Staff Papers

New Approaches to Access: Use of the WWW by the National Library of Australia to Enhance Access to its Heritage Collections

Paper by Pam Gatenby, Director Reader Services, presented at Information 'Online & On Disc 97', Session 306, Thursday 23 January 1997.


CONTENTS


Introduction

The National Library considers collecting and providing access to Australian library materials, both published and original, to be central to its role as a national library. To understand its current approach to these activities it is useful to refer to its Strategic Plan for 1993-1998. Three key priorities for the period are identified here. The first of these - and the one directly relevant to this paper - is:

"[To carry out} activities which result in the Library collecting and preserving Australian documentary materials of national significance, and [in] those materials being known to, and used by, greater numbers of people."

The Strategic Plan goes on to say that one of the ways in which this priority will be achieved is by improving nationwide, individual access to Australian materials through the use of new technologies. Specifically, it states that we will exploit image and communication technologies to improve local and remote access, particularly to unique original materials. The Plan also makes it clear that the Library sees its Australiana collection as a component of a larger national collection from which its holdings gain context and significance. Consequently, the Library’s access strategy will not be pursued in isolation but will involve national leadership and collaborative activities aimed at improving access to the whole national collection.

This paper outlines how the Library is attempting to improve access to Australian library materials by using WWW and digitisation to deliver information about collections and to provide access to digital copies of material in its own collections. It also outlines the main principles that guide decisions on what collection items to convert to digital form for delivery via WWW. Specific projects, some involving collaborative activities, are also described.

The paper does not cover access to Australian information published in electronic format, either on-line or on CD-ROM. Rather, it is concerned with access to traditional Australian library materials both in their original form and in digital surrogate form. This focus is not meant to imply that electronic publishing is not of concern to the Library. In fact, quite the opposite is the case, as the paper by my colleague Margaret Phillips on the management of Australian networked publications at the National Library, which was presented earlier in the conference, testifies.

Background

The National Library’s access strategy has always been national in focus, in recognition of its responsibility to develop a collection for all Australians. Use of technology has been a key feature of the strategy for some years now as it has enabled the Library to make its collections known about and available to individuals without their having to visit the Library in person. For instance, we have been cataloguing on ABN since its inception and a large part of our Australian collections - both published and original materials - is now catalogued on the NBD. All the Library’s catalogue records on ABN are downloaded to its OPAC which has been available via the Internet since 1992.

The WWW provides new and enhanced ways of providing access to our collections. It enables us to deliver information via our Web Server in more useful ways and to a wider group of people. The main advantages of using WWW to provide enhanced access include:

  • the community wide penetration of client software which enables us to reach a larger and more diverse audience from that reached by traditional Library systems based on separate software and hardware. (People can now access information at the Library site using common software used for a variety of everyday purposes);
  • html protocols which enable links to be made between associated documents and sites, thereby providing context for information and collection surrogates; and
  • the multi-media capabilities provided by the http protocol which allow us to plan more innovative ways of providing access to the graphic and sound components of the Australian collections. We can also integrate different materials to highlight the Library’s multi-format approach to documenting Australian life and achievement. For example, the transcript of an oral history interview could be linked to the spoken interview, which in turn could be linked to a photograph of the subject and to a list of his or her personal papers held by the Library.

Another major advantage of using technical specifications with wide availability and application is that it is possible to co-operate with a range of partners from different sectors to pursue common objectives using the same technology. The National Library is interested in collaborating with other cultural institutions, libraries and collecting bodies to develop and be part of a national strategy to provide national access to Australia’s cultural heritage regardless of its original format. Use of public domain technical standards is a positive step towards achieving this.

The National Library’s WWW Server

During the last two years the Library has made extensive use of WWW and digitisation to improve national access to its Australiana collections. The Library launched its WWW Server in March 1995 and since that time a large body of information about the Library, its collections and services has been made available on it. Information relating to the Australiana collections that is now available on the Server falls into the following categories:

  • Descriptions of unusual and important new acquisitions by format
  • Overviews of the collection by format, including strengths and subjects of particular interest Descriptions of important formed collections; such as the Ferguson, Petherick and Rex Nan Kivell collections
  • The text of the Collection Development Policy for each format of material
  • Indexed finding aids for manuscript collections
  • Digital surrogates of pictorial items in the Images1 database; and On-line exhibitions.

In addition to information about the collections, the Server includes information on how to access and use them including through Document Supply, and provides direct links to the Library’s OPAC and Images1 database.

Other sources of information that will be made available when resources permit include the content of popular collection guides such as C. A. Burmester’s Guide to the Collections and A Full House: the Esso Guide to the Performing Arts Collections of the National Library of Australia. It is planned to mount these guides as databases so content can be indexed and searched, and also to eventually link descriptions to digitised images and sound. In addition, it is intended to mount directories of national holdings of materials on the Library’s Server. An oral history directory is planned and one for manuscript and archival materials is currently being developed which I will describe later. Also, over time, detailed guides to particular aspects of the collections which are designed specifically for WWW access and which link to digital versions of collection items, will be prepared. One such guide that is currently being prepared will describe and list the Library’s holdings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander related material. This guide will be published on the Server and probably also in print format, in mid-1998. The guide will provide the basis for future digitisation of some of the material listed in it and will also link to other related sources of information as they become available on the server.

Relationship of WWW Access to OPAC and ABN Access

Provision of access to collection content via the Library’s WWW server forms part of a broader strategy to provide a variety of access methods to enable people to discover what is in the collections. The strategy involves the Library’s other collection control systems (ABN and the OPAC), takes advantage of the current capabilities of each system, and anticipates improvements in the technology on which each is based. It provides for an integrated approach (across formats and collections) as well as providing context for material described. For instance, ABN provides the context of other libraries’ collections and the DNC, the OPAC the context of the Library’s own collections and the WWW Server the context of a specific collection.

The strategy also provides for a hierarchical approach to collection access. For instance, collection level records are being made available on ABN for manuscript collections and groups of photographs while more detailed listings in the form of manuscript finding aids and caption data for individual photographs are indexed and made available through the Server. In the case of photographs, the caption data is also linked to a digital copy of the item itself. While the Library is currently following this model for the control of photographs and manuscript collections, its full potential cannot be realised yet as it is not possible to link from ABN or the OPAC. However, we are currently investigating the potential to use WWW software to provide a common user interface, or cross platform front-end, for uniform access to all the Library’s information systems. This would allow the collections to be accessed at various levels and for linked objects to be displayed regardless of the entry point to the description of the collections.

Standards Issues

As well as facilitating access to its own collections, the Library is interested in promoting a co-ordinated and coherent national approach to accessing digital collections and collection descriptions across different sites. Essential to the success of such an approach is the development and use of common standards for data indexing, searching and presentation. The Library has initiated discussions on this topic with a number of other collecting institutions and will explore the possibility of pursuing the objective through national initiatives such as the National Cultural Network and by working with relevant bodies such as the Distributed Systems Technology Centre at the University of Queensland. The Library is also a member of groups such as the Standards Australia (http://www.ozemail.com.au/~sicsaa/index2.html) Sub-committee IT19 Computer Applications - Information and Documentation, and ELF (Electronic Libraries Forum), which are dealing with relevant access issues. While a great deal remains to be done in this area, the Library remains committed to the national perspective and an objective of all its digitisation activity is to advance the development of appropriate standards and approaches.

Conversion of Collection Items to Digital Form

So far, the Library’s digitisation of material in its collections for networked access has been largely limited to pictorial material. A project to convert all analogue oral history recordings to digital form is also in place, driven primarily by the need to maintain future access to the collection given the pending obsolescence of analogue technology. The Library plans to provide networked access to some of the recordings eventually and trials in this area will be carried out soon. We also intend to experiment with the digitisation of manuscript material this year.

Digitisation of the collections will be an incremental process that builds on other projects that use WWW to enhance collection access. Before I describe some specific projects that demonstrate this approach, I would like to outline briefly the main principles we have established to guide decisions on what to digitise. The first of these relates to what we are aiming to achieve through digitisation.

Aim of Collection Digitisation

The general aim of the Library’s program to digitise collection content is to develop over time a digital archive of collection surrogates of mainly unique material, that is representative of the richness and diversity of the Library’s collections, and that can be used for a variety of purposes by a range of users. A more specific aim is to assist the research process by making access to the collections more immediate and the consultation of material - especially large bodies of material such as collections of photographs - easier and more efficient.

Approach: What Will be Digitised and How

The size of the Library’s Australiana collections and the cost of carrying out digitisation dictates that the Library must be selective in its approach. Also, for a range of reasons digitisation might not be the best way of achieving access objectives for some materials. Where conversion to digital format is considered appropriate, activity will be either project based or mainstreamed, depending on the category of material and the reason for digitising it.

Preference will be given to material that is used, as the need for access has already been established, and also because digitisation will divert use from the original thereby assisting with its preservation. In addition, concentrating on collection material that is in demand can bring operational efficiencies such as on-line ordering of reproductions and use of the database instead of the collection for initial research. However, material that attracts no or very little use will not be ignored as digitisation could create interest in material that would otherwise remain (for whatever reason) unused. Judgement as well as advice from scholars will be used to determine what material in this category holds potential interest.

The preferred approach for digitisation projects will be systematic rather than random with preference being given to digitising groups of material that have some coherence; e.g., the material is representative of a theme, topic, genre or some other unifying factor. An obvious advantage of a project based approach is that experience and knowledge can be developed more quickly and reinforced through concentrated effort.

Access to the Digital Archive

The digital archive will be networked and data will be indexed for WWW access. On-line access to the archive will be free but reproduction quality copies of items will be charged for. Digitisation of collection material that is carried out in the Library will occur only once and the resulting data will have as wide a utility as possible so it can be used for a number of purpose; e.g., reference, exhibition, reproduction, publication. This means that digitisation will always be carried out to the standards necessary to guarantee this. Networked data will be provided at low and medium quality resolutions for reference purposes with high resolution copies being available on request, subject to reproduction and copyright conditions. Access to digital surrogates via the Server will form part of the integrated approach involving the Library’s other collection management systems described earlier.

User Requirements

The Library’s digital archive program will not be driven by or aimed specifically at any one sector or user group. Material that would be likely to appeal to a variety of sectors will be digitised. However, the needs of our traditional client base (the scholarly and research community) will not be overlooked and we will work with them to identify these needs. As mentioned earlier, a specific aim of the Library’s use of WWW and digitisation is to aid the research process by enabling researchers to do some preliminary investigation before visiting the Library.

Presentation of Digital Data

The Library will not enhance digital archive surrogates by providing interpretative or contextual material except where this can be provided by bringing out relationships that already exist between collection materials through the use of links. Data will be indexed to facilitate retrieval though. The general aim is to provide surrogates of items for others to interpret or package in whatever way they choose. However, the Library may link digital surrogates in its archive to interpretative data created by others and may work collaboratively to co-ordinate such an approach.

Copyright

Permission to digitise and network items in copyright will be sought before digitisation is carried out. Where permission is denied the material will not be made available but in the event that the copyright owner cannot be established or located, the Library will proceed with digitisation once reasonable efforts have been taken to trace the owner.

Preservation Considerations

While the Library’s prime purpose in digitising is to improve access to the collections, the potential of digital technology to assist in the preservation of the Library’s collections is also a consideration. As already indicated, at the most basic level, digitising high use collections will protect the originals from wear and tear caused by handling. The Library’s current requirement that microfilm be the preferred long term medium will be assessed in the light of developments in digital technology and in strategies for managing digital objects. In the meantime, there could be some material in the collection for which digitisation will be considered adequate preservation treatment at this stage, based on a number of factors including research value, physical condition, and rarity of the item.

Collaboration

Collaboration with a range of groups and institutions will be a feature of our digitisation strategy and will most likely determine most activity in the short-term. We will both initiate collaboration and respond to opportunities as they arise. The Library considers it important to be part of the national agenda in this area and to maximise opportunities for sharing costs, expertise and experience. Consequently, it is necessary for our approach to digitisation to be flexible and multi-faceted.

Digitisation and WWW Projects at the National Library

I will now describe some of the specific projects based on use of WWW and digitisation that are underway at the Library and which illustrate the different approaches being taken.

Images 1 Pictorial Database

The Images 1 pictorial database (http://www.nla.gov.au/images1/) was made available on the Library’s WWW Server in June 1996 following completion of a special project to digitise components of the pictorial collection. The database currently includes around 13,500 digital images of works from the collection which comprise water-colours, paintings, drawings, prints and photographs. Subject coverage is broad and includes contemporary and historical portraits, historical events, voyages to the Pacific, landscapes, bushrangers, and scenes of colonial life.

Images selected for inclusion had either been previously reproduced on videodisk - the Library’s APOLLO Videodisk was produced in 1992 - or are portraits. Portraits were selected as an area of special interest for the Library following its establishment of the National Portrait Gallery and also because we wanted to be systematic in digitising the collection, providing access to a coherent component of material. It was decided to convert the 12,000 videodisk images to digital format as this could be done relatively cheaply as part of the project but also because we wanted to provide networked access to the images and not support dual systems. Another factor influencing the selection of works to include was the availability of cataloguing data on ABN which could be used to provide the index entries to the digitised images. Images can be searched by title, artist/photographer and subject. All non-photographic works are described individually but most photographs that are not portraits have been catalogued as collections and do not have individual descriptions, although specific caption data will be added as resources permit and if it already exists on the originals.

Images were digitised using PhotoCD technology and are available online in two formats - as thumbnail and as medium quality resolution reference images. High quality reproductions are available on request, and for a fee, from the Library’s Pictorial Section. Order forms and information are available at the Images1 site but we are not able to accept online orders yet due to the current requirement that orders and copyright declarations carry a signature.

For works in copyright, permission was obtained from owners to digitise and network their works for reference purposes. Each image carries a warning that permission must be obtained to reproduce images. For the past two years, Library policy has been to seek permission to digitise at the time of acquisition of pictorial works. If this is not granted, only in exceptional cases will we proceed to acquire the work.

From this month (January 1997) we will commence routine digitisation of new acquisitions of original works, items included in National Library exhibitions and publications, and most commercial orders. These will be added to Images 1 on a regular basis so it will gradually become more diverse and representative of the subject scope of the Library’s collection. We will also commence digitising images from two recent photographic projects conducted by the Library which depict Australian cities and major towns and aspects of life in Canberra. However, progress with these will depend on budget availability. Planning for routine digitisation of pictorial images has raised many workflow and logistical issues, some of which have not yet been resolved adequately. While our objective is straightforward in this area, achieving it is not, and there are still several difficulties to overcome.

A document outlining the technical standards applied to the Images1 project is available on request to anyone wishing to follow up on this aspect.

Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts (RAAM)

With the assistance of a grant from the Towards Federation 2001 High Priority Cross Sectoral Fund, the Library is in the process of establishing a networked database of manuscripts and private archives held in Australian institutions, including the National Library. The register - called RAAM (Register of Australian Archives and Manuscripts) - will be made available on the Library’s Web Server in early 1997, freely available to anyone with WWW access. RAAM will replace the Guide to collections of manuscripts relating to Australia which the Library published from 1965 until 1995, and it is hoped that use of WWW to provide the service will enable some of the acknowledged weaknesses of the Guide to be overcome; namely, its limited and unrepresentative coverage, its microfiche format, its currency, and the effort and resources required to produce it.

The Library believes that, notwithstanding improvements in access to individual collections that have occurred in recent years due to use of technology, the need to assist research by providing a central directory of the locations of manuscript and archival collections remains. While the essential purpose of RAAM is the same as the Guide, its format will be very different in the interests of encouraging a wider range of contributions and making it easier for institutions to contribute. Description standards for entries will be minimal. Only three data elements will be mandatory: the name of the person or organisation that created or assembled the records, the type of record, and the location of the records. However, in fact many entries will include much more descriptive data than this as data elements included in the original source of the entries will be retained. Data is being collected from ABN, local databases, WWW sites and printed listings and it is expected that the register will include about 25,000 entries from a range of institutions at its launch. This is a significant increase on the 6,000 included in the Guide over the period of its thirty year life.

Advantages of using WWW to provide the RAAM service include:

  • it will be less resource intensive to maintain and develop. Summary entries will be easier for contributors to compile and a self-reporting electronic form facility, as well as electronic file transfer, will streamline updating of the database and keep it current
  • entries can be linked to finding aids available at Web sites which eventually could be linked to collection surrogates in digital form. (The National Library has mounted several of its finding aids on its Server and these are indexed and searchable by name and keywords.)
  • the ability to link to other relevant sites will enhance the utility of the register and allow it to be flexible in how it meets its objectives; for instance, links will be provided to repository entries in the Directory of Archives in Australia which is available on the Australian Science Archives site so researchers can go here to find out information about the repository once they have discovered from RAAM that a collection exists. Also, sites with database access to eligible entries will be linked to rather than duplicating the data in RAAM. This is the approach that will be taken to cover personal papers held by Australian Archives.
  • information about manuscript and archival holdings will be more widely and readily available.

Additional information about RAAM, including the scope of the register and guidelines for contributions, is available at the RAAM Web site (http://www.nla.gov.au/raam/).

Collaborative Projects

During this year the Library will give priority to participating in three collaborative ventures aimed at improving access to national cultural heritage collections. These are currently at various stages of development.

National Cultural Network (NCN) Project

The National Cultural Network is a Commonwealth government funded program aimed at improving access to the collections of Australia’s major cultural institutions. Funding of $10 million has been provided over 3 years for the provision of hardware and software, and to enable training and digitisation to be carried out. Public access to the NCN will be via the Internet in schools, libraries and cultural institutions.

It is envisaged that the NCN will:

  • fund the digitisation of cultural content in order to create multi-media databases representing key collections in cultural institutions. The preferred approach is likely to be thematic
  • support and improve access to this content by providing a single entry point through a Home Page which links to relevant sub-networks and sites, and by supporting the ability to search across the databases of all participating cultural institutions. (The creation of indexing data will also be funded.)
  • support collaboration between cultural institutions by establishing mechanisms for the discussion of issues such as digitisation techniques and costs, common standards for indexing data, search engines and copyright management

The Department of Communication and the Arts which has responsibility for managing the NCN, is expected to issue guidelines for participation in the program soon. It is likely that there will be a call for bids for projects and that these will be assessed by a panel. The Library has considered how it could participate in and benefit from the NCN and sees it as an opportunity not only to augment its digitisation problem but to meet other corporate goals associated with access to information. Ways in which we consider we could participate, depending on the guidelines, include:

  • digitisation of material in our collection that relates to indigenous people or to the political and cultural development of Australia in the period leading up to Federation
  • linking the single entry point of the NCN Home Page to the WWW resources relating to Australian libraries and their collections
  • advising on standards for indexing and searching and piloting a project in this area

Centre for Cross-Cultural Research (Australian National University)

The Centre for Cross-Cultural Research is a new Commonwealth Special Research Centre supported by an Australian Research Council grant of $7 million over 9 years. The aim of the Centre is to explore the formation of cultural identities and cross-cultural relations in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region through three streams of research - cultural history, visual research, and contemporary art and culture. It is intended that the research program will involve collaboration with major public cultural institutions on exhibitions, electronic colloquia, and print and multi-media publications.

The Library has met with representatives from the Centre to explore the possibility of a collaborative project involving the digitisation of the works of Augustus Earle and material related to the Cook voyages and also to discuss the possibility of holding a joint multi-media and cross-cultural research workshop. Considerably more discussion is necessary before the precise nature of a collaborative undertaking is decided, but the Library is enthusiastic about working with the Centre to assist them in meeting their research requirements in this area and sees the collaboration as an opportunity to gain more understanding of how digitisation can best support the research process.

Australian collecting institutions with documentary heritage materials

As previously indicated, the Library is keen to work with other collecting institutions to develop a common approach to online access across all digitised collections of documentary heritage materials. Progress in this area is not straightforward due to the different rate at which key institutions are taking up digitisation and to a range of local factors. Nevertheless, the Library has commenced discussion with some interested institutions and hopes to make progress during this year. As the objective in this area of co-operation is similar to that of the National Cultural Network it is possible that a similar general strategy will be pursued.

At an informal meeting of representatives of most state and some university library representatives that was organised by the Library in October last year, in conjunction with the ALIA conference, it was agreed that it was a desirable long term goal to facilitate some form of coherent access across digitised collections. The value of establishing a national linking page which would allow easy referral of users between collections (and local Home Pages) was discussed, as well as developments with search engines. The meeting considered that recent work on an access architecture for government information could have broader applicability for digitised collections and the National Library agreed to prepare an options paper on approaches for searching across collections.

Indexing standards were also discussed at the meeting and it was agreed to conduct a survey of institutions represented at the meeting to determine the cataloguing, indexing and digitisation standards that are being used. It was also agreed that a national standard of subject description of digitised images should be based on the PICMAN thesaurus produced by the State Library of New South Wales. The possibility of establishing pooled funding to support any work of benefit to the entire group was also raised and it was agreed that CASL and CAUL should be informed of the meeting. A follow-up meeting will be held early this year.

The Library also meets separately with Australian Archives and the National Film and Sound Archives to discuss issues of mutual concern and options for co-operation. We are currently considering the possibility of carrying out a joint digitisation project with Australian Archives which focuses on Federation. If this is feasible we will seek National Cultural Network funds to carry it out.

Conclusion

The National Library is responding actively to the exciting opportunities offered by digitisation and WWW to make the riches of its Australiana collections available to all Australians and also in order to establish its central role as a major national cultural and information services institution. The Library’s WWW Server (http://www.nla.gov.au/) should be consulted for information on current activities and future projects in this area. Also, we would like to hear from institutions interested in collaborating on specific projects and welcome the opportunity to work with others on the development of common approaches and standards for enhanced access to documentary collections through use of WWW.


Last updated 8 January 1997

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