| Home |
![]() |
new pathways new connections |
EXPANDING DIGITAL ACCESS
J.A. Mulligan (1927-1996) The Library’s digitisation program aims to provide online access to Australian items in the Library’s Collection that are significant in terms of their cultural or research value. Priority is given to items—such as maps, photographs, and paintings—that are not available for use outside the Library building in Canberra, or that support collaborative services. Digitisation increases access to unique and sometimes fragile items. Researchers, school students and interested browsers can view digital copies simultaneously, from wherever they are located. They do not have to visit the Library or wait for someone else to finish using an item. The Library’s digitisation program offers other benefits, particularly in the area of preservation. Fragile items can be maintained in current condition, without suffering the damage that results from constant handling. An example of these benefits was the digitisation in 2003 of the photographic collection of press photographer John Mulligan (1927–1996). Over 700 of Mulligan’s images are now available via the Pictures Catalogue. The original images, on the acetate film base commonly used in the1960s and 1970s, show signs of imminent deterioration. The digital copies now preserve Mulligan’s work, revealing to future generations a world in which IBM electric typewriters were ‘new technology’. Other collections digitised in 2003 included a selection from the archive of photographer Wolfgang Sievers acquired by the Library in 2002, the diaries and political papers of Australia’s second Prime Minister, Alfred Deakin, and photographs from the Australian Inland Mission. By the end of 2003, the National Library had digitised and made accessible online 67 000 pictures, 1500 maps, 3500 pieces of sheet music, as well as selected books and several manuscript collections. The transfer of the Library’s Oral History Sound Collection from analogue tape to digital files was also progressed. Almost 30 per cent of the collection is now in digital form, ensuring this material remains accessible despite analogue equipment becoming obsolete. The Library has also undertaken projects to build improved digital delivery systems. These delivery systems allow users to turn pages in the same way that they can turn the pages of a book; to move easily within multi-page items; and to zoom in to view maps and photographs in great detail. In 2003, the Library completed the development of delivery systems for all digitised material, including pictures, sheet music, maps, manuscripts, books and serials. The Library’s digital archiving activity continued strongly throughout
the year. The number of websites and online publications in PANDORA:
Australia’s Web Archive grew by 1860, bringing the total number
of titles in the archive to just over 5000. PANDORA is a collaborative
undertaking involving state libraries and other collecting institutions.
The number of partners in PANDORA increased during the year with the
Australian War Memorial and the Australian
Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies agreeing to join the archive. |