Archive - Historical Material

New Zealand is a small nation with experience and challenges in the area of interlending that have relevance for both developed and less developed countries. The National Library of New Zealand operates in a political environment that is committed to ensuring effective control and value for money of public expenditure.

Employing both well tested professional strategies and the opportunities opened up by new technologies, the National Library is committed to maximising national access to library resources through facilitating interlibrary lending and document delivery. In mid-1999 the National Library replaced the automated interlibrary lending module of its national bibliographic utility with a fully standards-compliant facility. Central to this system is the automated national union catalogue and library directory service maintained by the National Library. The Library also has a history of working in partnership with the library profession to manage a national resource-sharing cooperative.

New Zealanders need access to the world of knowledge to complement and supplement their own important contribution to the world's knowledge. Communications technology and a standards-compliant interlending system open up opportunities to achieve those aims but continue to be challenged by issues such as the ever increasing cost of publications, the fluctuating purchasing power of the New Zealand dollar, a competitive environment in the tertiary education sector, and a public library sector striving to cope with the challenges of the new information environment.