Livestock Library: a dream come true – Ruth McIntyre

www.livestocklibrary.com.au

Launched in 2005 initially, it was a library of 15,000 scanned research documents, made available free on the internet. Although free, a login was required.

Challenges: library database was spread across several platforms and locations. It was all migrated to Inmagic DB/TextWorks and WebPublisher PRO. Scans of papers were donated back to the publishers, who agreed to give Livestock Library users free access to the content hosted on the publishers websites. At the same time, the need for a login was removed, enabling easier access to users an encouraging use.

Publishers host the material, so therefore retain how the content is accessed. Livestock Library indexes the metadata of the content from the publishers, giving users a range of access options. The Library gives users the same sort of access to content, that university students and government staff experience.

The ability to web crawl relevant websites was inhibited by the websites server restrictions. This was overcome by instituting a Federated search engine to search these websites as well as the Livestock Library database. Web Feat was the chosen product and since its introduction, many more websites have been added. Despite various issues experienced over time, it has generally been a very successful addition to the Library, with its success noted by the user approaches to it when the federated search facilty went down.

There are over 23,000 items in the database and 14 industry sites targetted by the federated search engine. Over 5,500 visits from 98 countries have visited the Library in recent times.

Australian Agriculture and Natural Resources Online (AANRO) has been the biggest competitor, but also the Livestock Librarys salvation? Talks are in progress to merge the two services. The WA Agriculture and Food Dept is providing support until the Livestock Library finds a source of sustainable funding.

Question: whats the likelihood of the project continuing. Fairly optimistic. Stakeholders are keen that the URL and own homepage are retained, even if there is a joint server arrangement as there is a high profile in the livestock community.