Acquisitions

New ways of purchasing, publishing and printing

Discuss the effects that electronic publishing has had on the hard copy printing and publishing of government publications and how this has affected clients and government business.

Give an overview of the current trends and the effect that any changes brought on by the electronic option of publishing has had in my domain.

Abstract

In the year 1997/1998 the ABS released 349 titles including 1067 hard copy, microfiche and floppy disk publications, the ABS website was in its infancy, and our only electronic services were providing consultancies on floppy disk, some CD-ROM products and the PC-AUSSTATS gopher service for time-series spreadsheets. In April 2000 the ABS introduced AusStats, an electronic subscription service, accessible from the ABS web site. The AVCC were the first and remain the largest AusStats client. The number of users of the ABS library fell, and continued to fall, as university students became aware that they could access the latest ABS data from on campus and as the public discovered the ABS website. Since 2001 state government employees in South Australia have had access from their desktop to ABS@, the intranet version of AusStats, so they no longer purchase publications from the bookshop and rarely visit the library. 2003 saw the addition of e-commerce to the ABS web site, further reducing bookshop sales. Over the last few years AusStats content has increased exponentially and hard copy has reduced to a select few flagship and main economic indicator publications. AusStats and the rest of the ABS web site now holds an enormous amount of both free and charged information and by mid 2001 we began to convert our other library extension program clients to electronic delivery under the new eLEP Service. Meanwhile the drop in sales and the fall in the actual number of hard copy publications released has lead to the closure of the SA ABS bookshop. ABS data has become much more accessible through the move to electronic publishing and we have considered those without personal access to the internet by including public libraries in our electronic dissemination strategy.

What is my domain?

Until very recently it was quite multifaceted. At one stage I was the bureau's state office librarian - a consumer of our own hard copy in my library; the library extension program co-ordinator for South Australia - consumer advocate for my eligible library clients; and S.A. ABS bookshop manager - retailer of our hard copy publications (plus other varied roles not directly relevant here - South Australia is a medium size office in ABS terms and one needs to be multi-skilled). Now I am still the librarian but I am focussed on internal servicing providing liaison services and training. The library extension program has been handed over to another officer and I have closed the bookshop. The increase in electronic publishing within the ABS has had something to do with all these changes either directly or indirectly.

A trip back to 1998

1998 was the year I took over the position of librarian and library extension program co-ordinator. In the year 1997/1998 the ABS released 349 titles including 1067 hard copy, microfiche and floppy disk publications. The ABS web site was in its infancy offering general information about the ABS and its services, publication release advices, press releases, information papers and basic Australian statistics. Our only electronic services were providing consultancies on floppy disk, some CD-ROM products and the PC-AUSSTATS gopher service for time-series spreadsheets. However there was already stress on hard copy as publishing areas had to justify the expense and a keen eye was being kept on the number sold. At this time thousands of complimentary copies were being distributed, including to the over 500 members of the library extension program.

2000 sees a brave new world in the ABS

The ABS is part of the trend in large statistical organisations and governments world wide to use the web as their main method of dissemination. It is both an economic and a political imperative. As subscriptions to hard copy publications fall they are usually removed from our subscribable list and become available only electronically.

In April 2000 the ABS introduced an electronic subscription service AusStats accessible from the ABS web site. Subscriptions started at $1080.00 per year for access to the entire standard product range. The AVCC were the first and remain the largest AusStats client. AusStats in 2000 included publications issued from 1998 onwards in .pdf format, the time-series spreadsheets from the old PC-AUSSTATS, metadata in a mix of .pdf and HTML, a handful of data cubes (previously non-standard output in Excel or SuperTABLE format), a limited amount of 1996 Census data, and the full text of the Year book Australia in HTML.

What effect did this have on me? The number of users of the ABS library fell, and continued to fall, as university students were gently educated that they could access the latest ABS data from any computer on campus and as the public discovered the ABS website. As well as the electronic versions of publications AusStats includes free access to their main features content. Main features data is often enough to fill a user's need. Virgin apparently made the decision to enter the Australian market based largely on information they were able to get for free from the ABS web site. Since 2001 state government employees in South Australia have had access from their desktop to ABS@, the intranet version of AusStats, so they no longer purchase publications from the bookshop and rarely visit the library. 2003 saw the addition of e-commerce to the ABS web site, further reducing bookshop sales.

Over the last few years AusStats content has increased exponentially and hard copy has reduced to a select few flagship and main economic indicator publications. AusStats and the rest of the ABS web site now holds an enormous amount of both free and charged information. The free content includes Australia now, comprising the full text of the last three issues of the Year book Australia, all issues of Australian social trends from 1994, and several other flagship publications; main features content from our publications; 2001 census basic and indigenous profiles down to the statistical local area level; and links to frequently asked statistical information in the popular statistics page.

What happened in the library extension program?

My university clients went over to AusStats plus a limited number of hard copy publications in 2000 and by mid 2001 we began to convert our other library extension program clients to electronic delivery under the new eLEP service. Many were expressing a strong preference for electronic access so it was decided to offer free access to electronic publications from the ABS web site supplemented by a flagship collection of hard copy. The eLEP service was first offered to a pilot group of libraries in August 2001 and to all library extension program members from 2002. Through the publications database in AusStats, libraries have access to over 600 ABS titles and 3500 individual issues, more than any but large university or state libraries could possibly hope to hold and accessible from the public internet computers in all branches of a library service, irrespective of whether or not all branches were library extension program members. Assisting libraries to connect to the eLEP has been challenging as they are across a wide continuum of internet readiness. We have had to deal with IP address translations, dynamic or fixed IP's, exclusive or shared access (don't talk to me about libraries who use BigPond as their ISP), proxy server settings and if I never have to trouble shoot another IP address it will be too soon. Libraries with eLEP access have benefited also from the free ABS web site training offered as part of their library extension program entitlement. In South Australia all TAFE and all but one of 60 public library members and their branches have taken up the eLEP service. We have begun connecting non-member library services as well.

The effects and the future

• Students and staff in all but two universities in Australia have campus-wide and in many cases remote access to the entire standard output of the ABS.
• Staff and students in every TAFE in South Australia have access to the eLEP service.
• 94 public libraries in South Australia have eLEP access.
• Thousands of South Australian public servants have access to ABS@ from their desktop.
• The sale of hard copy publications has fallen dramatically and the ABS has responded to this by reducing the number produced to a select few flagship and main economic indicator publications and restricting others to electronic dissemination only. The drop in sales and the fall in the actual number of hard copy publications released have lead to the closure of the SA ABS bookshop.

The number of people with access to ABS data has exploded through the move to electronic publishing. The way we can present data has changed as well. We are no longer restricted to the book format but can make detailed data available in a number of formats and deliver them over the internet.

We have considered those without personal access to the internet by including public libraries in our electronic dissemination strategy.

The ABS web site is maturing with a new interface released this year for the top-level pages and a new design for the AusStats pages early next year. Both are the result of extensive useability testing and feedback. We are also revising the product numbering system for all our output to bring more consistency to families of similar products. All to improve the accessibility to data for the user.

So why am I no longer the LEP co-ordinator?

Advances in technology has seen the focus moving away from the processing of data and greater emphasis than ever on developing the analytical and research skills of more staff to continue the mission to maintain a high quality, objective and responsive national statistical service for Australia. The ABS is committed to ensure its reputation as one of the leading statistical organisations in the world. How do I fit into this? Visitor numbers to the ABS library in SA have fallen dramatically since the release of AusStats and ABS@. The reduced load in maintaining the library and providing service for library visitors has been transferred across other positions and a new, part-time LEP co-ordinator has been appointed so that I can focus now on internal servicing. The ABS library network has, in conjunction with the National Statistical Training Institute, launched a series of training modules on building research skills. Together with delivering this training in South Australia I am providing an increased local liaison service for statistical sections in the office.