1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 The present collections of the National Library of Australia, which was established as the Commonwealth Parliamentary Library in 1901, are built on several great formed collections relating to Australia and the Pacific, among them those of Edward Augustus Petherick (1847–1917), Sir John Alexander Ferguson (1881–1969) and Sir Rex de Charembac Nan Kivell (1898–1977). The passage of the Copyright Act 1912, containing legal deposit provisions, also laid the basis for a strong collection of Australian publications. The collections of printed material relating to Australia and the Pacific have been supported by the active collecting of maps, music and manuscripts. Pictorial works in the form of paintings, drawings, prints and photographs also constitute an important part of the Australiana collection as do oral history sound recordings.
1.2 The Library’s overseas collections have significant strengths in the social sciences and humanities and there has been a focus on collecting from the countries of Asia from as early as the 1950s. Both Asian and general overseas collections have been enriched by the acquisition of a number of formed collections or private libraries, which add considerable depth to what are already strong contemporary collections.
AIM OF THE COLLECTION DEVELOPMENT POLICY
1.3 This collection development policy statement defines the scope and nature of the collecting of Australian and overseas materials within the Library with a view to providing:
- a practical interpretation of the Library’s legal obligations under the National Library Act 1960 with regard to Australian materials;
- a public statement on its current collecting policies for Australian and overseas materials;
- a practical guide for the staff of the Library to assist in the selection of library materials; and
- a guide for other Australian libraries and collecting institutions, to enable a greater degree of cooperation in the development of collections in the national interest.
1.4 Chapters 2-8 outline the nature and scope of Australian collecting, including print publications, electronic resources, manuscripts, oral history and folklore recordings, pictures and dance. The Library has particular strengths in cartographic materials and music (covering both Australian and overseas publications) and these are described in chapters 9 and 10. The overseas collection development policy in chapters 11–16 is based on the three major subject groupings of the social sciences, the humanities and the arts, and science. Chapters 12 and 13 on collecting from Asia and the Pacific recognise the priority which the Library gives to these two large and diverse geographic areas. There are also statements of policy for the Library’s strong collection of overseas government and intergovernmental publications developed by virtue of the Library’s status as a national collecting institution (chapter 17), and for newspapers (chapter 18), recognising that the contents of these materials span all subjects. The references which are made in this policy statement to Collecting levels are derived from the Conspectus methodology.1 Definitions of the various Collecting levels are listed in the Appendix.
SCOPE OF COLLECTING
1.5 The collections encompass print publications, original materials and electronic resources. Print publications include monographs, serials, newspapers, ephemera, music scores and sheet music, atlases and sheet maps. Original materials are unpublished and include manuscripts and private archives, pictures, oral history and folklore recordings. Electronic resources include digitised copies of items in the Library’s collection; ‘born digital’ material such as electronic journals, digital images, oral history recordings and email files; websites which have never existed in print form; commercially published online electronic resources; and physical format electronic material such as CD-ROMs, DVDs and floppy disks.
1.6 In selecting items for the collection, Library staff consider how well the item adheres to the collection development policy. In doing so, they take into account aspects such as the subject area, the geographical coverage, the cost, the physical characteristics of the item, its ongoing need for preservation and its relationship to the existing collection.
1.7 As well as acquiring material to add to its collections, the Library is increasingly providing access to electronic resources to augment the range of information resources available to users. The Library provides links to and subscribes to a number of Australian and overseas online indexes, databases, fulltext newspaper and journal services, and Internet sites. Some are freely available to all users wherever they are located while others are restricted by licence conditions and are only available to users in the National Library. These resources complement and at times provide enhanced access to the print collections of the Library. The same principles of selection are followed as for the print collections, and also take into account cost effectiveness and the appropriateness of licence conditions.
ACCESS TO COLLECTIONS
1.8 The Library’s collections are made available for use in a variety of ways. Collection items may be used on the Library premises by anyone who is a registered user of the Library. Items that are particularly rare or valuable, or limited editions, may be subject to use only in a specialist reading room under supervision. In cases where the Library holds both a printed and microfilm copy of a newspaper, serial or monograph, the microfilm copy will be made available.
1.9 Collection items are also lent to other libraries through the Australian interlibrary loan network. Australian and overseas monographs may be lent on interlibrary loan except for Australian monographs which are too fragile for loan, belong to one of the Australian formed collections, or are published before 1950 where only one copy is held. The Library purchases second copies of some Australian-published items which it expects to be more heavily used.
1.10 Collection items may be copied in accordance with Australian copyright law. Reproductions of items from the Library’s collections can also be requested by individuals through the Library’s CopiesDirect service < www.nla.gov.au/copiesdirect >.
1.11 All material acquired for the Library’s collection is catalogued in conformity with accepted bibliographical standards including the Anglo-American Cataloguing Rules (AACR2), Dewey Decimal Classification (DDC) and Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH). Catalogue records are also added to the Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) available through the Libraries Australia service. Users can search the Library’s catalogue online <catalogue.nla.gov.au> or as part of Libraries Australia < librariesaustralia.nla.gov.au >.
1.12 In order to increase access to its collections the Library routinely digitises materials and makes digital copies. These digitised resources are searchable through the Library’s online catalogue as well as through specialist resource discovery services, and they are delivered via the Library’s website. They include selected books, pictures, maps, sheet music, oral history recordings, selected manuscripts and newspapers.
GUIDES TO THE COLLECTIONS
1.13 The National Library’s website < www.nla.gov.au > provides an up-to-date source of information about the Library and its collections and services. The website includes details of the Library’s Australian and overseas collecting policies, details of individual formed collections, descriptions of collections by format, readers’ guides to specific subjects, as well as finding aids and guides such as those relating to the manuscript collection.
1.14 Pages on the website specifically concerned with the collections include:
- Published Guides < www.nla.gov.au/guides/prguides.html > : includes guides and major bibliographies which are specific to the holdings of the National Library or which include significant reference to the Library's collections;
- Guides < www.nla.gov.au/guides/ > : provides links to a range of guides containing key resources on selected subjects. Guides contain links to freely available Internet resources, catalogue search tips and lists of key microform and print resources held at the Library;
- E-Resources < www.nla.gov.au/apps/eresources/action/front > : provides enhanced subject access to all the Library’s electronic resources including fulltext databases, indexes, e-journals, websites and subject guides;
- What We Collect < www.nla.gov.au/collect/index.html > : provides information on what we collect, and has links to many parts of the collection;
- Find < www.nla.gov.au/find/ > : provides links to the catalogue, electronic resources, guides to the collections and a number of other information sources.
PRESERVATION OF THE COLLECTIONS
1.15 The Library has a statutory obligation to preserve its Australian collections, whatever their format, as part of Australia’s cultural heritage. At the same time the Library exists to provide access to its collections and services from them. Preservation decisions are guided by the Library’s suite of preservation policies < www.nla.gov.au/policy/prespol.html >.
1.16 The Library’s prime preservation responsibilities are to its Australian collections and, in general, preservation treatment programs are directed towards them. A key aim of the Library’s preservation program is to maintain and preserve items consistent with their use and significance to the collection. In taking account of user needs and also the Library’s investment in its collections, preventive preservation measures such as appropriate storage, security and handling are routinely employed for all Library collections.
1.17 The same preventive preservation measures are applied to overseas materials. Where necessary, minor repairs will be carried out on overseas materials to prolong their use. Some categories of overseas materials which are rare, unique, or of particular significance, will be given the same preservation priority as the Australian collections. Reformatting by photography, microfilming, digitisation or other means may be undertaken. In some cases, the Library will copy overseas material as part of its preservation activity.
DISCARD AND RETENTION OF LIBRARY MATERIAL
1.18 As a legal deposit and research library, the National Library does not generally dispose of items in its collections. Disposal usually only occurs if material has deteriorated to such an extent that it is no longer usable and a surrogate copy has been made, or multiple copies of a publication are held. Some items from the overseas print collections may be discarded where items are considered not to have a sufficient level of informational integrity to be worth retaining for research purposes.
1.19 Such disposals are made in accordance with the Library’s Guidelines for the Discard and Retention of Library Material < www.nla.gov.au/policy/disguide.html >.
1 The Conspectus methodology was an internationally recognised standard for the assessment and evaluation of library collection strengths developed in the United States of America.
