Pathways to knowledge: a perspective on information and knowledge deliveryin Australia

Reviews the state of library and information networking and document delive ry in Australia, based on the content of the Australian Library and Informa tion Association 5th Biennial Conference and Exhibition, Adelaide, October 1998. Short case studies are presented which cover the co-operative relatio nships between libraries, users, organizations and publishers to illustrate the diversity of library and information networking and to show that simpl e user to user models, or publisher to user models, have only limited utili ty. Focuses on networks, services and databases and publications unique to Australia. Identifies five different types of Australian library networks: Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL); public library networks ; Colleges of Technical and Advanced Further Education (TAFEs); hospital an d medical libraries; and co-operating libraries from different sectors. Con siders the role of purchasing consortia, such as: the Public Libraries Auto mated Information Network (PLAIN); database publishing;the National Periodi cal Service for Schools; national bibliographic networks (notably Australia n Bibliographic Network (ABN)); document delivery services offered by the N ational Library of Australia; access to electronic periodicals at Flinders University of South Australia; and model licences or licence templates (LIB LICENSE Project, National Electronic Site Licensing Initiative (NESLI), Dut ch-German Library Joint licensing Principles and Guidelines and Internation al Coalition of Library Consortia (ICOLC)).