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This paper examines the particular characteristics underpinning resource sharing among university libraries in Australia, and describes a series of projects aimed at improving the technical infrastructure of interlibrary lending. It also outlines the links between these national projects and a European flagship project aimed at building distributed information services environments. By way of conclusion, there is a summary of the challenges inherent in creating global information infrastructure.

This paper aims to examine the role a recordkeeping informatics approach can play in understanding and addressing these challenges. In 2011, the Wind Tunnel located at the Defence Science Technology Organisation (DTSO)’s Fisherman’s Bend site in Melbourne and managed by the Flight Systems Branch (FSB) celebrated its 70th anniversary. While cause for celebration, it also raised concerns for DSTO aeronautical scientists and engineers as to capacities to effectively and efficiently manage the data legacy of such an important research facility for the next 70 years, given increased technological, organisational and collaboration complexities.

This paper will detail how, through a collaborative action research project, the twin pillars of continuum thinking and recordkeeping metadata and the three facets of organisational culture, business process analysis and archival access, were used to examine the data, information, records and knowledge management challenges in this research data context. It will discuss how this perspective, was presented, engaged with and evolved into a set of strategies for the sustained development of FSB’s data, information and records management infrastructure, along with what is learnt about the approach through the action research process.

The project found that stressing the underlying principles of recordkeeping, applied to information resources of all kinds, resonated with the scientific community of FSB. It identified appropriate strategic, policy and process frameworks to better govern information management activities.

The utility of a recordkeeping informatics approach to unpack, explore and develop strategies in technically and organisationally complex recordkeeping environment is demonstrated, along with the kinds of professional collaboration required to tackle research data challenges.

In embracing technical and organisational complexity, the project has provided FSB with a strategic framework for the development of their information architecture so that it is both responsive to local needs, and consistent with broader DSTO requirements.

This paper further develops recordkeeping informatics as an emerging approach for tackling the recordkeeping challenges of our era in relation to maintaining and sustaining the evidential authenticity, integrity and reliability of big complex research data sets.

Important and interesting books and articles published in England and Australia in connection with, or commemorating, the Australian Bicentenary are described. Five “official magazines” authorised by the Australian Bicentennial Authority are included, together with an outline of the eleven volumes of Australians: A Historical Library.

This guide attempts to identify those items that should form the foundation of any collection of reference tools on architectural history and upon which more specialized collections can be built. The core collection suggested here is for a college or university library offering courses in architectural history at the upper undergraduate level and above, but the annotations should enable those developing the collections of other types of libraries to select appropriate items.

Innovation and the process of diffusion have been widely acknowledged as hinging upon the complex social psychological process. Invariably, such a process manifests itself in the form of “climate” in an organisation, which influences people's behaviours. The purpose of this paper is to empirically investigate the roles of a facet‐specific climate, namely “climate for innovation” in determining innovation‐related outcomes. In particular, this paper focuses on interrelationships and roles of specific constructs forming such climate. Additionally, this paper attempts to determine the efficacy of innovation by examining the relationship between outcomes of innovation diffusion and business performance.

A conceptual model incorporating three climate for innovation constructs including leadership, team, and organisational culture along with two constructs addressing innovation diffusion outcomes and business performance was developed. Statistical analyses, specifically exploratory factor analysis (EFA) and structural equation modelling (SEM), were conducted based on the data collected from a questionnaire survey of 181 design professionals employed in Australian architecture and engineering design (AED) firms. EFA was employed as a preliminary step to ascertain the factors underlying each construct, and SEM was sequentially utilised to determine the factor structure of the model and to assess the relationships between model constructs.

The results revealed that perceived organisational culture functions as a gateway to the diffusion of innovation, by mediating the relationships between leadership and team climate, and innovation diffusion outcomes. More importantly, it was found that all pathways to innovation diffusion outcomes originated from the leadership construct, highlighting its critical role in creating a supportive culture that fosters and nurtures innovation. Finally, the findings warranted the benefits of innovation by demonstrating its significant contribution to business performance in AED firms.

The study presents an empirically developed model depicting pathways that explain the mechanisms of climate for innovation constructs in determining the degree of innovation diffusion outcomes and business performance. The model can potentially form the foundations of a framework for firms seeking to diagnose their existing condition and use such findings to enhance the diffusion of innovation that could, in turn, strengthen their business performance.

Despite the recognized role of motivation of actors in technology adoption decisions, there is limited understanding of the psychological processes underlying the motivation. The purpose of this paper is to explore this gap by investigating Building Information Modeling (BIM) adoption from the viewpoint of Maslow’s motivational theory on hierarchy of needs.

This research uses mixed methods. Initially theoretical arguments establish the suitability of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as the conceptual framework to investigate technology adoption. The hypotheses and research questions are investigated using data collected through focus group interviews, interviews and field observations in Australian architecture engineering and construction (AEC). The findings are validated with a survey of BIM adoption cases reported in literature, and additional interviews conducted in Finnish AEC sector. Finally, abductive reasoning is applied to seek the best possible explanation for the observed patterns.

It is found that besides individuals, organizations also demonstrate hierarchical ordering of innovation-related needs. Three broad categories of innovation-related needs are identified. Using abduction, the innovation-related needs of actors are described in terms of stable and excited states.

The findings are primarily based on studies conducted in regions with developed economies.

This research shows that Maslow’s hierarchy of needs could be a useful diagnostic framework to assess actors’ response towards technology adoption.

This investigation into the potential usefulness of Maslow’s theory into understanding technology adoption is by itself a novel research contribution. The finding that hierarchical view of needs can partly explain the adoption decisions of both individual and organizational actors is an original contribution.

The humanities are facing considerable difficulties and pressures in Australian universities, as staff numbers fall and research funds shrink. Despite this, various innovative projects, aimed at creating electronic versions of texts and other cultural materials, are currently in progress. A range of different cultural institutions is involved, though the university and state libraries are the most active participants. Funding for such projects is difficult to come by, and the future looks somewhat uncertain. If a more coordinated and coherent approach to building digital libraries is to succeed in Australia, researchers and cultural institutions will need to work together to establish the appropriate financial and organizational frameworks.