National Library of Australia - Gateways

ISSN 1443-0568
No. 13
January 1995


Contents


National Library of Australia Gateways was edited and designed by Margaret Davey using desktop publishing software. Please address any comments or enquiries to:

The Editor, Gateways
Network Services Marketing
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600

All articles in this publication may be reproduced without written permission on the condition that their source is clearly acknowledged.

National Library of Australia Gateways is issued bimonthly and prepared by the Services to Libraries Division of the National Library of Australia. Subscriptions are available on application at the rate of $A40.00 p.a. from:

Sales & Distribution
National Library of Australia
Canberra ACT 2600
Telephone: (02) 62621646
Facsimile: (02) 62731084.


State of the Art Technology for NDIS

The National Libraries of Australia and New Zealand, with CSC (Computer Sciences Corporation) Australia, have announced the technical solution that has been proposed for the National Document and Information Service.

In developing and integrating the National Document and Information Service (NDIS), CSC Australia will use state of the art components to create a system specifically designed to meet the Libraries' current and future requirements. The architecture used and the choice of products will ensure that the requirements for user friendly interfaces, powerful search capability, multimedia support, connectivity to external information services, flexibility, performance, availability, openness and fast response times can be achieved.

CSC Australia, the prime contractor for the project, is a major systems integration and software development company and a member of the Australian Government's Systems Integration Panel. The National Libraries announced CSC Australia as the preferred vendor in September 1994, and a contract was signed last month for the first phase of the project, in advance of the main Systems Integration contract, which will be signed as soon as terms and conditions have been finalised.

The first phase, Phase Zero, is the detailed analysis and design stage of the project. It is expected to be completed by April 1995 and will require detailed consultation with users. The National Library of Australia plans to consult users in a variety of ways including a discussion list on the Internet, focus groups, fact sheets and regular articles in this and other journals. Users are also encouraged to contact the Redevelopment Office with comments. (Contact details are at the end of this article.)

The Technical Solution

The NDIS will use leading edge technology to provide on-line access to information in libraries and databases in Australia and New Zealand, with gateways to overseas services. The central processing configuration will be Unix-based and will exploit modern massively parallel processing techniques to meet the Libraries' demanding performance and availability requirements.

In the past, massively parallel processing technology has been used mainly for scientific and technical applications but has been found to be ideal for addressing the high volume, text intensive style of processing required by the Libraries. This technology will support large numbers of concurrent users. It will also allow users to search a database of tens of millions of records in less time than it takes to search a database of several hundred thousand records using other technology.

CSC Australia plans to install the NDIS application on a series of IBM SP2 (Scalable POWER Parallel 2) processors. The SP2 is the latest offering from the RISC System/6000 family and the first to offer massively parallel processing capabilities. The RISC family uses AIX, IBM's Unix-based operating system.

Data Management & Retrieval Capability

The Libraries' requirement for a powerful data management and retrieval facility will be met by a package of three software components to be supplied by the Oracle Corporation. The first of the components, the Oracle 7 relational database software, will support searches on structured data fields such as dates and coded cataloguing data, including searches on ranges of values. Oracle 7 can also store multi-media data, such as pictorial images and sound, as Binary Large Objects or `Blobs'. It uses an extension of the SQL standard based on the planned international SQL3 Multimedia Committee specification.

The second component, the Oracle TextServer3 software, will support searches on text, including Boolean searches on keywords, with features such as word truncation, word proximity (one word adjacent to or near another) and relevance ranking. This text retrieval software is fully integrated with the Oracle 7 relational database software, allowing searches on text to be combined with searches on structured data. It would also allow multimedia data (such as oral history sound recording) to be linked with appropriate text (such as the transcript of the recording).

The third component, the Oracle ConText software, will support advanced text analysis. It can identify the themes in unstructured text, and assigns a weight to each theme. It can, for example, deduce from phrases like `interest rates' that a document is a banking document. Its analysis capabilities are supported by a 600,000-word dictionary, in which each word can have up to 1,000 attributes or meanings. In addition, ConText uses a `linguistic parser' to analyse the grammar of each sentence and to determine whether a word (such as `ring') is used as a noun or a verb. ConText can also create abstracts or summaries, to any desired level, from the full document text. The use of the ConText software within NDIS is yet to be fully determined, but it will assist in improving the precision of searches by filtering out documents whose main theme is not germane to the search.

To take full advantage of the NDIS at the earliest possible stage, users will require at least a 486 PC with a minimum speed of 33MHZ and a minimum memory of 8Mb. It is also recommended that an NDIS controller be installed at sites with more than a few terminals to optimise performance. More detailed information on user hardware will be distributed soon.

Major suppliers to CSC Australia for the NDIS project include Oracle, IBM and Novell.

The entire Project is expected to take two years to implement and will replace current library systems such as the Australian Bibliographic Network, Ozline, New Zealand Bibliographic Network and Kiwinet. The new system will provide faster, more efficient document search, ordering and delivery facilities.

The service will allow the National Library and the Australian library community to exploit the latest technology and to take advantage of the Internet and other broadband services.

A brochure describing the NDIS Project was recently mailed to all ABN and Ozline customers. If you would like a brochure and have not already received one please telephone the Network Services Help Desk on 1800 026155.

`NDIS' (The National Document and Information Service) is the working name for the new system. It will not be the brand name for the new service. A title will be announced in the near future. For further details contact: Project Officer, Redevelopment Office, National Library of Australia, ph: 008 026155 (toll free) or (02) 62621577, fax: (02) 62731180.

NDIS Presentations

During November and December a series of presentations about the National Document and Information Service (NDIS) Project were held in all capital cities except Hobart and Darwin. Warwick Cathro, Assistant Director-General, Services to Libraries, and Jan Rosi, the Joint Project Director, described the status of the project; provided a brief description of the solution proposed by Computer Sciences Corporation (CSC), the successful tenderer which will develop the new system; and discussed user implementation requirements.

Over 1,000 people attended the presentations, indicating the high level of interest in the NDIS Project in libraries around Australia. These presentations were the first step in an ongoing program to keep library managers and staff informed about the project.

In February, presentations will be held in Townsville, Darwin and Hobart. Everyone in these areas who is interested to hear about the NDIS Project and the major improvements it will bring over the existing ABN and Ozline services, is warmly invited to attend. Following is a list of dates and venues where the NDIS presentations will be held. Refreshments will be served at the presentations. Please RSVP at least one week before the presentation to Caroline Scharrer, ph: (02) 62621164, E-mail: c.scharrer@nla.gov.au or Network Services Help Desk: Toll free: 1800 026155.

TOWNSVILLE

DATE:             Tuesday 7 February 1995                               
TIME:             9.30 am-11.00 am                                      
VENUE:            Sheraton Breakwater Casino-Hotel, Ballroom 2 Sir      
                  Leslie Thiess Drive, Townsville                       

DARWIN

DATE:             Wednesday 8 February 1995                             
TIME:             9.00am-10.30am                                        
VENUE:            Auditorium, Building 35 Northern Territory            
                  University Casuarina Campus Ellengowan Drive,         
                  Casuarina                                             

HOBART

DATE:             Friday 17 February 1995                               
TIME:             9.30am-11.00am                                        
VENUE:            Sheraton Hobart Hotel 1 Davey St, Hobart              

Update on the CJK Project

"[Photo:]<
CP Tang, Linda Groom & Murthy Manchella"P>> Contract negotiations with Innovative Interfaces, the tenderer selected to provide the core software for the Chinese Japanese Korean System, are nearing completion. The System is expected to become operational in April 1995.

Two staff have been appointed to positions in the National Library to support the Project. They are Mr Murthy Manchella, who will provide systems support. Murthy is currently finalising the order for the Digital machine on which the system will run. He is also testing X Terminal emulations to be used with MASS, the third-party multi-lingual input and display software that will be used by most of the libraries using the CJK System. The other new staff member is CP Tang, formerly of the National Library Asian Collections Section. CP has been working on everything from gathering test data to arranging publicity photos.

The CJK System will be one of the beneficiaries of the Research and Infrastructure Grants announced in November by the Australian Research Council. A grant made to Professor Bill Purcell, of the University of New South Wales, includes funds for purchase of the National Diet Library (NDL) records, which will be loaded into the CJK System. The exact amount of funds available for the purchase of NDL data is yet to be determined but will probably exceed $A30,000.

A meeting of the CJK Technical Committee has been scheduled tentatively for mid-February. At this meeting the Committee will make decisions on the many options offered by INNOPAC, and on many standards questions such as the minimum standard for original cataloguing and Wade-Giles vs Pinyin. It's going to be a long meeting!

Inquiries about the CJK System are welcome at any time and should be sent to Linda Groom, Project Manager, ph: (02) 62621246, fax: (02) 62734327, E-mail: groom@nla.gov.au

Third National Roundtable on Libraries & Asia

The 3rd National Roundtable on Libraries and Asia will be held on Thursday 16 February 1995 in the Conference Room of the National Library from 9.30 am to 4.15 pm. The aim of the meeting is to discuss developments since the last Roundtable held in March 1993, and to prepare appropriate resolutions for action.

The Roundtable planning process has been assisted by a group of librarians and scholars around Australia, who have met by teleconference to discuss the major issues for the meeting, the agenda and appropriate speakers.

The Roundtable will include a session on Asian studies in Australia with addresses by the President of the Asian Studies Association of Australia and the Chairperson of the Australian Research Council.

This will be followed by an overview of developments since the 2nd Roundtable, including bibliographic control, collection development, analysis of the questionnaire distributed by the DNC Office, and issues relating to automation of access to Asian materials.

The session on future directions for Asian librarianship in Australia will consider the topics of South Asian collection needs, the DNC and collecting agreements, networking and the Internet, and training and staffing needs for Asian library services. At the conclusion of the session participants will divide into syndicate groups to discuss issues raised and the preservation and bibliographic control of Asian materials.

The Roundtable will conclude with proposals for future action.

Copies of all documentation will be distributed in advance of the meeting to those attending. Copies can be obtained by any interested person from Marie Sexton, Principal Librarian, Asian Collections and Services. National Library of Australia, Canberra ACT 2600, ph: (02) 62621519, fax: (02) 62734327, email: msexton@nla.gov.au

1995 Harold White Fellows

The Council of the National Library has awarded three Harold White Fellowships for 1995. The purpose of the Fellowships is to promote the use of the Library's collections by assisting established scholars and writers to carry out research at the Library for periods of three to six months.

Dr Maryanne Dever will be undertaking work for a book on `M. Barnard Eldershaw', the literary collaboration between Marjorie Barnard (1897-1987) and Flora Eldershaw (1897-1956). Dr Dever is a graduate of the University of Sydney and is currently a Lecturer in Australian Studies at the University of Hong Kong. She is the author of many articles, mainly on women writers, and recently edited a collection of essays Wallflowers and witches; women and culture in Australia 1910 to 1945. During her time at the Library she intends to work on a number of manuscript collections, including the papers of Vance and Nettie Palmer, Mary Gilmore, Dymphna Cusack and Frank Dalby Davison.

Dr Peter Jackson, who is currently based at the National Thai Studies Centre at the Australian National University, will be using the Library's Asian Studies Collection to analyse the place of the kathoey in Thai society. The kathoey, a male transvestite or transsexual, is commonly referred to in Thai literature and film, but has not been the subject of academic study. Dr Jackson, who has previously carried out research on Thai Buddhist thought in modern times, will be looking at Thai origin legends and traditional Thai literature and historical chronicles, as well as at news-papers and popular, medical and other professional journals.

Dr John Knott has for some time been carrying out research for a book on the motor car and Aust-ralian society. He is looking at the motoring experience and the impact of the private motor car on perceptions of time and distance in Australia, the struggles for ascendancy with other road users, the effects on housing and leisure activities, conflict with public transport systems, the car's role in the social emancipation of women, and the interaction between the car and government and the law. As a Harold White Fellow he plans to study how the motoring experience has been portrayed in Australian novels, travel books and autobiographies. Dr Knott, who is a Senior Lecturer in History at the Australian National University, has written on various aspects of English, Irish and Australian social history.

Towards Federation 2001

Working Group on High-Priority Cross-Sectoral Projects (RM1)

Progress Report December 1994

In accordance with Resolution RM1 passed at the Towards Federation 2001 Review Meeting, which was held at the National Library of Australia in December 1993, the High-Priority Cross-Sectoral Projects Working Group has continued to meet during 1994.

The Working Group considers that priority should be given to projects which might be completed within a fairly short time and within the funds currently available. The following projects are currently receiving support:

Microfilming of Index to the Argus (1860-1909)

Co-ordinator: Dr John Hirst, La Trobe University

A grant has been made to La Trobe University for comprehensive indexing of the Argus. This project received the highest priority in the report on retrospective bibliographic projects. Indexing has already commenced, with 40 weeks of 1867 already entered into the database.

Indexing of Literary Content of The Bulletin for 1921-1987

Project officer: Mary Bryden, Database Manager, Australian Defence Force Academy

The indexing of the literary content of the Bulletin has also been recognised by the Working Group as a high priority retrospective bibliographic project.

Indexing commenced in June 1994. In October, ADFA reported that indexing for the period January 1921 to December 1924 had been completed.

National Survey of the Overall State of National Bibliographic Access (including indexing and listing in directories) (Pictorial format)

Project leader: Julia Trainor, National Library of AustraliaConsultant: Paul Hodgson, Informed Sources

(Resolution TC1/RC3):

That a national survey on the overall state of national bibliographic access (including listing and indexing in directories) be carried out to facilitate as needed the development of action plans, and a report on the findings be compiled. In particular, the survey should identify, with regard to all formats and certain categories of material which represent problems of bibliographic access (eg. non-English language):

Paul Hodgson, Informed Sources, submitted his final report, National Survey of bibliographic access to documentary pictorial collections, 1994, to the Project Steering Committee for the Project in September 1994. In October copies of the report were distributed to survey respondents as a draft for comment.

The Working Group on High Priority Cross-Sectoral Projects supports the following recommendations from the Steering Committee:

Further information about the report is available from Julia Trainor, Convenor, Steering Committee, National Library of Australia, ph: (02) 62621514; fax: (02) 62571703; E-mail: j.trainor@nla.gov.au

Australian Holdings of Oral History and Folklore Collections to be Identified in a Directory

Project leaders: Mark Cranfield, (NLA) and Ann Bayliss (NFSA).

Recommendation TC12:

That Australian holdings of oral history and folklore collections and ongoing projects, whether involving institutions or individuals, be identified in a directory.

Committee membership for this project has been finalised with representatives from the National Library, the National Film and Sound Archive, the Australian War Memorial, The National Museum of Australia, the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, and the ABC Sound Archives. Possible consultants will be approached for proposals/ quotations within the next month Members of the Directory Committee have prepared documents including a directory questionnaire, a sample directory entry, and a guide to subject headings for distribution. The expected date of completion of the project is twelve months after the appointment of the consultant.

Study of In-House Indexes to Australian Newspapers and Journals

Recommendation TC7:

That the NLA and SLC undertake a study to determine whether and by what means existing in-house indexing of Australian newspapers and journals by State/Territory Libraries, Parliamentary libraries and local/regional libraries may be more effectively integrated to provide better national access and improved cost-benefit of operation.

Stage One of the survey to locate and list indexes held in National, State and Parliamentary libraries has now been completed. Earlier this year the draft version of Indexes in Australian libraries: a Towards Federation 2001 survey by Margaret Henty was circulated to libraries for comments and amendments. This survey is now being edited and will be published early in 1995.

A pilot survey for Stage 2 of the project, looking at public libraries. government libraries and know historical organisations within Western Australia, is being conducted by the Library and Information Service of Western Australia. For information on Stage 2, please contact Sue Lapham, LISWA, ph: (09) 4273341, fax: (09) 4273423.

Priority Listing of Retrospective Bibliographic Projects

The Working Group on High Priority Cross Sectoral Projects commissioned Carmel McInerny, in 1993, to prepare a report on nationally important retrospective bibliographic projects which could be considered for future funding. Projects, which were mostly in the literary field, were grouped in three sections:

a. those of highest priority;

b. other priority projects; and

c. projects in progress or nearly completed.

The report was distributed to State Libraries, Australian Studies Centres, ACLIS and the National Library for comment.

Three of the projects which were listed as being of highest priority have received funding from the Working Group. These are the Microfilming of the index to the Argus (1860-1909) by La Trobe University; the Indexing of the literary content of the Bulletin for 1921-1987 by the Australian Defence Force Academy; and the Index to serial fiction in nineteenth-century newspapers and periodicals by Carmel McInerny and Kay Walsh at the National Library. Work on the Index to serial fiction in nineteenth century newspapers and periodicals commenced in November 1994, with completion of the project expected early in 1995.

The Working Group decided that funding would not be provided towards the following projects, for the reasons given:

While organisations and individuals have been slow to make submissions to the Working Group so far, there is likely to be no shortage of potential projects for funding. Experience so far indicates that a substantial barrier to rapid action is the identification of a suitable and available person to carry out desirable work. If the `High-Priority Cross-Sectoral Projects' idea is to continue, it is likely that the funds available will need to be built up to a level at which projects of major national significance could be funded, whether wholly, or in part. If a fund is to be kept in existence through to 2001, this may require raising at least $A1-1.5 million. Experience to date suggests that this will be very difficult to achieve. It may be effective, however, for collecting institutions to link more closely with potential researchers in Australian higher education who have access to various sources of substantial funding through DEET and the Australian Research Council. Support by national and/or State organisations for academic-led projects of national significance may well result in them receiving funding. (Good examples are the Book Heritage Resources Project led by Monash University, and the Australian Science Archives Project led by University of Melbourne.) The Working Group will be discussing how to raise further ongoing funds during 1995.

The Working Group is still seeking ideas for projects with a practical outcome which can proceed fairly quickly and which are in direct support of the objectives of the Towards Federation 2001 Conference. Any submissions can be considered only at present if:

Ideas may be discussed with any member of the Working Group ie Eric Wainwright, ph: (02) 62621377, Robyn Collins, ph: (002) 337469 or Fran Awcock, ph: (08) 2077202. Details of all current projects, information on how to contribute to the Fund, and information on project submission requirements, may be obtained from Rachel Jakimow, Secretary to the Working Group, DNC Office, National Library of Australia, Canberra, ph: (02) 62621232, fax: (06) 2731133, E-mail r.jakimow@nla.gov.au

Trade Exhibitions in 1995

In addition to producing Gateways, one of the most important, and enjoyable, aspects of the work of the National Library's Network Services Marketing staff is meeting library staff from around Australia. Trade exhibitions at library conferences provide us with an excellent opportunity to do this. They also provide an opportunity to offer advice on how to get the most out of using ABN, Ozline and UnCover Australia, and to spread the word about new services including the latest news on the NDIS Project. Marketing staff spend a considerable amount of time organising and attending trade exhibitions and look forward to meeting you at one soon.

During 1995 we will be part of the trade exhibitions at the following conferences:

Information Online & On Disc 95, Darling Harbour, Sydney

31 January-2 February

If you would like to visit this trade exhibition but aren't attending the conference please phone Rob Walls on 008 026155 or (02) 62621657 for a free exhibition pass).

Asia-Pacific Library Conference, Brisbane

28 May-1 June

National Library Technicians Conference

Darwin, 12-14 July

Specials, Health & Law Librarians Conference, Sydney

27-30 August

National Reference & Information Services Conference, Adelaide

13-15 September.

Recognition for National Portrait Gallery

Although still in its infancy, the National Portrait Gallery, which is managed by the National Library of Australia, recently achieved the distinction of topping the short list of runners-up in the inaugural Award offered by the Centre for Australian Cultural Studies for a distinguished contribution to Australian cultural life during 1994.

The 1994 Award winner was The encyclopaedia of Aboriginal Australia published by the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

The 1994 Short List extended recognition to the following national projects and individuals:

The judges citation for the National Portrait Gallery was as follows:

A measure of the judges' regard for the winning entry is the outstanding quality of the short-listed entries--the panel was hard-pressed to restrict the list to six. Opened by the Prime Minister on 30 March 1994, the National Portrait Gallery is an outstanding example of the imagination and commitment of the more recent public programs of the National Library of Australia. It is indeed `new and distinctively Australia', representing the `experience of as broad an audience as possible' which, through the medium of portraiture, deals with `issues and events of contemporary as well as historical interest'. That it has captured the imagination of the Australian (and international) public is proven by the massive number of people who have poured in to see the first two exhibitions--well over 100,000 people. This is an initiative which has truly taken the National Library to the people.

The Centre for Australian Cultural Studies is a joint venture of the Australian National University, the University of Canberra and the Australian Defence Force Academy. The Award is sponsored by The Canberra Times, the ACT Government and the National Capital Planning Authority. The panel of judges comprised:

A Unique Listening Experience

The ABC and National Library of Australia Heritage Collection is a selection of Australian Classics, read by some of our leading actors. The first three titles of this joint publishing venture are:

My Brilliant Career. Miles Franklin's classic tale of a 16 year-old girl's struggle for independence, beautifully read by Miranda Otto. Abridged. 2cass., c.180min, $A19.95.

Robbery Under Arms. Rolf Boldrewood's colourful, romantic bushranging adventure, read by John Stanton. Abridged. 2 cass., c180 min. $A24.95.

The Merry-Go-Round in the Sea. Coming-of-age tale from brilliant Australian writer Randolph Stow, read by David Tredinnick. Abridged, 2cass., c180 min. $A19.95.

They are available from ABC Shops and the National Library Shop, National Library of Australia ACT 2600, ph: (02) 62621424.

Australia all over: The Pictorial "Towns" Project

"[Photo:"<
Nowra, NSW. Court House, 1994. Photgrapher: Brendan Bell

When Australia celebrates the 400th anniversary of European settlement, researchers will find a wealth of pictorial information about the appearance of Australian towns and regional cities during the 1990s in the collection of the National Library.

As part of its national heritage responsibilities, the National Library collects pictorial materials which form part of the documentary record of Australian history and society. With this in mind, the staff of the Pictorial Section set out to obtain recent photographs of important features of regional cities and major towns in all States.

A small group of photographers were invited to participate by photographing some of the 80 towns or cities selected by the Pictorial Section. One 'Towns' photograph had the distinction of being selected for publication in Creative Nation which documents the Government's cultural policy.

Since the start of the project several more photographers have joined the team.

To date, 27 towns and cities have been photographed, and agreements have been made to photograph another 34 during this financial year. The places covered so far include Benalla, Alice Springs, Maitland, Albury, Albany, Yallourn, Gundagai, Goulburn, Wyndham and Kalgoorlie.

The photographs collected in this project must be of high quality and of a documentary nature. Subjects of interest include streets, houses, public buildings, shops, monuments, parks, playing fields, factories, social life, schools, motels, and civic, military and religious functions.

This project has been so successful that it is planned to extend it in the next financial year. Many people have pointed out that important places have been left off the original list-places which, although small, may be of great historical significance. The names of these places will be added to the list for 1995-96.

"[Photo:]"
Wangaratta Victoria. Pleasant House, Ovens St, Wangaratta. Photographer: Raymond de Berquelle

Searching Newspapers in the National Library

One of the most frustrating aspects of historical research in Australia must surely be the lack of continuous newspaper indexes for the capital city daily newspapers. The introduction of electronic full text newspaper services has done much to overcome the problem for those searching the last few years or looking for current material. The National Library, since the 1950's, had maintained a subject cuttings file for the capital city dailies and national newspapers. Development of this file has now ceased although the file itself is still available for use.

The Library has recently introduced access to Presscom. This text only database contains full text of selected Australian newspapers including The Advertiser, The Melbourne Herald, The Hobart Mercury and The Australian (business section). In addition, the database includes The London Times, The Sunday Times and The South China Morning Post. The service includes in-depth reports, Letters to the Editor, finance, sport and general news.

Searches on Presscom can be carried out either by free text or subject headings. For readers with a specific request that requires no more than ten citations the search is free. It is a quick and easy system to use and allows access to material otherwise not easy to recover. The content of the database covers material from 1986.

The Library provides access to other full-text newspaper databases. A charge is made for these searches. A recent acquisition has been the Fairfax newspapers on CD-ROM. This includes The Age, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian Financial Review, enhancing the Library's coverage of electronic full text of capital city dailies in Australia. The Fairfax CD-ROM will soon be mounted on the Library's CD ROM network, accessible through three reading rooms.

Another full -text CD-ROM recently received and now available in the Newspaper and Microform Reading Room is the British News Index which provides an index from 1990 of:

The Times of London, The Sunday Times of London, The Times of London Higher Education Supplement, The Times of London Literary Supplement, The Times of London Educational Supplement, The Financial Times and The Independent.

Law in Australian Society - Oral History Project

As one of its Special Projects, the Oral History section is conducting a series of interviews with outstanding lawyers and judges.

The project, Law in Australian Society, will cover federal jurisdictions including the High Court, Federal Court, Family Court, federal tribunals and commissions. Interviews will include eminent barristers, academic lawyers and senior members of key law firms at both federal and state levels.

The Library has contracted a number of specialist interviewers to work on the project, including former journalist Mr Daniel Connell, legal historian Dr Ruth Campbell and barrister Mr John Mancy.

As part of the Library's Australian Special Collections, the Oral History section works closely with the Manuscripts and Pictorial sections. Therefore, it is hoped to acquire a photograph of each participant and to explore the possible acquisition of personal papers.

These materials will provide a valuable supplement to the Library's large law collection.

Electronic Mapping Workshop/Seminar

Maura O'Connor, the Library's Map Curator, attended a two-day workshop/seminar on Electronic Mapping in Brisbane, 10-11 November 1994. The workshop/seminar was hosted by the Australian Map Industry Association (AMIA).

The Workshop consisted of four presentations of automated cartographic design systems:

  1. DRC Auto, a company largely concerned with architectural engineering, uses AUTOCAD software. Features of this system include a digitising overlay and a sheetless facility which allows the loading of AMG (Australian Map Grid) and coordinate grids.

  2. AMFAC, is the distributor for Microstation, which handles CAD (Computer Aided design) requirements throughout Queensland and NSW. The system has been adopted by many map publishers throughout the world, particularly geological and exploration mapping companies. DXF (Data Exchange Files) data files are used and the system can be run on PC and UNIX platforms. The system is capable of importing rastor information, (eg a picture of a house).

  3. ABAKOS is a Queensland company which has designed a scanning system to import data into a PC allowing conversions from rastor to vector formats.

  4. GeoArc is a company which has developed a package known as GeoTrek, a street and feature locating device for Channel 9. It is a Windows-based program using a relational database and allows one to locate streets, facilities, AMG and planning routes on air, land and water. Text data is also available about facilities, such as street addresses. Video/airphotos and maps with GPS (Global Positioning Systems) tracking data including head wind speed, speed, and geocoordinates can also be included. The system is now being evaluated for use by RACQ, Police, Ambulance and Coastwatch groups.

The following day's Seminar addressed a number of issues relating to particular products and future directions in map publishing.

Brad Anderson and David Jackson from Universal Business Directories (UBD) discussed their use of Autocad for the compilation of their familiar set of street directories, particularly Sydney, Adelaide and Canberra. Copyright is a major issue and they seek to avoid copyright by capturing their own centre line data. The benefits of automating their products include time saved, automatic extraction of indexes and greater accuracy.

Paul Weston from Brisbane City Council provided an insight into the "Electronic Map shop of the future" with his discussion on the Bimap project. This project uses the digitised cadastre or land ownership data for the Brisbane City Council area and includes information on ownership, block and sections, intersections, utility services and AMG and UBD reference grids. Members of the public can dial in through a modem and access information about their own land parcel. Property developers and planners can also access information concerning utilities.

John Payne from the Australian Land Information Group (AUSLIG) discussed a number of digital spatial data products available from AUSLIG and some ideas being considered for the future. Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data is being derived from existing national topographic map series from all levels of data providers and is corrected, enhanced and checked for quality according to the Australian Standard AS3902. Six digital data format choices of Geodata products are currently available to accommodate the wide variety of systems that have been developed to interpret GIS data. AUSLIG's digital geodata files are available at three scales : Topographic 1:10 000 000, Coast 1:100 000 and Topographic 1:250 000 and in three hardware formats : tape, floppy or CD-ROM. Data is held in three layers : hydrology, topography and surface information. A unique numbering system for each segment of information, roughly equivalent to a map sheet in the printed format, allows for change only updates.

Traditional printed mapping will continue to be issued with some changes to sheetlines, overlapping and additional features such as LGA (Local Government Areas) and tourist information. The whole country will be revised over a ten year cycle.Future products, proposed over the next three years, include a National gazetteer, CD-ROM atlas of Australia and the first mass marketing of GIS products aimed more at the general market.

Ferguson Sales Plans

Real estate sales plans of suburban lots of land, collected by Sir John Ferguson and held in the Map Section of the National Library, are being microfilmed. Most of the plans are of Sydney suburbs. The plans are part of the 34,000-item Ferguson Collection of books, prints and maps held by the Library.

The plans, some of which are over a metre long and up to 80 centimetres wide, are a useful resource for historians. They provide a snapshot of suburbs and some country towns between the 1870s and the 1950s. Most of the plans date from the 1880s through to the 1920s.

Many of the Sydney plans, relecting a bygone age, have railway or tram lines or steamer's wharves indicated. The close proximity of tram lines was often used as a sales pitch. An 1891 plan advertising a new estate selling on the North Shore of Sydney declared that 'Trams leave every 15 minutes for the reserve. The land for sale is close to the present terminus'. A 1920's plan of Mayfield, a suburb of industrial Newcastle, beckoned clients with the words '34 residential sites, within 5 minutes of tram, convenient to steel works'.

Some of the plans have the locations of original house, hotels, etc. A plan of the town of Woodford in the Blue Mountains shows the position of Oakuri Cottage, while an 1876 West Maitland plan shows Bolwarra House. Plans of Drummoyne in the 1890s have clearly marked Drummoyne House and several hotels. How many of these remain today?

The bulk of the sales plans are in black and white, but some are printed in eye-catching colour. Unfortunately the colour will not be apparent to users of the microfiche, but can be seen on the paper copies in the Map Section. As many of the plans are torn and very fragile, users will be encouraged to consult the fiche first and to look at the paper copies only when absolutely necessary.

Commonwealth of Australia Electoral Rolls on Microfiche

Northern Territory 1922-1989

The State Library of the Northern Territory, the Northern Territory University and the National Library of Australia are releasing microfiche copies of the Commonwealth electoral rolls for the Northern Territory for sale to the general public. The microfiche were produced as part of a cooperative microfilming project between the three institutions.

The complete set of microfiche is available at a total cost of $A85.00. Microfiche covering individual divisions or years may be purchased separately at a cost of $A1.20 per fiche. A minimum charge of $A20.00 applies to individual orders.

Tasmania 1914-1989

The State Library of Tasmania and the National Library of Australia are releasing microfiche copies of the Commonwealth of Australia, State of Tasmania, electoral rolls for sale to the general public. The microfiche were produced as part of a cooperative microfilming project between both institutions.

The complete set of microfiche is available at a cost of $A550.00. Microfiche covering individual divisions or years may be purchased separately at a cost of $A1.20 per fiche. A minimum charge of $A20.00 applies to individual orders.

Order forms are available from: The Manager, Preservation Reformatting Unit, National Library of Australia, Canberra ACT 2600, ph: (02) 62621570, fax: (06) 2571703.

APAIS Thesaurus

The APAIS thesaurus is now available on diskette, in ASCII or Word for Windows format, for $A150.00. The thesaurus on diskette is completely up-to-date (including all amendments for 1995). Any institution or individual wishing to acquire the data in this form is asked to contact the Manager, National Bibliographic Publications Section, National Library of Australia, ph : (02) 62621523, fax: (02) 62731180, E-mail: shenders@nal.gov.au

Dissecting the World: Jigsaw Maps in the Map Collection

"[Map]"

The Library's recent acquisition of a mid-nineteenth century jigsaw map of Oceania (pictured) complements two jigsaw maps acquired five years ago. The acquisitions serve as a reminder that the inventor of the jigsaw was a cartographer named John Spilsbury.

Born in Worcester about 1739, Spilsbury began a seven-year apprenticeship with the well known cartographer Thomas Jeffreys in 1753. At the completion of his apprenticeship Spilsbury opened up a print shop in Covent Garden with his elder brother Jonathan who was a mezzotint engraver and a fashionable portrait painter.

Significant changes to children's education were being made about this time. Geography was seen as important as Latin, history and writing. By 1763, with two children of his own, Spilsbury was well placed with the new game he had invented, the jigsaw.

Spilsbury's own hand-coloured maps were mounted on thin sheets of mahogany and backed by paper. The map was carefully cut along the country borders to provide the child with a strong visual impression and feel of the shape. The sea was cut at random into large pieces. Another feature of his maps was the absence of interlocking pieces, so that when assembled the maps were unstable.

Spilsbury died in 1769 but his idea continued and increased in popularity as the century progressed. Firms such as Carrington Bowles and Robert Sayer, both prominent map publishers, began selling to the juvenile market. Maps continued to be the sole subject of jigsaws for about twenty years, no doubt influenced by the interest of their main publishers, notably Sayer.

One of the jigsaw maps acquired five years ago - an undated, untitled map of the eastern hemisphere possibly cut down from a larger map-exhibits many of the features incorporated by Spilsbury into his own creations. Countries are cut according to their shape although the Indian sub-continent and Australia pose a challenge by the inclusion of small, irregular pieces. Unlike Spilsbury's puzzles the pieces are interlocking. However, it does come in its own finely made wooden box, a trademark of the inventor's puzzles.

The second puzzle, a double hemispherical map of the world by William Darton, features on the verso popular animals from around the world, published by William Peacock. Both Darton and Peacock monopolised the production of puzzles from 1840 and to the end of the century. Simply cut, in large pieces, this puzzle was certainly made for children.

The most recent acquisition, a map of Oceania by an unknown French cartographer was probably issued around 1860.

The jigsaw is unusual in the uniformity of its pieces running across the map except for the islands of the Indonesian archipelago.

The English did not completely monopolise the jigsaw trade as both this map and the other two examples in the collection demonstrate. According to Hannas (1980), a noted collector of puzzles, the French were making puzzles since the late eighteenth century. The Library's pocket size French map of the eastern hemisphere published in about the 1750's is cut into regular pieces. The remaining example, an early nineteenth century German map of the Pacific Ocean, is interesting. Framed by its own cardboard box it follows Spilsbury's technique of not interlocking the pieces. The map was published by Weimar Geographisches in 1812.

Jigsaw puzzle maps remain an interesting example of the cartographer's skill and an amusing and educational toy for both children and adults.Reference: Linda Hannas, `When maps were cut into pieces', The Map Collector, September 1980, No. 12, pp. 18-21.

New Book Lift for the NLA

The Library's principal means of book transport between stack areas and reading rooms, the infamous book lift, is about to be replaced. There were few sad faces among Stack and Building Maintenance staff when the old lift reluctantly carried its last book after 26 years of not so reliable service.

The new lift will be a non-passenger goods type with a car 900mm wide, 1500mm deep and 1200mm high, capable of carrying two book trolleys. It will have bi-parting vertical doors capable of opening on two sides, a flexible feature that will fit in well with any future redevelopment of the Library.

Over the past two months the old lift has been dismantled and removed and the lift shaft has been extensively modified to accommodate the new lift.

During this time book movement between stacks and reading rooms has been carried out manually by stack staff, placing a considerable strain on staff resources and retrieval times.

To complement this new transport system, new trolleys suitable for use as both dump trolleys for book returns in the Main Reading Room and for transportation of the material, are being designed in consultation with Library staff and with the advice and assistance of a physiotherapist experienced in ergonomics. A prototype for trial is currently being manufactured.

The new lift will be installed and commissioned by the beginning of February 1995, in time for heavy user demand on the Library's Stack and Reading Room services.

Personal Papers of Aviation Legend Acquired by National Library

The aviation holdings of the National Library have been strengthened recently by the addition to the Manuscript Collection of George Urquhart `Scotty' Allan's personal papers.

Captain Allan, who is now 94, is one of Australia's aviation pioneers and is a living legend in Australian aviation circles. He is best known for his flights with Sir Charles Kingsford Smith and Charles Ulm, including a flight with Kingsford Smith on the first Australia-UK airmail flight in 1931. His achievements extend well beyond his skills in the air. In 1934, Allan joined Qantas and later had a distinguished career as an airline administrator, playing a key role in the development of the Qantas fleet. He retired as Assistant General Manager of Qantas in 1961.

"[Photo:]"
Scotty Allan (left), Walter Weyman (Lockheed) and D.H. Hudson (Qantas Engineering Manager) at Lockheed factory in the United States, late 1940

The Scotty Allan Papers, donated to the Library by Captain Allan and his wife Barbara, include correspondence, personal documents, interview transcripts, papers on Catalina flying boats, cuttings and articles on Allan and material on the history of aviation in Australia. Correspondents include Charles Ulm, Sir Hudson Fysh, Dick Smith, Athol Townley and Harold Holt. Many photographs, and some flight maps, were received with the papers.

"[Photo:"
Kingsford Smith (left), with Morton (Superintendant of Mails), and Scotty Allan at the time of the first Australia-UK air mail service from Darwin, 1931


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