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Service to the Nation - Access to the Globe :
the NLA Strategic Plan 1993-98

  • Our Future
  • Priorities
  • Environment and Challenges 1993-98
  • Objectives and Strategies
    • National Leadership and Co-ordination
    • Services to Libraries
    • Collections and Services to the Community
    • International Activities
    • Support Services
  • Resource Issues

Preamble

This Plan provides an overview of the issues likely to affect the Library over the years 1993 to 1998. It sets outs the Library's priorities and the strategies it will employ to attain its objectives, and details the major initiatives expected before the publication of its next Strategic Plan in 1996. It has been extensively revised after several months of public comment and feedback following the issue of a draft in June 1993.

The National Library expects to revise its Strategic Plan at three year intervals, in each case projecting five years ahead. The Strategic Plan is complemented by detailed annual Operational Plans. Performance against Strategic and Operational Plans is assessed annually in the Library's Annual Report, and in the Program Performance Statement supplied to the Commonwealth Parliament's Senate Estimates Committee. As a statutory authority, the Library has a legislative mandate for its activities through the National Library Act, 1960. Its affairs are conducted by a Council and Director-General who are responsible to the Minister of Arts and Administrative Services, a member of the Cabinet.

Our Future

We will be the world's leading documentary resource for a knowledge and understanding of Australia and Australians, linking closely with other sources of Australian information throughout the nation.

In partnership with other institutions, we will lead and facilitate developments to achieve a highly effective national network of libraries, through which Australians will have access to the full resources of Australian libraries and information services, including the Library's own extensive overseas collections, and to materials and information held overseas.

We will achieve our objectives by

  • providing innovative, responsive and effective services which meet the changing needs of our clients
  • collaborating with other organisations in the national interest
  • promoting the Library's mission and services widely through the Australian community
  • obtaining continuing community support and recognition as a key national cultural and information services institution
  • providing a workplace that encourages continuous improvement in the quality of our services, and fosters the career development and professional growth of our staff

Priorities

We see Australia's future as one in which the nation forges an identity as a culturally diverse country with increasing links to the countries in its immediate region. We will make decisions on the Library's future within this overall context.

The Library will sometimes have to choose between desirable initiatives because of resource limitations. The following three equal priorities will guide its decisions over the period 1993-98:

Activities which result in the Library collecting and preserving Australian documentary materials of national significance, and those materials being known to and used by greater numbers of people

Achievement of this priority will mean greater resources being devoted to

  • collecting, locating, organising and preserving Australian materials, particularly in non-printed formats and from a wider range of sources
  • improving nationwide individual access to Australian materials, using new technologies and with appropriate service support
  • exploiting, interpreting and promoting the collections through exhibitions, displays, publications, seminars and research

Activities which promote community understanding of the Library, as a national cultural and information services institution, and of its collections and national services

Achievement of this priority will mean greater resources being devoted to

  • promotional activities outside Canberra
  • coordinated marketing of services
  • activities promoting and defining the Library's role in interpreting the Australian experience
  • educational activities

Activities which maximise the ability of Australians, through the national system of libraries, to obtain the materials and information they need for their own and the nation's development

Achievement of this priority will mean greater resources being devoted to

  • national leadership and collaborative activities with other libraries, collecting institutions and document suppliers - in collecting, bibliographic data creation and use, document supply and preservation
  • developing automated systems which enable individuals and libraries to find relevant materials in all formats and languages, wherever located, and obtain them quickly and economically
  • further developing the National Bibliographic Database as an effective means of locating documents
  • acquiring bibliographic data and texts in electronic form

In order to meet these priorities, the Library will have to redirect resources. The developing ACT reference library service will permit some reduction of services in support of local student and public demands. The Library intends also to generate greater revenues from the delivery of services, and to gain further productivity savings through capital investment and working rearrangements.

However, the Library also intends to release funds over several years by reducing its collecting and processing of printed materials from overseas. Other collections in Australia have expanded greatly. Access to these collections has improved. More materials, in particular journals, are becoming more readily accessible in electronic forms. Some material is now available only in electronic form. This allows the Library to more carefully delineate its collecting from overseas as part of the Distributed National Collection (DNC), and in consultation with other institutions to minimise unnecessary duplication, while ensuring that national needs are met through the DNC.

Environment and Challenges 1993-1998

Background

Under its Act, the Library exists to provide service to the people of Australia, by

  • maintaining and developing a national collection of library materials, including a comprehensive collection relating to Australia and Australians
  • promoting and providing good access to the collections
  • improving Australians' access to information by providing
    • leadership which fosters cooperation among libraries
    • services which enable individuals to gain access to materials in libraries and information sources throughout Australia, and elsewhere in the world
    • services which enable other libraries to improve their own services

To fulfil these functions, the Library has collected and organised a collection of more than 4,000,000 volumes of printed materials, together with significant collections of microforms, manuscripts, maps, pictures, photographs, sound recordings, films, video recordings, printed music, and electronic forms such as optical disks.

The Library has a special national responsibility for the preservation of a comprehensive collection of documentary materials relating to Australia and Australians. Our broad collections represent the nation's single most important resource of materials recording the Australian cultural heritage. They record the history and development of Australians in their increasing diversity. They are a crucial resource in the formation of our culture and national identity. They document our ideas, discoveries and creative endeavours, and provide a foundation for further advancement of the nation.

In the current dynamic social environment the Library has obligations to extend its more traditional cultural role and to engage creatively and energetically with the Australian community. For the Library's riches to be available across the nation, access must mean something broader and more democratic than the provision of direct services to those who use the Library's reading rooms. It requires the raising of general community awareness and programmes to publish, exhibit, and interpret the Library's collections as a basis for debate and discussions on matters of concern to a culturally diverse nation. It requires working with other cultural institutions, within the Commonwealth Government's emerging overall cultural strategy, to provide collectively a full understanding of the Australian culture and experience.

Australia's future will be dependent on the ability of its research institutions, its industries, its governments and its people to harness information effectively. The Library has a role in promoting the value of libraries and information in our society, in ensuring that Australians are able to obtain and have the skills to use information effectively in the various facets of their lives - in business, government, the local community, and in personal development. We aim to ensure that the nation's network of libraries enables Australians to have a full understanding of the developments of national and international significance in the world around them.

Our collections are intended to provide a base for our primary clients - those Australians engaged in the formulation and transmission of knowledge, particularly in research, policy development, authorship and creative endeavour, now and in the future.

The Library occupies the pivotal position in the nation's network of libraries. It has a major role in helping to improve the quality of library services nationally. That quality of service to the Australian people is enhanced when

  • libraries have a good knowledge of, and can rely on, each other's collections, collecting policies and services, so that they may minimise any unnecessary duplication of effort
  • libraries are able to provide and share adequate machine-readable records for all of their collections, so that all collections may be known internationally, and their processing and access costs minimised

These principles underpin a range of Library activities designed to make libraries' resource-sharing fully effective.

The Australian Community

The Australian population is growing and aging. Many more Australians are completing high school, and undertaking further education in TAFE colleges and in universities. Post-graduate student numbers are increasing rapidly. Teaching methods are increasingly intensive in their use of library materials. Open learning initiatives are beginning to fuel demands for services throughout remote communities. More education inescapably means more demands on libraries. While the Library does not serve school and undergraduate students as a priority clientele, we expect that their demands will impact indirectly via other libraries.

Increasing and varying community demands on services are expected for other reasons:

  • more training activities in enterprises, under pressures for them to become efficient and internationally competitive, through government legislation and the growth of more knowledge-based industries - increasing demand for more work-related materials and business-oriented services
  • the increasing cultural diversity of Australian society - impacting on both collection composition and services
  • the approach of the centenary of Federation in 2001, and heightened attention to the Australian republic issue - likely to increase interest in heritage materials, and reappraisals of our history and culture
  • more national and international tourists visiting Canberra, with growing interest in cultural attractions - leading to demands for services readily accessible to short-term visitors
  • growth of trading and cultural links with many countries in the region adjacent to Australia - increasing demand for materials relating to the region
  • more people able to gain access to the Library's catalogues and document supply services directly via personal computers and communication networks - stimulating demand for convenient services to individuals situated outside Canberra
  • improved access and document delivery services from libraries generally - leading to higher expectations regarding the convenience and speed of supply from the collections, to both local and remote clients

These forces will continue to lead to different patterns of usage and increased demands for the Library's services, either directly or through referrals from public and educational libraries. The Library will need to determine the appropriate balance between its national services, and its general public reference facilities used largely by the citizens of the ACT region; and the extent to which it will act as a 'first-choice' provider to students of ACT institutions which are not providing adequate library resources to meet course requirements. The Library cannot be the first point of supply for library services to all Australians. It will designate more clearly the priorities given to different client demands, with a focus on meeting national needs.

Other Libraries and Document Suppliers

The number of Australian libraries is increasing (as is the importance of their collections and services) because of increasing investment in education, and the need for government, research and commercial organisations to keep abreast of world-wide developments. These organisations have growing alternatives for obtaining many documents - from overseas, and through commercial suppliers, as well as from Australian libraries (including the National Library). Increasing competition between State institutions, and between universities, may also force changes in existing cooperative arrangements. We expect these developments to affect the patterns of resource sharing and document supply in Australia. The Library will need to address actively the issues which arise.

In response to these pressures, Australian libraries have signalled - through the Towards Federation 2001: Linking Australians and their Heritage Conference in 1992 and the Seminar on the Distributed National Collection (DNC) in March 1993, that they seek vigorous National Library leadership and support for the DNC objective of facilitating national access to materials in Australian libraries, in areas such as collaborative collection development, bibliographic data creation and sharing, document supply, and preservation.

In response, the Library plans to expand its role as a key supplier of services to other libraries and their clients. It will re-assess how best to allocate its overall resources devoted to overseas collection development and to document supply, in support of the evolving DNC objectives. It will form strategic alliances with other organisations where these will improve document supply in the national interest, either from Australian or overseas sources.

Technological Developments

In the 1980s developments in information technology affected mainly the efficiency of library operations. In the 1990s we expect new technologies to change the ways in which our clients use our services. Major developments include

  • low cost, high volume forms of electronic storage
  • rapid growth in individuals' access to global communication networks
  • lower cost workstations capable of handling storage and manipulation of images, graphics, sound and text

These developments are leading to the rapid development of new forms of publishing, including online collaborative works, electronic journals, multi-media compilations, short-run 'desktop' publications and customised books. The implications are complex and, as yet, not fully understood, as the roles of all parties in the publishing and distribution chain - authors, publishers, booksellers, library suppliers, database hosts, and libraries - become blurred. The Library will need to give effective on-going attention to issues such as

  • legal deposit legislation for audio-visual, multi-media and electronic publications
  • intellectual property in relation to electronically networked publications
  • scholarly creation and publishing involving collaborative electronic texts
  • the implications of short-run and on-demand publishing for collecting policy
  • public access to government information produced in electronic form
  • image capture, storage and transmission techniques
  • methods for using electronic information sources on the global networks
  • communication protocols and standards for library applications
  • preservation of information produced only in electronic form
  • education of clients in the use and implications of new technologies

Recognising that many institutions have an interest in these issues, the Library will seek increased public debate and Commonwealth government policy formation in these areas.

Australia in the Global Context

As a national library, we are affected particularly by changes in Australia's relations to the rest of the world, and by global developments generally. We expect changes to include:

  • Increased Australian involvement with countries in the region adjacent to Australia, requiring greater attention to:
    • acquiring materials from the region
    • collaborating with national libraries in the region
    • increasing support activities to less developed countries in the region
    • marketing of services to targeted countries with developing research/education needs and emerging network capabilities
  • moves towards 'user pay' philosophies in countries which supply us with publications and bibliographic data, forcing up acquisition costs
  • greater ease of access to overseas publications, as countries develop economically and make global network connections
  • expansion of overseas bibliographic data and document supply businesses providing services to the Australian marketplace
  • greater importance of standards and communication protocols which facilitate international interchange of information
  • greater interaction of our staff with international colleagues, particularly through the Internet (the rapidly developing global network)

Objectives and Strategies

National Leadership and Co-ordination

Our objectives are to

  • provide leadership to the Australian system of libraries and information services, working with other institutions in the national interest
  • foster the development of effective and equitable Australian library and information services

Our strategies to achieve these outcomes are to

  • provide effective advice to the Commonwealth government on matters relating to library and information services
  • initiate new collaborative developments through organising consultations with key institutions, and major conferences aimed at re-assessing and re-setting national objectives
  • work with and provide support for organisations with responsibilities for national collaboration in library and information services
  • form alliances and collaborate on special projects with individual institutions, where the achievement of mutual objectives will result in national benefits
  • ensure that the Library's senior staff are active and visible in the library community, and community at large
  • support mechanisms which lead to the improvement of library services and collections in relation to culturally diverse communities, people with disabilities and Australia's indigenous peoples

Major initiatives 1993-96 will include

  • reviewing and revising the objectives of the Towards Federation 2001 Conference on access to the Australian documentary heritage, through a meeting of major collecting institutions, and supporting the evolving Conference objectives

  • providing increased resources in support of Distributed National Collection objectives, in line with commitments made at the March 1993 Seminar on the Distributed National Collection

  • establishing expertise, and providing support for library interests, in copyright and other intellectual property issues

  • facilitating mechanisms which may lead to a more coordinated national strategy relating to access to electronic information

  • working with the Library's associated company, AIMA Training and Consultancy Services, to support effective management of Australian libraries

  • further developing effective Library advisory mechanisms, and mechanisms for collaboration with other institutions

Services to Libraries

New technologies will increasingly enable individuals to obtain documents and other services direct from the Library, rather than via other libraries. Nevertheless, the Library intends that Australian libraries and their clients will remain key customers for its services.

Our objective is to

  • facilitate nationwide access to documents held by libraries and other information providers

Our strategies to achieve this outcome are to

  • develop agreements with other institutions (in particular State and university libraries) and provide a range of services which facilitate cost-effective document access from the Distributed National Collection, and from overseas sources, and ensure that all Australian documents of significance are collected, preserved and made accessible

  • implement the Library's strategic plan for further development of the National Bibliographic Database's coverage and quality

  • reduce collecting of overseas printed materials, where these are more cost-effectively accessed electronically, or easily available through other Australian collections

  • cooperate with the Australian booktrade in the development and exchange of bibliographic data relating to Australian materials

  • provide computer facilities for Australian and other databases to which cost-effective national-level access is needed, and linking these databases to appropriate document sources, including electronic sources where these are more convenient and cost-effective

  • undertake, in collaboration with other bodies where appropriate, and through a range of funding mechanisms, projects to locate, describe, index and preserve collections of nationally significant materials

  • participate in and lead the work of collaborative groups developing national standards and protocols for cooperative library applications

  • work with other organisations to achieve widespread Australian access to Internet services

Major initiatives 1993-96 will include

  • collaborating with other organisations in implementing high priority cross-sectoral projects identified in the Towards Federation 2001 Conference process as contributing better access to the Australian heritage

  • collaborating with State Libraries in the implementation of national plans for the collection and preservation of Australian newspapers and serials

  • the National Preservation Office leading and coordinating a national preservation strategy for Australian documentary heritage materials

  • implementing and promoting a means of recording the location of microform masters and other preservation data on the National Bibliographic Database

  • developing and implementing a National Document and Information Service, (replacing the present Australian Bibliographic Network and Ozline services) to provide enhanced document supply and bibliographic data services to libraries and individuals nationally and internationally

  • establishing a national network to enable processing of and access to materials in non-Roman scripts, initially for Chinese, Japanese and Korean

  • providing access to the Library's databases, file transfer and electronic mail services nationally through the Australian Academic and Research Network (AARNet) and internationally through the Internet

  • establishing, in collaboration with university libraries, new database services to the research community through AARNet

  • redeveloping the current record of Australia's documentary heritage - the national bibliography, to cover all formats of material, in products suitable for different client groups


Collections and Services to the Community

Our objectives are to

  • collect, organise, preserve, promote and utilise documentary materials which are of national significance in providing an understanding of Australia and Australians

  • provide efficient, timely information service from the Library's collections, and through referral to other national and international services, to meet the needs of Australians who are engaged in the formulation and transmission of knowledge, particularly in research, policy development, authorship and creative endeavour

Our strategies to achieve these outcomes are to

  • analyse client needs and usage patterns, research trends, and present collection strengths and weaknesses, enabling systematic and active collecting of all forms of Australian documentary materials (noting the collecting mandates of other national collecting institutions)

  • delineate the scope of overseas collecting in terms of the Library's role in the Distributed National Collection

  • develop an integrated policy for housing, storing and preserving all incoming materials, consistent with the significance of the material

  • convert important materials into electronic form or microform, to ensure future preservation and access to their intellectual content; and create nationally available records locating such copies

  • implement automated systems for processing collections and for providing work-station access for clients using the Library's collections and information services

  • ensure that cataloguing policies and procedures meet future client needs and comply with international standards

  • exploit image and communication technologies to improve local and remote access, particularly to unique original materials

  • increase the level of staff subject and format specialisation to assist clients

  • develop staff skills and provide technological support to enable effective use of information sources on the global networks

  • work with appropriate government agencies to ensure adequate public access to government information held or produced in electronic form

  • enhance awareness of the Library's cultural role as collector and custodian of documentary materials - through a diverse nationwide program of educational and promotional activities

  • link the Library's activities to the wider Australian cultural infrastructure, in harmony with the Commonwealth Government's developing national cultural strategies

  • develop a coordinated strategy for marketing the Library's services to individuals

  • encourage programs of research based on the Library's collections, bringing in scholars and writers

  • create greater community interaction through expansion of our Friends organisation and volunteer program

Major initiatives 1993-96 will include

  • achieving desirable changes to Commonwealth legal deposit legislation

  • completing and publishing a revised collection development policy, including an overall strategy for the collection and preservation of electronic materials

  • completing an analysis of the Library's collections and current collecting activity using the Conspectus methodology

  • developing a policy framework for collections and services relating to Australia's indigenous peoples and diverse cultural communities

  • planning and occupying a new building suitable for long-term storage and use of the expanding collections

  • implementing automated procedures, through the Library's integrated collections access and processing system, to facilitate acquisitions, serials control and in-house document supply

  • implementing a cost-recovered service through which individuals who have difficulty obtaining library materials through local services have direct network access to the Library's document supply services, including access to documents not held by the Library

  • establishing the National Portrait Gallery within the Old Parliament House, including a major exhibition program with educational support activities and publications

  • completing fit-out of the Visitor Centre and exhibition facilities, together with the introduction of interactive technology and completion of the building sign system

  • establishing a centre to promote Australian culture and ideas, and increase use of the Library's heritage collections

International Activities

Our objectives are to

  • maintain and develop a significant presence in the international library and research community, aligned with Australia's longer-term foreign policy, trade and humanitarian objectives

  • integrate the Library's developments effectively within the international system of information and library networks and networked applications

Our strategies to achieve these outcomes are to

  • involve staff in, and provide support for, international organisations concerned with the development of library and information services

  • collaborate with other Australian government agencies involved in international developments

  • provide support to targeted national libraries and similar agencies in the Asia/Pacific region

  • act as a centre for selected international collaborative activities in the Asia/Pacific region (e.g. for preservation activities)

  • promote the Library's activities through contributions to overseas publications, international networks, and the Library's own publications

  • collaborate with overseas organisations to facilitate the Library's international networking and networked services

Major initiatives 1993-96 will include

  • establishing an Australian-based officer in Jakarta to undertake a regional liaison role

  • working with AIMA Training and Consultancy Services to extend activities in the Asia/Pacific region

  • extending staff exchanges, training visits and other supporting arrangements with national and other libraries in the Asia/Pacific region

  • extending international network access to the Library's collections and services


Support Services

A world-class library requires excellent facilities and services to provide internal support for those functions and staff which directly serve clients. It also requires excellent staff with the skills and qualities needed for continuous service improvements. In providing this support, the Library works within the Australian Public Service guidelines relating to Human Resource Management, Equal Employment Opportunity, Industrial Democracy, and Occupational Health and Safety.

Our objectives are to

  • maximise the effectiveness of services delivered to clients through the staff and other resources available
  • provide our staff with a working environment in which they may develop and make increasing contributions to our objectives

Our strategies to achieve these outcomes are to

  • provide an overall framework for staff management and development based on best practice in the public and private sectors
  • further align our organisational structure to meet client needs effectively
  • provide a physical working environment which enables effective provision of services, appropriate housing of collections, satisfying conditions for clients and staff, and efficient building operation
  • take advantage of new information and other technologies to improve client services and productivity
  • increase and better direct resources for staff training and development

Major initiatives 1993-96 will include

  • implementing new policies and procedures for human resources management, with an integrated training and development program, based on analyses of future skills needs, and a formal performance appraisal system
  • remodelling the main building and its conveyance systems for more effective service and delivery from the collections, in conjunction with new storage facilities to house the expanding collections
  • replacing the Library's mainframe computer systems with more cost-effective alternatives
  • completing local area network facilities capable of handling text and image transmission throughout the main building, with effective links to wide-area networks
  • introducing integrated office automation services for word processing, presentations, file access and transmission, and management information support

RESOURCE ISSUES

The Library currently receives between 75% and 80% of its funds from the Commonwealth Government appropriation. Recurrent funds from the Government have been declining in real terms for many years, and the budget outlook for 1993 to 1996 is not encouraging. We consider that adequate funds must be provided to maintain effective current operations, and to enable the Library to invest for even more effective future services. The Library faces extra costs each year, as its collections grow, and we can demonstrate convincingly the significant growth in community demand for our services. We shall argue vigorously for recognition of these factors in Government financial support over 1993-1998.

In this period, we have a need for significant capital to

  • develop the National Document and Information Service (to replace the Australian Bibliographic Network and Ozline services)

  • replace our mainframe-based computing systems, now over a decade old

  • replace or refit facilities and equipment in a 25 year old building of national significance

  • provide new storage space for the expanding collections, as our main building and storage warehouse are filled to capacity

We shall pursue strategies which attempt to maximise the real resources at our disposal through

  • proposals for desirable new initiatives that attract increased Government operational funding; or capital injections on the basis of demonstrated long-term benefits or savings
  • obtaining government recognition of the increased costs of growing client demands and expanding collections, and thus reduced application of any Service-wide budget reductions
  • increasing revenues through commercial sponsorship, donations, more effective use of trust funds, and new revenue-sharing agreements with the Government which permit the Library maximum benefit from developing and effectively marketing value-added products and services
  • increasing the volume of sales through existing public services
  • establishing appropriate joint ventures with business partners
  • making optimum use of capital borrowing facilities to ensure adequate funding for implementation of longer term strategies
  • introducing workplace agreements which provide productivity improvements, and financial benefits to the Library and the staff
  • implementing a rolling program of performance evaluations for operational areas, identifying areas for service and productivity improvements
  • contracting out non-core functions and services where these will provide efficiencies or improved service delivery

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