NLA and the library community
Joint acquisitions effort in South Australia
Both the National Library and the State Library of South Australia collect South Australian government publications. Deposit of government publications with the National Library is governed by directives and circulars issued by government departments, while in South Australia the Libraries Act 1983, s.35 and the Libraries Act Amendment Act, 1989 require that government publications be lodged with the State Library of South Australian and the Parliamentary Library.
During late 1998 and early 1999 it became apparent to the Australian Government Deposit Unit at the National Library that we were not receiving a comprehensive supply of publications produced by the State and local governments of South Australia. The main factor influencing the decline in deposit was seen as the restructure of the South Australian Government in 1997, which resulted in the creation of ten very large and diverse departments. As the previous departments, branches and sections merged, publishing sections were often outsourced, resulting in the loss of awareness of government deposit requirements.
During March 1999 the National Library and the State Library of South Australia began discussions about a possible combined project to promote government deposit to government departments in South Australia. The State Library confirmed that it, too, had been experiencing a decline in the number of South Australian publications deposited there, and expressed an interest in a joint campaign approach.
In May 1999, Cathy Pilgrim, Senior Librarian, Australian Government Deposit at the National Library, visited Adelaide for several days and, using the State Library as a base, visited a range of government departments with Liz Moulton, Government Librarian at the State Library of South Australia. Prior to the visit both libraries had created a joint promotional handout publicising government deposit. Cathy and Liz visited a number of key departments: Human Services, Environment, Heritage and Aboriginal Affairs, the Drug and Alcohol Services Council, Primary Industries and Resources South Australia, Dept of Industry and Trade and the Dept of Education, Training and Employment.
Many of the contacts made were with the libraries within these departments. It was extremely encouraging to find that the libraries themselves were taking on the role of distribution centres for departmental publications. They agreed to be the first point of contact for both the National Library and the State Library of South Australia when following up titles and claiming material from smaller work units and sections that were unaware of government deposit requirements.
While meeting with publications sections it was interesting to learn that many departments are also publishing electronically. Some titles are being published directly onto the Internet while others are being produced on CD-ROM and disk. The Health Library at the Dept of Human Services is publishing statistical health data, practice manuals and training manuals directly onto its Intranet, while Primary Industries South Australia produces its Mining Review Series and all conference proceedings on CD-ROM. The Drug and Alcohol Council is also working on the production of a CD-ROM database of facts and statistics for telephone counsellors and has produced an interactive game on alcohol consumption targeted at a teenage audience.
Cathy Pilgrim returned from the trip with 33 monograph and 23 serial titles not held by the Library and a large number of catalogues and other information for unit staff to follow up. This updated information on government publishing in South Australia will greatly assist future monitoring of receipts from that State and will underpin mailouts to departments. Both libraries will also share the cost of a series of advertisements that will run in the South Australian public servants bible, South Australian Notice of Vacancies. The advertisements lead with the question: Is your department publishing in South Australia? and are designed to act as a reminder of departmental obligations.
Despite the complexity of the ten mega-departments in South Australia the National Library and State Library have been able to tap into appropriate publishing and distribution areas, as well as libraries and public affairs sections, by using this joint approach. A follow up mailout and future advertising campaigns will ensure that the awareness of government deposit and its benefits are obvious to all. It is hoped to extend this approach to other States of Australia in the coming year.
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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: lkirwan@nla.gov.au