Libraries Australia: creating a new national resource discovery service

Purpose – This paper seeks to report on the development of a new interface for “finding” and “getting” resources from Australian libraries. Design/methodology/approach – 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. Findings – The new interface is found to more successfully meet the needs of searchers, particularly the general public. Originality/value – 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.