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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.

To review the challenges associated with ensuring the capture and preservation of and long‐term access to government records and publications in the digital age and to describe how libraries and archives in Australia are responding to the challenge.

Literature‐ and case‐study‐based conceptual analysis of what makes government online information so vulnerable and initiatives at the National Library of Australia and the National Archives of Australia.

Democracy, governance, consultation and participation all depend on the availability of authentic and reliable information. Government agencies as well as educational and research institutions are producing increasingly large volumes of information in digital formats only. While Australia has done more than most countries to date to address the need to identify, collect, store and preserve government publications and public records in digital formats, large amounts of information are still at risk of loss.

Focuses on circumstances and initiatives in the Australian Government.

Librarians and archivists need to become more proactive in influencing the behaviour of government agencies to ensure that important evidence of democratic governance is created and managed in ways that facilitate their accessibility and long‐term preservation.

Emphasises the vital role that information management agencies such as libraries and archives have to play in supporting transparent and accountable governance in the digital age, and explores innovative strategies for ensuring the long‐term preservation of this important documentary heritage material for the use of future generations.

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.

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 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 aims to describe the national interlibrary loan and document delivery (ILL/DD) benchmarking study undertaken by Australian libraries in 2001 and evaluates its impact. It outlines the nature and scope of ILL/DD in Australia, including research into the significance of this library activity to researchers.

The evaluation was undertaken through a survey including detailed statistical information from libraries in all sectors. Additional analysis is done using statistics from university libraries and the national interlibrary lending system.

The paper finds that the benchmarking study and activities undertaken to implement the findings of the study have improved the turnaround time and the operation of ILL/DD in Australia both for libraries and users. All sectors reduced delivery time by up to 50 per cent, creating much more effective access for users to the Australian distributed collection.

This is the first formal evaluation of a national benchmarking project and demonstrates that by working on the performance of libraries from a national approach significant improvements can be made in effectiveness and efficiency. It provides a model that could be used to evaluate other benchmarking studies. As it is the first formal evaluation of a national benchmarking study it has high originality.

The purpose of the paper is to provide information and analysis of a national purchasing consortium for Australian libraries, Electronic Resources Australia (ERA).

The paper outlines the political and library community factors, which influenced the development of a national approach to purchasing. It outlines the needs of users as expressed to a parliamentary inquiry, the four‐year national consultation and results of the first two years of operation of the consortium.

ERA now provides access to quality online resources for approximately 8.5 million Australians. The work has led to careful consideration of issues including subscription periods, governance, funding models, “best price” and collaboration with vendors for marketing and promotion. Further work needs to continue on marketing and product range to ensure the long‐term success of the consortium.

While a comparison is made with the New Zealand model, EPIC, comparisons are not made with other consortia models.

Key issues in consultation could be applicable to library sector or national collaboration.

The paper provides insight into a model for which very detailed policy and practical development was required.

This paper sets out to describe developments in Australian libraries and the national interlibrary loan and document delivery systems, in particular the outcomes of the Local Interlending and Document Delivery Administration Systems (LIDDAS) project. Australian libraries have had a highly cooperative approach to resource sharing for many years. ILL (Inter Library Loan) has become increasingly automated since the introduction of the online union catalogue in 1981 and the national interlending system in 1989. In 2004 interoperability was introduced, with 2006 developments in directories completing the national connected system.

Analysis is undertaken of the factors leading to a national approach, use of the automated solution by libraries and trends in use by end users.

Rapid and easy access to interlibrary lending has increased significantly through automation of local and national systems. While the overall number of loans and copies has not increased, the speed of delivery and efficiency of ILL has increased significantly.

By understanding the environment that led to a coordinated approach to automation by libraries in a variety of sectors, and evaluating the outcomes of the technological developments, this paper gives a basis for considering opportunities for future cooperative arrangements.

LIDDAS has stood the test of time as a highly original approach to providing access to the resources of the nation's libraries. This paper provides a study of the outcomes of the project, the impact of interlibrary lending in Australia and a cooperative approach between university, state, national and public libraries.

The state of the reference‐arts in this part of the world is such that at the moment little of universal interest can be reported. Though there is a growing awareness of existing computer‐based reference services, no indigenous service has so far been designed. However, the National Library of Australia and several of the larger universities and industries have made arrangements for on‐line links with BIOSIS, ERIC, MED‐LARS and many other systems. Extensive plans for an Australian Library Based Information System (ALBIS) have been nipped in the bud by the changing fortunes of politics and economics. Until the National Library has secured a larger slice of the national budget, progress in computer‐based reference services can only be slow.