documentary heritage to be more easily accessible to all users of the service.

Improved database: A single Unicode compliant database will be established using OCLC PICA’s CBS software. The system will be required to provide for much better functionality to prevent duplicate records and to enable records to be updated quickly and effectively. A new approach will be fundamental to the relationship between the catalogue and search database – updating will be in near real time and libraries will be able to provide much more rapid contribution of records through files for addition to the database. A new cataloguing client will be utilised by libraries with improved functionality and efficiency.

Improved business systems: The completion of the project will see the implementation of the customer data directory in an internationally accepted standard protocol ( Lightweight Directory Access Protocol [LDAP] see Lunau 2003). This will enable all the information held about libraries in Kinetica, Australian Libraries Gateway, the ILRS directory and other services to be integrated. Libraries will be able to update all entries by using a single update form.

Products and reporting and billing will also be developed to enable libraries to have access to a wider range of record file formats, reports and information via a broader range of protocols.

In summary, phase 2 introduces a much more flexible and user-focused service. The NBU will offer better record management and enable higher quality control, particularly in reducing the number of duplicate records. Business systems will support greater flexibility for customers.

Future directions

The redevelopment of Kinetica is a major project for both the National Library and Australian libraries. The service provides a fundamental building block for national cooperation and resource discovery. The redevelopment will enhance this role while supporting greater efficiencies for Australian libraries and enabling much easier access to Australian library collections.

A major direction for the Library is to enable a wider range of users, including end users, to search the database more effectively. This may include opening up of NBD records to search engines such as Google to facilitate wider use by general Internet users, as OCLC are doing through their Open WorldCat program (see OCLC 2004). The Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts Reference Committee‘s report on "Libraries in the online environment" recommended:

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.

Underpinning the successful development of the service is new work of data quality. A Quality Improvement Plan has been prepared for the NBD with quite a significant number of activities to be undertaken over the next two years. The plan will be reviewed quarterly and regular reports on achievements will be published on the Kinetica web site. Work towards improving the efficiency of cataloguing in Australia is being pursued through Kinetica Catalogue Workflows training. A high level of commitment to supporting resource sharing can only be maintained through continued work on coverage, quality and service development. The Kinetica Redevelopment depends for its success on the delivery of improved functionality and services. It also requires regular data improvement and work with Australian libraries to enable them to more fully utilise the service.

The redevelopment of Kinetica provides an example of the utilisation of new technologies and standards in an innovative manner. The connecting of libraries and commercial suppliers, such as booksellers and publishers, into a supply chain for the resource discovery service, provides an innovation in enabling true access through “get” functionality.

Finalising the Kinetica Redevelopment Project will not signal an end to the development of the service which underpins the national information network. Greater customisation and new digital rights technologies, such as ONIX can provide opportunities for developments in the future. In addition, the nature of access to the resources of Australian libraries and the development of new areas of collaboration for collection building can be enabled.

References

Amazon (2004) Amazon Web Services. http://www.amazon.com/webservices

Australia . Parliament. Senate. Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts References Committee (2003) Libraries in the online environment. Canberra : The Committee, 2003

Jspell (2004) The Solution Café. Jspell Web Spell Checker. http://www.jspell.com/

Kinetica Expert Advisory Group on Enhancements (2002) Report, http://www.nla.gov.au/kinetica/eag_enhance.html

Kinetica Service, http://www.nla.gov.au/kinetica/

Lunau, Carrol; Pearce, Judith; Shuh, Barbara (2003) “Can we talk? How protocols standards facilitate ILL communications”, paper presented to the 8 th IFLA ILDS conference, http://www.nla.gov.au/ilds/abstracts/shuh.ppt

Moloney, K, Missingham, R. and MacKenzie, C. (2004) “A portal for the people: National Library & your local public library = new access paradigm”, paper presented to the VALA Conference held in Melbourne 2 - 6 February 2004, http://www.nla.gov.au/nla/staffpaper/2004/missingham1.html

National Library of Australia (2002) Direction for 2003-2005,http://www.nla.gov.au/library/directions.html

National Library of Australia (2003) Kinetica redevelopment project website, http://www.nla.gov.au/kinetica/redevelopment.html

OCLC (2004) Open WorldCat program. http://www.oclc.org/worldcat/open/default.htm

Rajapatirana, Bemal, (2004) Testing FRBR Against the National Bibliographic Database, http://www.nla.gov.au/lis/stndrds/grps/acoc/rajapat2004.doc

W3C (1999) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 1.0 http://www.w3.org/TR/WAI-WEBCONTENT/

WordNet (2004) Cognitive Science Laboratory, Princeton University . WordNet®: a lexical database for the English language. http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~wn/

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