DIGITISING PROGRAMS IN CASL LIBRARIES : AN OVERVIEW
CASL collections
The Council of Australian State Libraries (CASL) comprises the six state and two territory
libraries as well as the National Library of Australia. This overview does not include the NLA as
Sandra Henderson is providing a separate report.
State and territory libraries
 are the reference and research libraries for the general public
 have legislated responsibility to collect and make available the documentary heritage of their
state
 have strong special collections, especially of pictorial resources, private manuscripts and rare
printed materials
 are major research libraries for Australian studies
 have unique holdings of printed material reflecting their history and past collecting practices.
Customers
State and territory libraries primarily aim to meet the information needs of the people of their
state.
The State Library of Victoria has experienced the following trends which are likely to be
common to other CASL libraries
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Most onsite visitors live, study or work in the inner suburbs or the CBD
More than 30% of visitors are tertiary or school students visiting to do study-related research;
about 50% of remote users are students
85% of our website users are Victorians
Use of the Internet to access the catalogue is growing; between Jan 1999 and May 2000 Web
access increased from 35% to 41% of all catalogue searches
Use of the Image Database is growing; use figures for every month in 2000 exceed the
corresponding month in 1999
Customers are increasingly willing and able to access information on the Web though we are not
yet seeing a significant shift from our onsite user profile.
Aims
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to improve access to our collections by making them searchable online
to facilitate remote and independent use and to reach new user groups
to help preserve rare and fragile material by providing digital surrogates for access
to create an exciting, informative and inspiring digital identity which will increase awareness
of unique collections and services and promote use
 to attract sponsorship and increase marketing opportunities
Digitising programs
CASL libraries are contributing information about their digitising programs to the Australia
Libraries Gateway http://www.nla.gov.au/libraries/digitisation.
State and territory libraries were early adopters of image scanning and have digitised a wide
range of formats. In overview
Image databases
 about 600,000 images on searchable image databases on the Web
 standards-based catalogue records providing access through a single catalogue interface
 PictureAustralia will enable customers to search across multiple databases with a single
search using standard metadata
 original formats include photographs, glass negatives, paintings, maps, posters, realia (such
as scrimshaw, porcelain and furniture from Tasmania’s Allport Library)
Research resources
Digitising programs have enabled the creation of unique research resources. Examples include
 Utzon Sydney Opera House Collection - Reformatting from microfilm of 1600 manuscripts
items, 816 original drawings & 3200 dyeline plans. Reformatting completed with access to be
provided in 2000/2001. (SLNSW)
 Sir Joseph Banks papers (SLNSW) http://www.slnsw.gov.au/Banks
 Wine Literature of the World (SLSA) http://www.winelit.slsa.sa.gov.au/
Virtual exhibitions
Designed to highlight aspects of the collections or as promotional tools, they include
 online versions of physical exhibitions.
 web exhibitions of treasures from the collections
 digital versions of public events or forums
Examples include
 The Antiphonal. (SA) 360 pages of a 13th century Italian vellum manuscript digitised to
masters and images, Latin text, English translation and notes
http://www.slsa.sa.gov.au/treasures/antiphonal/
 Batman, catman and a kid called Ginger: the comic book invasion of Australia (Vic)
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/comics/
 Southall from A – Z : Ash Road to Ziggurat (Vic)
http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/southall/
Information websites
Draw on a wide range of formats to provide information content to research inquiries of lasting
popularity or high current interest. Examples include
Cyclone Tracy (NT) http://www.ntlib.nt.gov.au/tracy/
Sir Donald Bradman (SA) http://www.bradman.sa.com.au/
1956 Olympics (Vic) http://www.slv.vic.gov.au/slv/exhibitions/olympics
Targeted services for identified customer groups
Examples include
 Infocus online http://infocus.slnsw.gov.au has been developed by SLNSW to provide digital
facsimiles of HSC resources to school students.
 SLV has digitised over 12,000 images of ships to meet the needs of family historians.
 SLV has recently digitised a 19th century diary of a postal worker from the Geelong area in
order to make a resource of regional interest available in the region.
Copyright
State and territory libraries address copyright issues in 3 main ways
 Digitising of items which are out of copyright, especially heritage items
 Obtaining copyright clearance
 Seeking permission from the copyright owner to digitise the item for the Web as part of the
acquisition process
The latter is increasingly being obtained, sometimes for an increase in the purchase price.
Copyright information is usually included on the web resource as a guide to customers.
Collaboration
CASL has established a Digital Issues Working Group to foster collaboration between member
libraries. This group is currently looking at opportunities for collaborative projects. CASL
libraries have a strong record of collaboration with other libraries and cultural institutions and the
private sector. For example
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PictureAustralia involves the state libraries of NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, the National
Library and the Australian War Memorial
 The SLNSW is a partner in the Australian Cooperative Digitisation Project, 1840-1845 with
The National Library, Monash University and University of Sydney.
 SLV has two projects under development with the ABC and the private sector, both based on
SLV content
 SLT is planning a Tasmanian Images Database which incorporates images from a range of
cultural collecting institutions across the state.
 Internet History Resources is a commercial operation run by a private company. It consists
of 19th century directories & electoral rolls, including the Sands Directories and other
material from the Mitchell collection, along with titles from the Dixson Library at UNE &
State Records.
Sponsorship from the private sector has underpinned a number of programs
Summary
State and territory libraries are very actively using digitisation projects to make their collections
more widely known and accessible.
Co-operation and collaboration can be effective in bringing together dispersed materials, reducing
duplication, sharing knowledge and sharing costs.
Jill Wilson
State library of Victoria
CASL representative, CAUL Forum on Co-operative Digitisation
19 June 2000