PRESENTATION

Presentation Description:

Trove is evolving to meet the changing needs of its Partners and patrons, supported by a program of strategic infrastructure renewal and collaborative planning.

This session outlines current and forthcoming developments within the Trove ecosystem, highlighting how these enhancements improve discovery, strengthen interoperability, improve workflows and support broader participation across the sector – underpinning Trove’s mission of making Australian cultural content freely accessible.

Trove depends on the ongoing collaboration and expertise of its Partner network, comprised of libraries, archives, museums, galleries, and community-led collecting initiatives. While this program of change has not been without challenges for the Trove Partner community, their level of engagement has immeasurably improved the outcomes and enhanced the services delivered.

The new Trove Metadata Manager has adopted the BIBFRAME model, developed by the Library of Congress, as the backbone for managing bibliographic and holdings information in the Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD). With both the Library of Congress and British Library moving to BIBFRAME, the new system will be part of the international library community to maintain global standards and prepares Australian holding records for future alignment with international linked data standards. A Trove extension, developed as part of this project, captures the additional data important to the Australian cataloguing community, including Austlang codes and National eDeposit information.

Alongside this, the move to a custom-built solution for management of the Australian National Bibliographic Database has ensured Australian control of the future direction of our holdings records within a secure, resilient and future focused platform. The introduction of automatic data harvesting as the preferred method for syncing data with the Australian National Bibliographic Database minimises manual effort for Partners, automates record and holdings updates in Trove, and delivers the most current information about holdings across Partner collections to the Trove community.

The launch of Trove Partners Resource Sharing marks a significant modernisation to Australia’s interlibrary lending and document delivery infrastructure. This system introduces automated request routing, load balancing, and a new reciprocal service model with no transaction fees. The rota system strengthens equitable access to resources nationwide, encouraging participation in balanced reciprocal lending. Building on this service, additional development will explore opportunities for the public to directly access on-demand digital copy services via Trove.

This presentation reflects on the benefits, challenges and lessons learned in the delivery of these future proofing projects twelve months on from their implementation, the opportunities for continuing to enhance these services for Trove Partners and users, and what is next for the future of collaboration through shared digital infrastructure.