The Library collects Australian printed publications under the legal deposit section of the Copyright Act, as well as selected materials in other formats, including oral histories, manuscripts, pictures, maps, e-publications and websites. The Library also harvests and archives a snapshot of the Australian internet domain (.au).
In 2014–15, the Library undertook to:
- document Australia’s cultural, intellectual and social life by collecting, storing and preserving Australian print and digital publishing, personal papers, pictures, maps and oral histories;
- inform Australians about their region and their place in the world through the Library’s Asian and other overseas collections.
Major Initiatives
Digital Library Infrastructure Replacement Project
The benefits that the DLIR project will deliver for the Library’s digital collecting and preservation programs are being progressively achieved across all stages of the project, with major outcomes for the published collections expected in 2015–16 and 2016–17. This year saw completion of requirements for systems that will enable the ingest and management of published books and journals.
Testing of the Preservica digital preservation software management system continued and essential supporting policies, strategies and workflows were developed.
Legal Deposit for Electronic Publications
The passage in June 2015 of the revised legislative provisions for legal deposit of electronic publications was the culmination of two-and-a-half years of intensive effort by senior Library staff together with colleagues from the Ministry for the Arts and the Attorney-General’s Department. The ability to collect electronic as well as physical Australian publications through the provisions of legal deposit makes it possible for the Library to properly fulfil its mission to collect and preserve the Australian publishing record.
The legislation provides for a unified approach to deposit of library material, whether in electronic form or printed. However, unlike print publications, which must be deposited within a month of publication, electronic publications would be required to be delivered on request, which would be done automatically in the case of web-based publications.
Since the legislation was first introduced to the Senate by the Attorney-General in October 2014, detailed work on policy, procedures and legal matters relating to the legislation has been completed. The passage of the legislation on the last sitting day of the winter session of Parliament came as a great relief to the legislation’s many stakeholders inside the Library. The new provisions will change a great deal about the Library as it goes about its core business: it will change the systems the Library develops; the services it can provide; and the relationships it has with Australia’s publishing community.
Turning to the legal deposit scheme’s many stakeholders outside the Library, it is anticipated that once the legislation comes into force, six months after royal assent is given, the new provisions will be introduced gradually. The Australian publishing community will need to be informed of the changes and given time to adapt to them. Advice and guidelines for publishers form the most important part of the Library’s communication plan. The Library will work closely with publisher groups to communicate and discuss the new collecting requirements.
Collecting
In the last seven years, the publishing and creative environments in Australia have seen many changes. In 2014–15, the Library began work on the revision of its 2008 Collection Development Policy in order to better reflect these changes and communicate its purpose as it builds rich, engaging and relevant collections available to Australians. The revised policy, which will be issued in the first quarter of 2015–16, will adopt a new approach in presenting general collecting principles that apply across collection formats and types, whether in print, electronic or another format, and across publications, pictures, manuscripts, music, maps, oral histories, ephemera, websites and many other forms of library material. The policy sets out the scope, priority and principles of stewardship of collecting activity.
The Library’s existing collection program of web publications took strides forward during the year with the significant expansion of the Australian Government Web Archive. During the year, Australian Government websites and web publications from 1996 through to 2015 were added to the archive, providing a comprehensive and unique publicly accessible archive of the Australian Government.
Issues and Developments
Collection Care and Preservation Policy and Strategic Plan
The Library completed a review of collection care and preservation activity. The review covered analogue and digital materials and outlined the existing state of the collection from a preservation point of view. It articulated best-practice principles in identifying a number of collection care strategies to be implemented over the next three years.
Digital Preservation Risk Assessment
Complementing the work done on collection care policy, a detailed risk assessment for the Library’s digital preservation program was completed. The risk assessment focused on content rather than file formats, and on the Library’s preservation master material—complete, authentic content in sustainable, high-resolution formats—rather than access copies. The assessment acknowledged that the Library’s multi-year DLIR program will incrementally address the majority of risks to digital collection material through staged implementation of digital preservation functionality, particularly the implementation of the digital preservation software management system, Preservica. The risk assessment also provided assurance about the Library’s approach to digital preservation, helped refine the priorities of the DLIR program and emphasised the ongoing need for the development of related policies and procedures, communication, and training.
Digitisation Policy and Strategic Plan
The focus of the Library’s digitisation program over the last three years has been newspaper digitisation, conversion of analogue oral history recordings to digital format and a varied program of in-house image-based digitisation, such as pictures, maps and music. The Library revised its digitisation policy and issued a new strategic plan setting out digitisation directions for the next three years. The new policy takes into account the value of external partnerships in building resource capacity to create new digitised content.
Discovery Services Master Plan
The Library developed a Discovery Services Master Plan in October 2014 to inform long-term directions in the provision of access to and discovery of the Library’s collections. The plan sets out principles and goals to guide Library decision-makers faced with many choices in a complex and fast-moving information environment.
Integrated Library Management System Replacement Project
The Library evaluated the market for replacement software products for its library management system. It was decided to replace the system in a phased sequence. The first phase is the procurement of a new discovery service to replace the Library’s existing Catalogue and e-Resources portal. A request for quotation was issued in April 2015 for the procurement of library discovery service software, with an announcement expected in the first quarter of 2015–16.
The second phase will see the replacement of the back-end library management system used by staff for acquisitions, cataloguing and collection control functions. This process will begin following the implementation of the discovery service.
Performance
Data on the Library’s performance against deliverables and key performance indicators relating to storing, maintaining and cataloguing its collection is provided in the following tables (Tables 3.1 to 3.3) and figures (Figures 3.1 and 3.2).
Table 3.1: Develop, Store and Maintain the National Collection—Deliverables and Key Performance Indicators, 2014–15
|
Measure |
Target |
Achieved |
Deliverables |
Collection items stored and maintained (no.) Items catalogued or indexed (no.) |
6,640,000 52,000 |
6,732,555 49,023 |
Key performance indicators |
National collection—percentage of collection processing standards met (%) National collection—percentage of specified storage standards met (%) |
95
95 |
90
97 |
Figure 3.1: Number of Collection Items Stored and Maintained
The target was met.
Table 3.2: National Collection—Storage (%)
Achieved |
Achieved |
Target |
Target |
||||
2011–12 |
2012–13 |
2013–14 |
2014–15 |
2015–16 |
2016–17 |
2017–18 |
|
95 |
94 |
97 |
97 |
95 |
95 |
95 |
95 |
The target was met.
Figure 3.2: Number of Collection Items Catalogued or Indexed
The target was not met. Receipts of overseas monographs were lower than projected and therefore fewer records were loaded.
Table 3.3: National Collection—Processing (%)
Achieved |
Achieved |
Target |
Target |
||||
2011–12 |
2012–13 |
2013–14 |
2014–15 |
2015–16 |
2016–17 |
2017–18 |
|
95 |
94 |
92 |
90 |
95 |
95 |
95 |
95 |
The target was not met. Processing backlogs reported throughout the year were eliminated during the June quarter. However, recruitment delays and increased staff movements have contributed to the full-year outcome falling short of the target.