National Library of Australia Staff Papers, 2005

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Evaluating the public library portal

Roxanne Missingham, Fran Wilson, Lynn Hedley, Janet Smith

Abstract


Short report

Over the past 14 months the National Library and a group of public libraries have been engaged in a pilot project to deliver better understand the needs of Australians to access information resources. The challenge for the National Library and public libraries is to deliver access to our collections and services in a manner that is easy to use, relevant and timely for Australians. Collaborative projects undertaken in the past, such as PictureAustralia and the National Bibliographic Database, have concentrated on providing access to defined sets of resources. The move to electronic service delivery in public libraries and the National Library has enabled us together to better understanding of user needs. This, combined with the maturity of technology, provided a basis for discussions in 2002 and 2003 to investigate a more integrated approach to information access for Australians.

After considerable discussion with public libraries, a pilot project was initiated to develop a new service, Information Australia, which offers a single “Googlised” approach to a range of Australian print and electronic resources. This paper outlines the evaluation of the pilot portal, including policy and technical issues. It summarises the evaluation activities of the partnership between public libraries and the National Library to develop a service which makes library collections accessible and relevant to the needs of Australians in the online environment.


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