40th Annual Report 1999–2000

Contents

NLA Annual Report Cover - George Raper "The Melancholy Loss of H.M.S. Sirius off Norfolk Island

Letter of Transmittal

he Hon. Peter McGauran MP
The Hon. Peter McGauran
Minister for the Arts and the Centenary of Federation

28 August 2000

The Honourable Peter McGauran MP
Minister for the Arts and Centenary of Federation
Parliament House
CANBERRA ACT 2600

Dear Minister

The Council of the National Library of Australia has pleasure in submitting to you, for presentation to each House of Parliament, its fortieth annual report covering the period 1 July 1999 to 30 June 2000.

The report is submitted to you in accordance with Section 9 of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997.

The report has been prepared in conformity with the requirements set out under Clause 1 of Schedule 1 of the Commonwealth Authorities and Companies Act 1997 and in accordance with the Requirements for Departmental Annual Reports, approved by the Joint Committee of Public Accounts and Audit under subsection 63(2) and 70(2) of the Public Service Act 1999 on 5 April 2000.

We commend the Library's achievements to you.

J. K. Bain, AM

J. Fullerton

Chairman of Council

Director-General


{Click here to view image full size}George Raper (1769–1797)
Careening Cove No. Side Port Jackson Where H.M.S. Sirius Refitted and Repair'd 1789
map; colour; 20.3 x 14.4 cm; scale [ca. 1: 10 800]
This elegantly drawn map forms part of the highly valued George Raper collection, acquired by the Library in April

From the Map Collection

Chairman's Report

J.K. Bain, AM, Chairman of the National Library Council
Chairman of the National Library Council, Mr Jim Bain

My second year as Chairman of the National Library Council brought notable new directions for the Library. The Library's new Directions for 2000–2002 statement clearly indicates a future enhanced by electronic information resources and the opportunities these bring in providing direct access to information for Australians regardless of their location. The Directions affirm the Library's significant role as a leader, both nationally and internationally, in the development of infrastructure to support access to and preservation of information resources.

In August 1999, the Council welcomed the National Library's new Director-General, Jan Fullerton who brings a wealth of experience in library operations and acknowledged leadership in digital information issues. Her key priority is to ensure equity of access to information by all Australians. This will be achieved by clearly focusing on further development of the Australian library infrastructure in the interests of all Australian libraries.

Under the Council's direction, the Library achieved a smooth transition to the Government's new accrual budgeting framework. The Council appreciated the more extensive financial reporting available under the more commonly accepted accrual accounting system. This annual report also includes detailed assessment against the performance targets set out in the 1999–2000 Portfolio Budget Statement. The move to more rigorous performance reporting improves the Library's accountability to Parliament and the public.

Major achievements in delivering our outcomes include:

I would like to acknowledge the contribution of my Council colleagues and thank the Library's staff for their strong commitment and dedication during the year. Achievement of the Library's goals as set out in Directions for 2000–2002 depends on the skill and commitment of both Council members and staff. I feel confident that the future is well planned and the Library will continue to perform at a high level through achievement of its strategic directions.

Jim Bain


{Click here to view image full size}William Heath (1795–1840)
New Panorama, A Startling Interogation [i.e. interrogation]
print : etching, hand coloured; sheet 25.4 x 36.2 cm.

One of the colourful exhibits from the Library's exhibition 'The World Upside Down': Australia 1788-1830',
an eyewitness account of the European settlement of Australia
Rex Nan Kivell Collection; from the Pictorial Collection

The National Library of Australia in 1999–2000

DIRECTOR GENERAL'S REVIEW

Strategic Directions

The National Library issued its Directions for 2000–2002 statement in October 1999, addressing the key challenges for the Library including rapid technological change, the emergence of the Internet as a major vehicle through which libraries now communicate across the world, the need to reach all Australians regardless of their geographic location, and the broader Government reform agenda. Directions for 2000–2002 also outlines the Library's objectives and key priorities over this period.

Within the context of the Library's Outcome Statement:

Australians have access, through the National Library of Australia, to a comprehensive collection of Australian library material and to international documentary resources

our particular goal for 2000–2002 and beyond is that:

All Australians, at their place of choice, have direct, seamless access to print and electronic sources of information.

This is a clear statement of the Library's commitment to delivering information content to Australians wherever they are located.

The Directions for 2000–2002 take account of those areas in which the National Library can best invest resources in the interests of the overall Australian library system. In particular, the Library is increasingly participating in and influencing international library developments to ensure that issues of concern to Australian libraries in the digital age are addressed and that Australian libraries benefit from international developments.

Digital information

A major challenge for the National Library is the management of and provision of access to digital information resources. As the amount of information in digital form increases, libraries need to develop policies and standards for managing and providing access to this information. The Library has strengthened its leadership role in this area through initiatives such as the National Collection of Australian Electronic Publications, a cooperative arrangement between the National Library, ScreenSound Australia and State libraries with the aim of ensuring significant Australian digital publications are made available nationally and preserved for future research purposes. Also, the National Library has had a major influence internationally on digital library issues, particularly in areas such as metadata standards and digital preservation policy.

Significant progress has been made in preparing for a more robust technical infrastructure to support the management of and access to the Library's own digital resources. In October 1999 the Library acquired a new software platform to support distributed searching of digital information resources, and it is now migrating its digital search services to this platform. In June 2000 the Library commenced the procurement of software and hardware to support the management and storage of digital resources.

Observations by Lieut. George Raper R.N. ManuscriptGeorge Raper (1769–1797)
Observations by Lieut. George Raper, R.N. 1787–1794
manuscript; ink on paper, 235 x 190 mm; 15 unnumbered pages

From the Manuscript Collection

Building the Collection

The Library continues to build its collections of Australian and overseas materials with the acquisition of both recently published and older items. Some significant acquisitions include:

The Library recognised the need to obtain specialised advice on collecting through the establishment of the National Library Collecting Advisory Committee, comprising senior academics and researchers from a variety of backgrounds. The Australian Library Collections Task Force, comprising key members from the Australian library sector and research community, has also continued to provide invaluable advice on national collecting issues.

Cover of Observations by Lieut, George RaperGeorge Raper (1769–1797)
Cover of Observations by Lieut. George Raper, R.N. 1787–1794
The manuscript records the journey by midshipman George Raper,
who in 1787 sailed from England to Australia on HMS Sirius,
the flagship of the First Fleet

Access to collections

A key objective is making the Library's collections available online in the interests of fulfilling the Library's national role. Significant progress has been made in achieving this objective including:

Trends in use of National Library services

In keeping with the Library's stated objectives of providing a greater range of information services remotely via Internet technology, there has been a marked increase in the use of services via the Library's web site. There has been an 11 per cent decrease in demand for printed material delivered to reading rooms, largely due to the ability of users to access information resources electronically. Use of electronic resources has increased by 67 per cent this year. Overall usage continues to grow and the consistent trend in recent years of increased use of original Australian research collections has continued.

A survey conducted this year indicated a very high level of user satisfaction (96 per cent) with the Library's reference and document delivery services. Comparisons with a survey of reference services two years ago show an increase in user satisfaction with staff and services.

Copyright issues

The Library participated in the debate over the Copyright Amendment (Digital Agenda) Bill 1999, through its membership of the Australian Digital Alliance and the Australian Libraries Copyright Committee, as well as in its own right. The outcome of copyright reforms relating to the provision of access to publications in digital format is a critical issue for Australian libraries. The Library's goal of providing access to all Australians, regardless of their location, to the nation's information resources, depends on the extension of the current fair dealing and library copying provisions to digital publications.

Public outreach

The National Library's public outreach includes a range of programs and events to increase access to collections and knowledge about the Library and its services. Some particular achievements this year include:

Innovation

Innovation in service delivery is a key focus for the National Library. In the delivery of library services, there is a critical need to understand the potential of information technology and the new service models that this makes possible. This year, the Library has developed several leading edge services that are made possible by Internet technology including:

Kinetica

The Kinetica service, providing automated cataloguing and interlibrary lending support to Australian libraries, was fully implemented during the year. This service replaced the Australian Bibliographic Network that had supported Australian libraries since 1981. The National Library experienced significant change management issues in implementing the new web-based service, due in large part to the wide range of Internet connection capabilities among the customer libraries and adjustments to operations each customer made in using the new system. These issues were managed on a customer by customer basis to achieve satisfactory service. As the year progressed, customers became more familiar and confident with the new system.

While Kinetica has retained its number of customer libraries, the level of use has been less than predicted due to the availability to customer libraries of alternative options for the provision of cataloguing and interlibrary lending. As a result revenue and costs have been lower than predicted for the first year of operation of the service. While there remains strong short- to medium-term support for a nationally operated service such as Kinetica to support resource sharing among Australian libraries, a major issue over the next year will be a review of the long-term need for a centralised support system such as Kinetica. This review will consider other ways the National Library may be useful in assisting Australian libraries to share their resources in the broad interests of the Australian public.

{Click here to view image full size}Grace Cossington Smith (1892–1984)
[Self-portrait of Grace Cossington Smith]c. 1951
painting; oil on composition board; 48.9 x 36.7 cm.

An important addition to the Library's collection was this self-portrait
of Grace Cossington Smith, acquired through a Sotheby's auction
in Melbourne
From the Pictorial Collection

Government reform

The major impact of the Government's reform agenda this year has been the implementation of accrual budgeting and the Outcomes/Outputs framework. The National Library's participation in the Government's trial accrual budget in 1998–99 proved a worthwhile investment in terms of positioning the Library to move from cash to accrual accounting in a smooth manner.

The Library had also commenced the use of the Outcomes/Outputs framework before the official commencement of the model this year, again making for a smooth transition. The Outcomes/Outputs framework has proven to be effective in concentrating thinking on corporate and operational planning in terms of the projected performance levels. The major area of limitation with the framework was its relatively short-term nature, reflecting the annual budget process. The Library took the decision to augment its overall strategic management framework with a full implementation of the Balanced Scorecard methodology. This approach balances the relatively short-term nature of the Outcomes/Outputs framework with the longer term and more strategic approach offered by the Balanced Scorecard.

Another key area of improvement this year is the use of professionally developed surveys/focus groups to gauge the views of the Library's customer groups on a wide range of the services offered. This information forms the basis for the reporting on the effectiveness of the Library's services (see Report on Operations ). The survey results are now routinely being used to drive performance improvement in service delivery.

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