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ISSN 1039-3498 | no. 43 | February 2000


Collection control into the new millennium

The National Library of Australia has recently embarked on a project, which will greatly enhance our ability to control the movement and use of collection items, both within and outside the Library.

For most libraries, the circulation and tracking of library items presents no great problem. In the National Library, it has been a considerable dilemma ever since we implemented our in-house Dynix system in 1990.

When the Library’s database was set up in 1990, MARC records were loaded from the National Bibliographic Database, and the Dynix system created holdings records for each holdings statement in the MARC record. For the majority of our monographs, this meant that a single holdings record was created, regardless of the number of copies or volumes the Library actually held. As well as this, the majority of monographs still do not have a barcode that is linked to the online record in the Dynix database. Using the Integrated Library Management System to trace material in use (for example on exhibition or undergoing preservation treatment), or to implement a circulation system for items in use by Library clients therefore presents difficulties—difficulties that seemed insurmountable given the size and complexity of our operations and the fact that collection items are not on open access. The management reporting capabilities of the system have also not been exploited, with staff relying on manual recording of management data.

All of this is about to change. Work is currently under way to create holdings records and to link barcodes on individual copies of items to the records on the system. Priority is being given to Australian material. So far, over 14 000 items have been processed. The scope of the project is quite daunting: approximately 115 000 Australian items have been identified for the project, of which 26 000 should be completed before the end of June 2000. A further 89 000 items with non-Australian imprints have been identified as medium priority. Items not within these groups will be barcoded and linked as they are requested.

Late in 2000, the Library will implement online requests for items to be used in the Reading Rooms. The Dynix circulation module will be used to check out and check in items. While it will still be necessary to create additional holdings ‘on the fly’ for requested items, these occurrences will gradually diminish as the barcoding project progresses.

Online requests will replace the Library’s maze of compressed air tubes, which currently deliver call slips throughout the building, and will also greatly enhance the service we can offer for items held in our off-site storage facilities. Because details such as call numbers, titles and so on will default from the Library’s catalogue, transcription errors will also be eliminated, improving the swift delivery of items to users and minimising the rate of unsuccessful requests.

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Please address any comments and enquiries to The Editor, Gateways: tford@nla.gov.au

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