(From the National Library of Australia’s press release)

The National Library of Australia is making it easier for Trove Partner organisations to provide inter-library loan and document copying services to their patrons in a way that is fast, efficient, and reaches new audiences.

Alison Dellit, Assistant Director-General, Collaboration Branch, National Library of Australia, says, ‘A collaboration between the National Library, CAVAL, and Index Data will tailor a service to Australia’s unique environment. We are confident this solution will grow the collections in Trove, while providing ongoing support for resource sharing between Australian libraries. It will maintain our proud tradition of a national, shared database, publicly accessible through Trove. This outcome is the result of an extensive engagement and research strategy with Trove Partners and a robust tender process to select an innovative solution.’

From mid-2025, Trove Partners will be able to access a new national resource-sharing service with all the current core functions and a host of significant improvements.

Libraries have always relied on extensive resource-sharing networks to deliver inter-library loan and document delivery copy services. The new service will completely integrate with the Australian National Bibliographic Database. Other new features include:

• A reciprocal service model with no transaction-based fees, to keep costs down.
• The ability to set preferred Partners, including by region or library sector.
• Automated load balancing, removing the need to create manual lists of suppliers.
• A platform for future innovation and improved functionality.

Trove Partners will be the first in Australia to access this leading-edge technology at a national scale. Based on the platform of Project ReShare, it is a result of open collaboration and has been designed by library professionals in a user experience-centred approach. Development of the platform is led by a steering committee with representatives from libraries, consortia, and developers.

Jaime McCowan, CEO, CAVAL says ‘We are delighted to continue our long-standing relationship with the National Library of Australia that dates to 1979 with our support of the national bibliographic database. Since then, we have built our expertise and gained an extensive background in reciprocal borrowing, collective collections, interlibrary loans, and resource sharing. As partners with Index Data, we are thrilled to be working with the Trove community to develop cutting-edge national infrastructure to benefit Trove Partners, including CAVAL members.’ 

In late 2024, the process to transition the existing resource sharing Trove Partners will begin and training in the new service is planned to run in the first half of 2025.

Additional Information

Keep up to date through the Partner Newsletter and https://trove.nla.gov.au/partners/partner-services/manage/resource-sharing

Spokesperson: Alison Dellit, Assistant Director General, Collaboration Branch, National Library of Australia.

Contact 

Cheney Brew, Media Liaison, National Library of Australia M: +61 0401 226 697 E: media@nla.gov.au

Lynn Bailey, Index Data Main: +1 617 939 9623 E: info@indexdata.com