Official name of the country:
Commonwealth of Australia
Official language: English
Official name of Parliament:*
The Parliament of the Commonwealth of
Australia
-Bicameral -
Member of the Inter-Parliamentary
Union
Official names of Chambers:
The Senate (1)
Member of the ASGP
House of Representatives (2)
ASGP
The Library serves both chambers of the Parliament
2. Address
Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia
Department of the Parliamentary Library
Parliament House
Canberra ACT 2600
Tel.: *(61)(6)2772500
Fax: *(61)(6)2775288
Telex: AA61640
E-mail:
library@par18.aph.gov.au
3. Details
on the Library
Year of foundation: 1901
Person in charge: Mr John W.
TEMPLETON
Position or official title: Acting
Parliamentary Librarian
Number of library staff: 218
Number of professional librarians:
47
Number of research and subject analyst staff
in the Library: 53
Number of secretarial and support
staff: 106
Number of other staff: 12 (senior
management, information technologists)
Size of collection: 100.000
Annual acquisitions budget: 1.200.000
A$ (~ US$ 850.000)
Number of current periodicals:
9.000
Periodicals indexed for relevant
articles: Yes, by the Library
Number of periodicals which are currently
indexed for articles: 1.000
Number of periodical articles indexed per
year: 3.000
Number of current newspapers:
105
Press cuttings: Yes, by the Library
(12)
Indexing of Parliamentary Papers:
Yes, by the two Houses
Library in charge of the archival materials
of the Parliament: No
Library uses a thesaurus or a classification
system for subject indexing: Thesaurus and classification
system
Automation of cataloguing: Yes
Is the automated library catalogue
accessible as an online catalogue to outside users?:
No
Clientele: Members,
parliamentarians'personal staff, parliamentary staff; limited
access: the media, State parliamentarians (when in Canberra),
former Senators and Members (when in Canberra)
Number of reading rooms: 10 carrel
desks
Number of loans per year:
20.000
Reference services: 45.000
Current bibliographies: 1
Retrospective subject bibliographies:
Very rarely
External database searches: Yes
Analysis and research: Yes, by the
Library
Other special services: Current
awareness services: SDI, weekly seminars with visiting speakers,
monitoring and transcription of the broadcoast media
Right to deposit: No
Depository library: Partial
depository library of United Nations publications
Other special collections of the
Library: Parliamentary Authors' Collection: a collection of
works authored by present and past Members of Parliament; press
clipping collection including typed transcripts of radio and TV
current affairs / news programmes and cassettes; political party
materials including party platform statements; collection of press
statements issued by Ministers, Opposition front bench, back-bench
Members of Parliament; rare books
Any other information: The Library
includes: Legislative Research Service: 40 research officers, 10
support staff; Press Documentation and Information Service: 10
Librarians, 17 support staff
IFLA membership: Yes
4. Publications published by the Library
Annual
report
First published for the calendar year 1978. - In 1982/83 the report
year changed from calendar year to financial year
Parliamentary
handbook of the Commonwealth of Australia
Biographical and other relevant data about current Members of
Parliament, statistical information. - Record of Members and
ministries since 1901, elections since 1901, and a number of other
matters relating to the Parliament. - New edition is produced for
each newly elected Parliament
* Basic
papers
Background papers on issues of interest to Members of Parliament. -
Prepared by the Legislative Research Service
* Current issues
briefs
Short topical papers designed to give a quick overview of matters
of immediate significance to the Parliament. - Prepared by the
Legislative Research Service
* Discussion
papers
Substantial papers on topics of interest to the Parliament. -
Prepared by external experts under the general oversight of the
Legislative Research Service
* Bills
digests
Each Digest is a short account and
description of a Bill before the Parliament. - Prepared by the
Legislative Research Service
* Monthly
economic and social indicators
A monthly publication bringing together economic and social data
from a range of both official and non-official sources. - Prepared
by the Statistics Group of the Legislative Research Service
* Current topics
reading lists
Topical bibliographies, each dealing with a separate topic. -
Prepared by the Reader Services and Reference Section
* Index to
current information
A fortnightly subject and author index to journal articles of
interest culled from the current intake of some 8000 titles. - Each
entry contains full bibliographic description and an abstract of
the article it identifies. - Each issue also contains a list of the
radio and television programs transcribed in the fortnight period.
- Prepared by the Technical Services Section
* Select list of
acquisitions
A fortnightly subject listing of a selection of new monograph
acquisitions. - Each entry contains bibliographic description and a
brief summary. - Prepared by the Technical Services Section
5. Publications concerning the Library
White,
H.L.: The development of
legislative research services in the Parliamentary Library
// In: Report / 1st Conference of Presiding Officers and
Clerks-At-The-Table of the Parliaments of Australia, Canberra,
1968. - p. 106 - 115
Fleming,
A.P.: Parliamentary
libraries : development of information and research services
in Canberra // In: The Parliamentarian. - 50 (1969), p. 272 -
278
Thwaites,
M.R.: Developments and trends in
the provision of research and information services in parliamentary
libraries with special reference to the Commonwealth Parliamentary
Library // In: Proceedings / Conference of Australia's
Parliamentary Librarians, Canberra, 1972. - p. 33 - 43
Brudenall,
M.J.: Current awareness services
for Members of Parliament // In: Proceedings / 2nd
Conference of Australia's Parliamentary Librarians, Sydney, 1973. -
p. 11 - 18
Moore,
A.L.: The Australian Parliamentary
Library and its work // In: The Parliamentarian. - 57
(1976), p. 142 - 146
Moore,
A.L.: Information for
parliaments : the experience of the Australian Parliamentary
Library // In: Australian library journal. - 24 (1975), p. 191 -
195
Weir, H.G.:
Submission to the Senate Select Committee
on Parliamentary Appropriations and
Staffing. - Canberra : Department of the Parliamentary
Library, 1981. - 28 p.
Brudenall,
M.J.: The Commonwealth
Parliamentary Library : some personal reflections // In:
Proceedings / 5th Annual Workshop, Australasian Study of Parliament
Group, Sydney, 1983
MacLean, H. de
S.C.: The Australian Commonwealth
Parliamentary Library // In: Parlament und Bibliothek. -
München : Saur, 1986. - p. 291 - 298
MacLean, H. de
S.C.: Australiens neues
Parlamentsgebäude und die IFLA-Tagung 1988 // In:
ABI-Technik. - Wiesbaden. - 7 (1987),4, S. 323 - 328
- Parr, E.: The information marriage : the Parliamentary
Library and the personal staff of Senators and Members / by Ed.
Parr and Alison Ransome. - Canberra : Australian Government
Publishing Service, 1991
Portfolio budget
statement Annual
Guide to the
services of the Parliamentary Library Biannual
6. Parliamentary documents
Parliament
- Joint Publication of the two
Chambers
Under this title are bound and published the papers which have been
presented to either House during the Session and ordered to be
printed. - Each such paper is initially published individually
under its own title and subsequently all are bound and published
together under the title shown above. - The publication in bound
form is many years delayed. - The papers include annual reports of
Government agencies, special reports of enquiries, reports of Royal
Commissions and other studies. - The volumes are numbered
sequentially within each year. - An index is published separately
even though the bound volumes to which they refer may not be in
existence
Senate
Parliamentary
debates : daily Hansard
Contains the full text of speeches made in the Senate and the full
text of other material such as questions asked and answered,
Ministerial statements, etc. -
Appears the morning after the debate which it records has taken
place. - It is styled Proof, i.e.
minor corrections may subsequently be made. - Each daily issue is
dated, and numbered according to the number of the sitting day, the
number of the session and the number of the parliament. - Also
carries a list of Ministers, a list of Senators, the States they
represent and their party affiliations, and a
Contents list. - In the first issue of the daily Hansard following a break of at least a week in
the parliamentary sittings, an index to speeches is provided to all
the prior issues for that particular session
Parliamentary
debates : weekly Hansard
A fully proof-read cumulation of the daily Hansard. - The issues are numbered sequentially
through a calendar year. - They do not contain an index but a
day-by-day Contents list is provided, as well as the list of
Ministers and the list of Senators, the States they represent and
their party affiliations
* Parliamentary
debates : Hansard
Hard-bound edition of Hansard,
issued in several volumes per Parliamentary Session. - Each volume
contains two indexes to its contents: an Index to Speeches and an
Index to Subjects. - The former is an index not only to speeches
but also to questions, ministerial statements, personal
explanations, etc. - Under each
Senator's name the index indicates the topic of the Senator's
constribution, its category (i.e.
question, ministerial statement etc.) and where it is located in the volume. -
The volume numbering is continuous and is currently in its second
series. - The first series (containing both House of
Representatives and Senate) began with vol. 1 in 1901 and ended
with vol. 221 in 1953. - That same year the second series (with
separate volumes for the House of Representatives and the Senate)
began with vol. 1
* Journals
Record of the business transacted by the Senate. - In two editions:
a Proof edition which is published daily following the meeting of
the Senate to which it refers and a final bound edition is
published for each Session. - The bound edition contains two
indexes: an index to the Journals
of the Senate themselves and an index to the Papers presented to the Senate during the
Session. - The latter indicates in every case whether or not the
paper was printed and, if so, its location in the bound volumes of
Parliamentary Papers. - This index is also published separately. -
The daily editions of the Journals
of the Senate are numbered sequentially through an entire
Parliament and retain this numbering when bound together
* Standing orders
as in force on 28 April 1981. - Canberra : Australian
Government Publishing Service, 1981. - 88 p.
Most frequently
used procedures. - Canberra, 1981. - 11 p.
Odgers,
J.R.: Australian Senate
practice. - 5th ed. - Canberra : Australian Government
Publishing Service, 1976. - 707 p.
House of Representatives
Parliamentary
debates : daily Hansard
Contains the full text of speeches made in the House and the full
text of other material such as questions asked and answered,
Ministerial statements, etc. -
Appears the morning after the debate which it records has taken
place. - It is styled Proof, i.e.
minor corrections may subsequently be made. - Each daily issue is
dated, and numbered according to the number of sitting day, the
number of the session and the number of the parliament. - Also
carries a list of Ministers, a list of members and their
electorates and parties, and a Contents list. - In the first issue
of the daily Hansard following a
break of at least a week in the parliamentary sittings, an index to
speeches is provided to all the prior issues for that particular
session. - It is, thus, a cumulative index
- Parliamentary debates : weekly
Hansard
A fully proof-read cumulation of the daily Hansard. - The issues are numbered sequentially
through a calendar year. - They do not contain an index but a
day-by-day Contents list is provided, as well as the list of
Ministers and the list of Members and their electorates and
parties
* Parliamentary
debates : Hansard
Hard-bound edition of Hansard,
issued in several volumes per Parliamentary Session. - Each volume
contains two indexes to its contents: an Index to Speeches and an
Index to Subjects. - The former is an index not only to speeches
but also to questions, ministerial statements, personal
explanations, etc. - Under each
members name the index indicates the topic of the Member's
contributions, its category (i.e.
questions, ministerial statement, etc.) and where it is located in the volume.
The volume numbering is continuous and is currently in its second
series. - The first series (containing both Senate and House of
Representatives) began with vol. 1 in 1901 and ended with vol. 221
in 1953. The same year the second series (with separate volumes for
the Senate and the House of Representatives) began with vol.
1
* Votes and
proceedings
Record of the business transacted by the House. - In two editions:
a Proof edition which is published daily following the meeting of
the House to which it refers and a final bound edition is published
for each Session. - The bound edition contains two indexes : an
index to the Votes and proceedings
themselves and an index to the Papers presented to the House during the
Session. - The latter indicates in every case whether or not the
paper was printed and, if so, its location in the bound volumes of
Parliamentary Papers. - This index is also published separately. -
The daily editions of the Votes and
proceedings are numbered sequentially through an entire
Parliament and retain this numbering when bound together
* Standing orders
as last revised 22 February. - Canberra : Australian
Government Publishing Service, 1980. - 68 p.
A short
description of business and procedures. - 8th ed. - Canberra
: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1983. - 76 p.
House of
Representatives practice / ed. by J.A. Pettifer. - Canberra
: Australian Government Publishing Service, 1981. - 966 p.
(updated in July 1998)
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