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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 8 Hansard (26 June) . . Page.. 2180 ..

MR DE DOMENICO (continuing):

Labor simply allowed them to drift along and remain primarily a book-lending service with little energy going into updating and modernising with technology. For the past 15 months this Government has focused on the Library Service and is working to take it into the twenty-first century, not the twentieth century. I hope that the Opposition will work with the Government towards achieving this. I urge the Opposition and other MLAs to support the Government in creating a Library Service for the 1990s and beyond.

Mr Speaker, this Government has achieved major improvements. For example, we have introduced the dial-in access system which allows people with a PC - and there are a lot of those in Canberra - a modem and telephone line to access the ACT Library Service catalogue. You can do it from home, from your own PC. I officially launched this system 12 days ago, and since then over 1,300 Canberrans have used it, Mr Whitecross. As you can see, this new service was a constructive reform and demonstrates how eager the Canberra community is for this type of technology. Mr Speaker, this Government is also installing a patron self-check system at Belconnen, Woden and Tuggeranong libraries in addition to Erindale, which has piloted the system for more than 12 months whilst this Government has been in power. The 3M client self-check equipment will significantly improve the libraries' performance and customer service. Benefits of the new system will include an opportunity for staff to spend more time performing other valuable client service tasks; less waiting time for borrowers, especially during peak times; and choice for borrowers between personal and automated services. This system will also increase security and help prevent material loss, because it links the existing automatic borrowing system with a 3M security system. Mr Speaker, this Government has committed $240,000 for the purchase of these fast-track checkouts and associated security systems for Woden, Belconnen, Tuggeranong, Dickson, Civic and Griffith libraries.

Over the past six months the Government has committed resources to upgrading the internal computer system within the ACT Library Service. Unfortunately, the previous Government did not see fit to worry about such things. Our upgrading includes the replacement of many of the dumb terminals with PCs, allowing libraries to be networked to each other and to the rest of the ACT Government. This will improve the ability of library staff to provide information to the public quickly. As part of this PC upgrade, this Government is bringing worldwide information through the Internet to the people of Canberra. Mr Speaker, Internet access will be introduced within the next few months. By the end of next month almost all staff members will have been trained to use the Net and will be ready to provide high-quality assistance and service to library users. This is another example of how we, this Government, are achieving a high-quality Library Service for the ACT community.

Mr Speaker, we are extending the CD-ROM service introduced by this Government last year. In addition to Belconnen, Tuggeranong and Woden, all other libraries will now have CD-ROM facilities. CD-ROMs provide up-to-date information using the latest technology and multimedia format. Last month I released the report that Mr Whitecross was talking about, the report of the review into the ACT Library Service, for public comment.

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