ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 43 | February 2000
Australian Libraries Gateway Phase II released
Phase II of the Australian Libraries Gateway (ALG) is now operating, with the redeveloped service released on the World Wide Web in time for the new year. Phase II enables libraries within the Gateway to reveal a wider range of new information about their collections and services. Information on over 5400 libraries is available on ALG: now Australians can discover a great deal more about them all.
The new service comprises features that have been developed after considering feedback from the listed libraries, site users and other interested parties within the library and cultural heritage community.
One popular improvement will be quicker searches and response times. Advanced search options can now be used; for example, users can now search for and display only those libraries with online catalogues or those that contribute to the National Bibliographic Database (NBD), search for multiple library types, or search by keyword/phrase within any or all fields. Another option within the new Advanced search is a combination library-type search with a geographic filter; for example, one can search for Law and University libraries in Victoria, or Government and Cultural organisation libraries in New South Wales. The utility of these new searches is further extended by the addition of new library categories, such as Science/Technology, Music, Agriculture, Toy, Research, Mobile and Parliamentary, while the Defence library type has been revised to Defence/Military.
Australian libraries located overseas (for example, libraries in Australian embassies and diplomatic missions, or in Australian territories, such as Antarctica) are now included on the Gateway. The static pagesthose non-directory pages within the site that link to resources for libraries and library usershave been revised, and a search engine added for the static pages on the ALG site. Among enhancements that are perhaps less obvious to ALG users, but of great importance nonetheless, are the improved administrative tools for easier reporting to ALG Administration.
The library details display has also been changed: Other names and acronyms have been separated from Former names and are displayed separately; and provision has been made for the display of more than one parent organisation name within the database (there are some instances in which there are up to three parent organisations of equal standing). Libraries may now update their official name within the database themselves, and libraries with oral history collections within Australias Oral History Collections: A National Directory (another new service at http://www.nla.gov.au/ohdir/) can link directly to these from within their ALG entry.
New data fields have been added, allowing libraries to include more information about their services. Among the new fields are:
Your comments about the new service are most welcomeplease email alg@nla.gov.au or telephone the Coordination Support Branch of the National Library on (02) 6262 1522.
Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: tford@nla.gov.au