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This paper aims to describe the role of the National Library of Australia in the Australian interlibrary loan environment, not just in terms of providing access to National Library collections through the document supply service, but also in providing infrastructure to support interlibrary loans across Australia.

The paper describes the various roles the National Library plays in the interlibrary loan/document delivery environment in Australia. It covers the document supply service and the Libraries Australia service, which provides the infrastructure that supports interlibrary loans/document delivery in Australia, and briefly reports on the evaluation of services currently being undertaken.

Providing access to library collections is complex and constantly changing. Client expectations are increasing, and libraries need to change traditional practices to meet user needs.

The paper covers the services offered by the National Library of Australia in supporting interlibrary loans/document delivery. Very few papers cover this topic.

Technology is an integral part of library functions in Australia. The development of a national bibliographic network, of local and regional cooperation, integrated library systems, telecommunications, and online systems, as well as usage of microcomputers, ergonomics, copyright issues, and national information policy are all discussed. Additionally, the ambitious information technology plans of the Parliamentary Library of Australia are described.

The author explains that both the 14.5 million population and the distance which Australia is from major publishing centres may account for the enthusiasm for new technology. Libraries in Australia were early users of minicomputers. A feature of these developments has been the growth in the country's telecommunications culminating in the introduction of MIDAS in 1979 and the use of online databases via Lockheed, SDC and OCLC. Access to databases within Australia is now achieved through AUSINET and CSIRONET. This has promoted library automation, which is here dealt with in three phases — Phase I relates to punched‐card systems; Phase II is characterised by the introduction of AUSMARC in 1971 and the establishment of the Australian MARC record service — under this phase are described the developments in systems for acquisitions, cataloguing, data entry, circulation control, and serials receipts; Phase III covers the shared systems and cooperative networks. The article ends by briefly surveying the future which seems largely dependent on the success of the National Library of Australia's development programme for hardware and software to provide a nationwide service.

This article seeks to provide an update of two papers presented to the VDX Users Group of Australia and New Zealand during 2006. It aims to explore the issues associated with the implementation of Trans Tasman Interlending and its subsequent success, and is written primarily from a technical perspective.

The first part describes the issues addressed, processes used and resolutions adopted in the period leading up to the go‐live of Trans Tasman Interlending. The second part provides a review of the first six months of operation.

Trans Tasman Interlending has produced interesting results and is clearly more significant for interlending in New Zealand than it is Australia. This article looks at a variety of result areas and delves into the issues the linked service has highlighted.

While both countries have based their analysis on readily available report data, it is only in the Australian context that a formalised user survey was used. New Zealand reporting relies more on anecdotal evidence.

In highlighting the issues involved in linking two utilities this article potentially provides a checklist for others to follow and a yardstick against which to measure success.

Trans Tasman Interlending is a first for the linking of two national interlending utilities.

This paper seeks to report on the development of a new interface for “finding” and “getting” resources from Australian libraries.

The National Library of Australia has provided online access to the Australian National Bibliographic Database since 1981. Containing the National Union Catalogue for Australia, its major role initially was to support shared cataloguing. The Kinetica service supports access to the database through its search service. Kinetica is being redeveloped over the period 2004 and 2005 to provide a more modern, standards‐based service. The development is focused on increasing access by Australians to the nation's collections. The new interface for searching, Libraries Australia, was launched in December 2004 and incorporates a Google‐style search interface with a range of new “get” functionality, enabling requesting from libraries and ordering from bookshops. The paper reports on the redevelopment project, particularly Libraries Australia.

The new interface is found to more successfully meet the needs of searchers, particularly the general public.

Summarises research undertaken to assess the needs of Australians for access to library collections. Also describes the technical architecture of the new search service and future directions for this national infrastructure for resource sharing in Australia. Issues for the future including universal access are identified.

This paper presents research that sought to understand how the National Library of Australia engages with soft power in its Annual Report 2019–20. Driving the analysis was the research question: How is soft power discourse reproduced and enacted in the National Library of Australia's Annual Report 2019–20? The research recognises the significance of Australia's soft power, cultural diplomacy, and regional relationships to national interest in the context of a library's contributions to these areas.

The study employs a qualitative discourse analysis, with constructivist and interpretivist perspectives. A critical discourse analysis was undertaken that applied a discourse-historical approach.

The findings suggest that the National Library of Australia primarily engages with soft power discourse through the construction and preservation of an Australian national identity. National identity is framed as key to the Library's collection development, with Australian knowledge prioritised.

This study extends on research addressing the roles of galleries, archives, and museums in cultural diplomacy, but rarely examines soft power and libraries explicitly or in a contemporary context. It contributes to broader understandings of libraries in international relations and the role they can play in soft power attraction and cultural diplomacy.

This chapter looks at Australian public libraries and how they have developed and delivered inclusive service to people with disabilities over the past decade or so. As digital technology impacts the public library sector the question of “how are libraries responding?” emerges, especially for the one in five Australians living with disabilities. This chapter is focused on how the public library network is delivering digitally inclusive services to people with disabilities.

The approach was to examine the international obligations, related governance, and professional standards that apply to Australian Public libraries; the current disability and digital inclusion related research from the past decade; and highlight some of the better examples of practice in Australian public library service.

This chapter is not a comprehensive examination but rather a summary scan of digital inclusion practice. However, it raises a number of questions for further investigation: research as to how these obligations are put into practice; how they can be better shared and learnt from; and more importantly how the aspiration of “inclusion for all” is being met.

Purpose – This chapter provides a historical overview of libraries and library and information science/studies (LIS) education in Australia, charting the changing nature of the LIS academy and the profession. The chapter then examines the knowledge, skills, and qualifications required for current and emerging LIS professionals, discussing how we embrace new knowledge and analyzing whether there are aspects of current LIS education that we need to hold on to or let go of in order to re-envision LIS education in the future.

Design/Methodology/Approach – A brief historical analysis of Australian librarianship, library associations, and LIS education, dating from European colonization in 1788 to the present, 2017, sets the context and informs the discussion.

Findings – This chapter demonstrates how social, political, technological, and educational forces have influenced libraries, librarianship, and LIS education. Within this context, we propose ways forward, such as partnering with broader information communities, adopting emerging specialties, building closer relationships between academia and practice, and considering “letting go” of some of the old as we add the new.

Originality/Value – By providing an original historical overview of librarianship in Australia with a particular focus on LIS education and how the goals and focus of both librarianship and LIS education have evolved over the centuries, this chapter contributes to an informed discussion designed to assist in re-envisioning the information professions and disciplines in the future.

A survey was conducted in the second half of 1987 as to the state of automated systems in major Australian tertiary national and state libraries. An almost 100% response rate has enabled a comprehensive overview to be obtained. The survey proves that Australia has many similarities to other countries such as the United Kingdom and the United States, notably in the increasing purchase by institutions of integrated proprietary systems. Trends in commercial vendor success and related issues are discussed. Clearly in many instances such trends for Australia also set a pattern for other Australasian countries.

Developments in document supply in Australia in the five years following the Library Association of Australia's 1980 national interlending conference are surveyed. Little progress seemed to have been made, apart from the development of the Australian Bibliographic Network, by the time of the second interlending conference in 1983. Six resolutions from this conference were considered in the LAA's National Plan for Document Supply and Delivery. A Document Delivery Conference was called in November 1984 to discuss reactions to the plan, and a working party was formed to progress the Conference's recommendations. The working party's final report is due shortly, and indications are that the National Library of Australia is set to assume a major role in interlibrary lending.