Access to Information: New Directions

摘要

This article is based on the results of the Integrated Document Access (IDA) project, prepared for the National Library of Australia and the Council of Australian University Librarians with support from the Evaluations and Investigations Program of the federal Department of Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs. The project considered resource discovery and retrieval tools available nationally and internationally and identified other projects aimed at improving access to electronic and print documents. The value of existing Internet search tools was assessed, and these included robot-based search engines, subject catalogues and indexes to electronic publications. Document delivery capabilities were examined and all systems were found to be moving towards providing some form of electronic document delivery, either as an ordering or transmission process. Existing Australian initiatives were described and new ones suggested. The report concluded that developments in linked Z39.50/WAIS protocols offer the most long-term potential for effective integrated-retrieval systems.