Niki Kallenberger

Education Programs Coordinator

State Library of NSW

Imagine having the vast information resources of a State Library at your fingertips, no matter where you are, no matter what time it is.

Imagine further that someone else has done the hard work and sifted through that vast collection of information to find what’s most relevant to you!

Infocus: linking people and information, an innovative service of the State Library of New South Wales, aims to do just that for senior secondary students.

Infocus aims to provide students with timely, relevant information for their study of the NSW Higher School Certificate (HSC) curriculum. Developed in collaboration with personnel from school and public libraries, Infocus expands the range of resources available to these students by providing reproductions of resources held by the State Library. These reproductions include journal, magazine and newspaper articles, as well as some of the Library’s unique heritage materials such as photographs, ephemera and diaries. With a collection of nearly 5 million items, the Library has much to offer students, as well as their teachers.

Students and teachers alike value the diversity of viewpoints and text types Infocus offers. Infocus resources are drawn from Australian and international sources, and often include items difficult to locate in typical school or public libraries. Although material is specifically selected to support students studying the NSW HSC curriculum, much of it will be useful to senior secondary students studying other courses.

Infocus operates a membership-based service for schools, public libraries, TAFE colleges and other organisations. A credit deposit system is offered to members to ensure paperwork is kept to a minimum. All orders, be they from members or casual users of the service, are filled quickly, typically on the same day they are received.

Because all items reproduced by Infocus have been copyright cleared - either through a license agreement with the Copyright Agency Limited or through direct negotiation with relevant copyright holders, member libraries can add Infocus resources to their collections. This feature gives Infocus an edge over inter- library loan document supply schemes.

Infocus will soon deliver all of its services online. Visit the Infocus website at http://infocus.slnsw.gov.au to see the first stage of our online developments. You’ll be able to explore the more than 1500 resources Infocus currently offers. At this stage ordering still requires a paper order form and payment by cheque or credit card. However, preparation for full electronic ordering and delivery is well underway, and it is anticipated that many Infocus resources will be available in electronic format by early 2001.

To learn more about Infocus, visit: http://infocus.slnsw.gov.au
or contact the Infocus team email: infocus@slnsw.gov.au;
telephone: 61-2-9273 1519; fax: 61-2-9273- 1248).