Thursday, January 15 2004
All New Zealanders will now have an enormous range of electronic resources at their fingertips, thanks to the innovative thinking of libraries around the country.
In a move that is the first of its kind in New Zealand, public, education, research and special libraries have joined together to buy collective access to tens of thousands of electronic resources that can be used by people from all parts of the country.
National Librarian Penny Carnaby, Chief Executive of the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mâtauranga o Aotearoa, says that the initiative is a spectacular example of Kiwi ingenuity and community spirit. “Although there have been many attempts internationally to form across-country purchasing consortia for electronic resources, very few have actually made it to fruition. The success of the purchasing group shows the world how New Zealand libraries can work together for the common good.
“This collaborative venture also realises the vision of making information more easily available to a farmer in Southland, a student in Kerikeri, or a researcher in one of the large metropolitan areas,” adds Ms Carnaby. “It’s a great step for information democracy in this country.”
Primary, intermediate and high schools around the country will also have access to the resources, at no individual cost - the Ministry of Education is funding every school library in New Zealand to be a part of the group for the first year.
Through the resources, provided by vendors Gale and EBSCO, people will be able to access thousands of New Zealand and international full-text journals and magazines, and over a million biographies, photographs and graphics that are not available freely elsewhere. From an in-depth biography of Peter Jackson, to an authoritative article about ADHD, to news and pictures of the Mars expedition – the easy-to-use resources will make it simple to quickly find high quality information, accessible via the Internet from your home, work, or local library.
Mirla Edmundson, President of the Library & Information Association of New Zealand Aotearoa (LIANZA), is delighted with the new purchasing group. “This is an amazing opportunity, and one that can truly impact on the lives of all New Zealanders. It puts the library and information sector on the map as innovative and enterprising, while demonstrating we are a profession interested in actively delivering information into the libraries, businesses, schools and homes of the country.”
Ainslie Dewe, Chairperson of the Library and Information Advisory Commission Ngâ Kaiwhakamârama i ngâ Kohikohinga Kôrero, congratulated New Zealand librarians for having the vision to realise this ambitious initiative. "The recent World Summit on the Information Society, held to address the issues raised by the rapid development of the global information society, adopted a declaration of principles and action plan for sharing information and knowledge. This is a wonderful example of these principles being put into practice, with New Zealand taking a significant role in turning the digital divide into digital opportunity for all."
The e-resources will be launched in February 2004.
A formal signing of the agreement between New Zealand libraries and the vendors Gale and EBSCO will be held commencing 5pm, Tuesday 20 January, in the Parliamentary Service Commission Room of the Parliamentary Library, Molesworth Street, Wellington.
Source:
http://www.scoop.co.nz
