National Library News June 1999 Vol. 31, no. 6

Technology to Increase Access to Canadian Content and the World of Knowledge

The AMICUS database, a key resource of the National Library, provides the library, research and publishing communities with information on the premier collection of Canadian materials in the world. The database is a rich storehouse containing more than 16 million records from many Canadian libraries in the arts, social sciences and humanities and official publications and is an important source for research in science and technology. In addition, the AMICUS database includes half a million authority records (providing details about Canadian authors, government bodies and private organizations) and the holdings of over 500 Canadian libraries. AMICUS not only furnishes records for published items but also provides information on upcoming publications through its pre-publication records.

The National Library offers a variety of services and products to provide access to the information contained in the AMICUS database: Access AMICUS, Canadiana CD-ROM and resAnet. Access AMICUS is the flagship service, the gateway to the entire database of 16 million records representing the collections of the National Library and hundreds of other Canadian libraries. Canadiana CD-ROM and resAnet provide access to the collections of the National Library (approximately two million records).

This fee-based service, subscribed to by more than 800 Canadian libraries, enables you to exploit the entire AMICUS database of 16 million records. Available since 1984, it best suits those requiring complete information from a wide variety of sources (the holdings of over 500 libraries are included in Access AMICUS). For publishers, the service provides access by publisher name, ISBN, ISSN as well as author, title and subject. Searches can be refined by date, language, location and hundreds of other limiters. The search results can be downloaded for bibliographies, publication lists and other uses. A Web version of Access AMICUS, to be introduced later this year, will expand key features of the service. Access AMICUS on the Web will provide access to electronic items on the Web directly. In addition, you will be able to send a request to borrow items in AMICUS. For items not found in AMICUS, you will be able to request a search for the item in other databases. In tandem with the Web version of Access AMICUS, a Z39.50 service will also be offered later this year.

Now on CD-ROM, Canadiana: The National Bibliography provides access to approximately 1.7 million records. The CD-ROM edition of Canadiana continues the National Library of Canada’s work, begun in the early 1950s, listing all publications produced in Canada and those published outside Canada written by Canadians or covering Canadian topics. CD-ROM technology has enabled the Library to offer Canadiana records in a more flexible and cost-efficient manner compared to that of the microfiche and paper formats. The first release, published June 1998, includes an extensive CD-ROM database with more than 1.2 million records, including Canadian books, periodicals, government documents, theses, maps, microforms, music scores, sound and video recordings and electronic items. The second release boasts an additional 500 000 records, primarily for publications prior to 1973. The product, which now covers the complete automated holdings of the National Library, has some unique searching features, including the ability to search by map coordinates, publication date, and a host of other indexes not available in Access AMICUS. Future releases are expected to incorporate the National Library’s Publishers’ Directory. The product is priced at $129.95.

Available without charge on the National Library’s Web site, resAnet provides access to 1.9 million brief AMICUS records describing the National Library’s rich collections. A simple Web interface enables users to view the National Library’s rich heritage of Canadian publishing <www.nlc-bnc.ca/amicus/ecatalog.htm>.