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Libraries Australia — background

Beginnings

In 1981, the National Library of Australia developed an online service called the Australian Bibliographic Network (ABN) designed to be used as a working tool by librarians. The aim of the ABN was to enable Australian libraries to share the task of cataloguing resources and to know what titles were held across Australia so that libraries could borrow resources from each other for their users.

At the time the ABN was set up, the Federal Government required the National Library to operate it on a cost recovery basis. Since 1981 the service has had tremendous support from the Australian library community, which has invested millions of dollars in its development and maintenance. Australia has the only truly national database that lets people find out what resources are held by libraries across Australia .

Development

In 1999, the ABN was moved onto a new technical platform and was given a new name, Kinetica. About the same time, the National Library began strongly encouraging Australian libraries to allow their users to search Kinetica directly rather than having to ask library staff for information about resources held in other libraries.

Some of the larger state and university libraries, which were paying an annual subscription to search the database, agreed to allow their users to search the database directly. However, many smaller libraries, especially those paying each time they used the database, could not afford to allow their users to search the database directly.

Libraries in the Online Environment

In 2002, the Senate Environment, Communications, Information Technology and the Arts (ECITA) References Committee conducted an Inquiry into Libraries in the Online Environment. The Inquiry received 155 submissions, many of which were from public libraries or local councils representing public libraries. The critical issue raised in most submissions was the importance of providing free public search access to Kinetica.

The Committee reported in October 2003, one of its key recommendations being related to the provision of free public access to Kinetica.

Recommendation 1 The Committee recommends that the National Library of Australia receive additional funding to provide improved access to Kinetica for all Australian libraries and end users.

This recommendation is a strong indicator of the value of Kinetica to Australian libraries and the communities they serve, as well as of the need to provide Australians with the capacity to do their own database searching in line with growing user expectations of easy, immediate online access to information via the Internet.

The ECITA Inquiry came at a time when the National Library was considering how to address two major issues:

  1. Enhancing Kinetica so that it could be used by ordinary Australians who were becoming increasingly adept at satisfying their information needs through search engines.
  2. Providing free end-user access to Kinetica without eroding the funding base.

Towards Libraries Australia

In late 2003, the National Library commenced a two-year project to redevelop the Kinetica service so that all Australians could search the database through an easy ‘google’ style interface. This redevelopment, released in two stages, was completed in November 2005.

The National Library also sought ongoing financial support from the Australian library sector for the core Kinetica service in order to offer a free public search interface. On completion of the Kinetica redevelopment, the service was re-branded Libraries Australia.

Libraries Australia —public access

From 27 February 2006 , the National Library will offer a free search interface to Libraries Australia, accessible via the Internet to all Australians from work, home, school or local library or Internet cafe. Libraries Australia is unique. No other country in the world has an equivalent national database representing the nation’s library collections.

This National Library initiative is only possible through the financial support of Australian libraries, which will continue to pay an annual subscription. In particular, the continued support of the state and university libraries has been vital to the ongoing viability of Libraries Australia, both through their financial assistance and the contribution of catalogue records of new Australian titles to the database.

Libraries Australia contains information about more than 40 million books, journals, newspapers, pictures, maps and much more, located in 800 libraries across Australia . Over 600 000 of these resources are available immediately online.

During the redevelopment of the Kinetica service, the National Library has aimed to ensure that, once a user finds information about a resource they want to use, there is a logical pathway to get a copy of that resource.

Libraries Australia lets users know which libraries close to them hold the resources they are seeking and from which libraries they can borrow the item/s. Copies of many resources can be ordered online for a nominal cost ($13.20) through the National Library’s Copies Direct service. Users are also linked directly to online bookshops if they want to purchase a copy of the item(s) they have found in their search. As mentioned above, over 600 000 resources are already freely available online for immediate use.

Usage scenarios

  • Independent scholar: ‘I’m writing a biography about Manning Clarke and I want to make sure I consult all the material written about him or by him. I would also like to find a photograph of him.’
  • High school student: ‘My local library is very small and before I get dad to drive me 2 ½ hours round trip to the nearest big library, I want to be sure they have something I can use for my assignment.’
  • Senior citizen: ‘One of the best books my parents read to me as a child was one my mother had as a girl. It was an illustrated version of Grimm’s Fairy Tales. Has it been reprinted so I can get a copy to read it to my grandchildren?’
  • University student: ‘I didn’t write down the complete citation for a work I used in my essay. It’s now 2 am and the essay is due at 9 am.’
  • Family historian: ‘My ancestors came from Castlemaine in Victoria . I am trying to ascertain which newspapers were published in the late 19th century and where I can access them.’
  • Parent: ‘Our 11-year-old son is keen on Sudoku puzzles. We’d like to find the latest books and borrow them from a library for the school holidays. We might also like to buy one of the puzzle books.

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