biblio asia outline.indd - National Library Singapore

http://www.nlb.gov.sgThe Library OnlineBy Wong Tack Wai, Senior Manager, Digital Library ServicesThe revamped National LibraryBoard’s Digital Library (NLB DL) atwww.nlb.gov.sg was soft launchedon 22 July 2005, the same day thatthe new National Library Buildingwas opened to the public. NLB DLcomplements the strengths of thephysical collections with its onlineand digital resources.Previously, library users had toaccess separate web portals tosearch for corporate informationand carry out library transactions.Now, there is one seamless interfacefor all their information needs.Therevamped website is more userfriendlyand provides a wider plethoraof electronic resources for theinformation seeker. These includea greater selection of unpublishedlocal works, digitised rare materialson Singapore content, as well as anexpanded list of databases.This development of hosting bothcorporate information and digitallibrary can also be found at theBritish Library’s website (www.bl.uk)as well as the National Library ofAustralia’s (www.nla.gov.au) website.Ease Of NavigationAt the home page, the top horizontalnavigation facilitates easy access todifferent areas of interest, such as“About NLB”, “Catalogue”, “PublicLibraries”, “Reference Libraries”,“National Library”, “Services”, and“News and Events”.The left vertical navigation bar iscontext sensitive and the links willchange as the user navigates throughthe site to reveal related links.The following examples highlightsome of the contents that can befound in various parts of NLB DL.The Home page of NLB DL givesan update on the latest happeningsboth in the physical library as wellas the digital library. Togetherwith the “What’s New” and“New Arrivals” on the right of thewebpage, the attractive banners inthe centre are designed to captureusers’ attention. For example,when the Zheng He Exhibitionwas launched on 13 Aug 2005,a banner was a put up to raiseawareness of, and also to guidethe user to the online Zheng HeVirtual Exhibition.The highlight here is the Library2010 Report, which sets out theNational Library Board’s strategicdirection for the next 5 years.In this next phase of ourdevelopment, the National LibraryBoard aims “to bring the world’sknowledge to Singapore to createa positive social and economicimpact”. The Library 2010 Reportaddresses the key challengesfor the Singapore society andeconomy, and provides a strategicresponse. Read all about it atwww.nlb.gov.sg/L2010/L2010.pdfIf you think that all public librariesdo is to open their doors for librarypatrons to borrow materials, youwill be amazed to learn a lot moreabout public library services in thissection. As you navigate throughthe links, you will encounter a wholeslew of activities and programmestailored to suit the needs of librarypatrons from all ages with variousinterests. The links contained in thesection will give you a clue to whatyou can learn about public libraries.The links are:• Advisory & Enquiry• Library Enrichment Activities• Outreach Activities• Storytelling• Verging All Teens• Reading Groups• Programmes• Community Partnership &OutreachFor the details, go online and startsurfing!The Reference Libraries section isa treasure trove of information! Thenavigation bar as shown above listsand describes the various collectionheld at the Lee Kong ChianReference Library.Within the Singapore and SoutheastAsia section, unpublished artisticworks can be found in NORA(NLB Online Repository for ArtisticWorks) and digitised collections ofrare materials in Singapore Pages.Information on other interestingcollections such as the Gibson-HillCollection and the Rare MaterialsCollection can be accessed fromthe left vertical navigation bar asshown below.If you are looking for reliable andauthoritative information, doaccess the many databases thatthe National Library Board hassubscribed for public consumption.These databases are provided byGrolier, EBSCOhost, Factiva, andxreferplus, just to name a few. In all,there are 78 databases for librarypatrons to search for information.To make it convenient for ourcustomers, these databases aregroup by subject as shown.The NLB DL is available sevendays a week, 24 hours a day. Newcontents, features and services areconstantly added to the site. Beyou a child, a student, a concernedparent, an educator, an avid reader,or a researcher, there will definitelybe some useful information youcan take away from NLB DL. Theuser-friendly interface will makeyour visit to NLB DL informative,interesting and worthwhile.Go ahead and start exploringwww.nlb.gov.sg today!22 23