slv21 - Creating the Library of the 21st Century
Advances in technology mean people are accustomed to getting information quickly, when and how they want it. The Library's slv21 strategy embraces innovation, technology and collaboration to ensure that it can meet these challenges for Victorians seeking information.
Creating the Library of the 21st Century builds on the Library's rich heritage of collection development and information services. The Library has already taken some important steps along the digital path and has achieved a great deal. For example:
- there are more than 200,000 digitised images available via the Library's catalogue
- there is a dedicated digital space - Experimedia - which opened in 2003
- the Library participates in innovative collaborative projects such as the AskNow! virtual reference service, the PANDORA digital archive and PictureAustralia
- the Library has developed a Digital Preservation Policy.
Future work will extend these activities to meet the community's expectations of a 21st-century information service, providing direct access to the resources of the world and promoting Victoria's cultural heritage. The Library plans to further increase online services, offer greater digital access to its unique collections and provide Victorians with an expanded gateway to the global information world.
These and other ideas were explored in a symposium hosted by the Library in early 2006. Key Australian and international industry leaders and commentators provided a range of perspectives on the rapidly changing library and information landscape. Transcripts, audio recordings and speaker biographies are available on the Library of the 21st Century Symposium page.
The Library has created a multimedia-rich website, slv21.com, to showcase some of the ways it is redeveloping the Library to meet the future needs of all Victorians.
In line with its slv21 strategy, the Library is continuing to digitise parts of its collection - maps, rare Australian manuscripts, pictures, newspapers, and sheet and recorded music - to both preserve them and make them more widely accessible to Library users through its online catalogue.
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