National Library of Australia Annual Report 2000-01
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Director-General's Reviewpage 1page 2page 3page 4page 5page 6page 7page 8page 9
Digital Initiatives

Some of the Library's major digital initiatives this year include:

Development and dissemination of the Library's action plan Electronic Information Resources: Strategies and Actions 2001–2002 to ensure the widest possible knowledge of its policies and practices in the area of collecting, maintaining, and providing national access to information in digital form.
Cover of Tivoli Music & Song Album 1918

click to enlarge imageTivoli Music
& Song Album No 41, 1918

This item was the first to be digitised for the Music Digitisation Project, on 4 April 2001.



Completion of planning for an expanded program to convert rare or unique Australian collection items into digital form. The digitisation of these items ensures that as many Australians as possible can access their documentary heritage and learn about Australia's history and culture online. Some examples of digitised collection items are included as illustrations in this report.


Development of strategic partnerships with other Australian libraries to enhance access at a national level to commercially available information in electronic form. This involves leading a consortium of State and public libraries to obtain licences for electronic information products for use in those libraries.


Development of new business models that recognise the convergence of digital collections held in a range of cultural and information organisations. PictureAustralia is a pioneering example of a web-based entry-point or portal to Australian documentary information in pictorial form. Developed in collaboration with six organisations (Australian War Memorial, National Archives of Australia, University of Queensland, State Library of New South Wales, State Library of Victoria, and State Library of Tasmania) and hosted and maintained by the National Library, PictureAustralia was launched in September as a single entry-point to the 500 000 digital images held by these participating organisations. By June 2001, 11 organisations were participating in PictureAustralia and use of the service has increased rapidly.

Bunyips web site image The Bunyips web site was built to provide further access to the exhibition currently travelling Australia. Supported by Visions of Australia Touring grant.
click to view film WIN Television report on the childrens 'Bunyip hunt' promoting the exhibition Bunyips
(1.37Mb)

The launch of the Library's first animated and interactive multimedia web site in January, in conjunction with the touring exhibition, Bunyips. This is the first time that the Library has launched a web site of this type, which engages students and teachers in exploring the Library's collection interactively.

Delivering Services via the Internet top Building the Collection

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