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How to search the Gateway

The Australian Libraries Gateway (ALG) offers uers a range of options for accessing information about Australian libraries and cultural institutions:

If there is a library or cultural institution which you know to exist, but can't find on the Gateway - please contact ALG Adminsitration to add a new entry.

Standard and map searching

Use the 'Standard search' option to find a library or cultural institution by name (including National Union Catalogue (NUC) symbol) and/or library type. Enter a keyword or phrase you think is in the institution's name or the name of its parent organisation - you can also try common acronyms or former names. To limit your search, you can also select from the drop-down lists of library types and or Australian state/territory.

For example: To find all libraries in Australia with "environment" in their name, type "environment" in the 'Name' field in 'Standard search' form, leave the default search type as "Keyword", the location filter to 'All' and select the [Search] button. To find all the "Environment Australia" libraries, select "Phrase" search from the drop-down box and try limiting to the 'Government' library type.

Search Tip

• You can elect to search the Gateway by keyword or phrase - make a selection from the drop-down box on the 'Standard search' screen.
• Use the percentage or asterisk symbols (% or *) to truncate a search and retrieve derivative names, for example, a search on the term 'Aus%' or 'Aus*' retrieves matches on the terms 'Australia', 'Australian', 'Australias', 'Australasian', 'Austral' etc.
• Punctuation is stripped out of all ALG searches so, for example, a phrase search on "attorney-general" returns the same result as a search on "attorney general".
• You can search on library "Name" by keyword, phrase or NUC symbol. You can also search by NUC symbol via the 'Advanced Search' screen.
• ALG includes libraries and cultural institutions in Australian locations as well as institutions overseas. To find all institutions in Australia, set the location option to 'Australia-wide' - the 'All' option will include 'Overseas' institutions.

Map-based searching is also available if you are more graphically oriented (and have a JavaScript enabled Web browser) which makes it possible for you to search for Australian institutions by location. You can search across the whole of Australia; within a specific Australian state/territory; within suburban or regional areas within the states/territories; as well as within the Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth or Brisbane metropolitan regions. Results from map searches are presented with an enlarged map of the region selected with regional boundaries shown - by clicking within these regions, you will be able to narrow your search further and retrieve the corresponding subset of institutions.

For example: To find all the law libraries in Sydney, use the 'Map search' option. Select "Law" as the 'Library type' and "NSW" as the 'State/Territory' (click on the map of New South Wales or select it from the drop-down box) then select the [Search] button. With the results of your search, there will be a full map of New South Wales - click on the "Sydney" region. You could then choose to narrow your search further to only those law libraries in, for example, "Inner Sydney".

Map searching within ALG is based on the 65 Australian Bureau of Statistics statistical divisions - including both census collection districts and local government areas.

Search Tip

• You will need a JavaScript and cookie-enabled browser to use the ALG maps for searching.
• Map searches rely on postcode information. Libraries and cultural institutions have been matched to the ABS divisions according to postcode and because there is some overlap between statistical division boundaries and postal regions, a small number of institutions may be allocated to more than one region.
• Australian libraries and cultural institutions which are 'Overseas' are not accessible via the 'Map search' option - use the 'Standard search' or 'Advanced search' options to find these. 'Overseas' institutions in the database include those for Australian diplomatic missions and consuls abroad, as well as other special Australian institutions overseas. Institutions on the Australian island territories (eg the Antarctic, Norfolk Island) are accessible in an 'Australia-wide' search but not via the maps.

Search by library type

Every library and cultural institution within the Australian Libraries Gateway has been assigned at least one of the following 23 library "types". If you limit your search to one of these types but don't find a particular library, try to think which other category the library may have assigned itself. Alternatively, try searching by name and/or location across 'All' library types.

Search Tip

• Use 'Advanced search' to find for institutions of more than one type at a time.
• Libraries and cultural institutions may use more than one type to describe their organisation.
• Many institutions are 'Joint use' or multi-type, for example, some 'Health/Medical' institutions are 'Special' and affiliated with universities or State/Federal Government departments, some colleges are Defence colleges, and in remote areas libraries are often used by the general public as well as schools.

Advanced search options

The 'Advanced search' options within ALG enable users to also:

• keyword or phrase search within library or cultural institution name, subject collecting and general comments, and/or street/postal address fields of Gateway entry; and
• search by National Union Catalogue (NUC) symbol.

The advanced search also allows you to limit your search to institutions:

• by 'type' - one or more;
• which contribute to the National Bibliographic Database (NBD);
• with a website;
• with an online catalogue (ie Web or telnet catalogue) or image collection;
• to institutions with digitisation projects underway;
• with policy documents available online (ie collection development policy, Internet public use policy, strategic plan);
• with an online reference enquiry service, or staff directory;
• with an online "news" service or virtual tour; and/or
• with a 'friends' organisation.

Search Tip

• Searching for more than one library type (eg University and Health/Medical) will return all 'University' institutions and 'Health/Medical' institutions matching your search query - not just the institutions which are flagged 'University' as well as 'Health/Medical'.
• NUC symbols are unique, alphabetic codes used for the identification of libraries and cultural institutions throughout Australia (as well as some areas of the Pacific) and form an integral part of library management and document supply systems. Searching by NUC symbol is the quickest search method but does rely on you knowing the exact symbol, including any punctuation. Because many institutions in Australia use NUC symbols, they have been included in the Australian Libraries Gateway. To check or establish an institution's NUC symbol, try the Inter-Library Resource Sharing (ILRS) Directory.

Search collections by subject

Libraries and cultural institutions can record detailed subject information about their colletions in the Australian Libraries Gateway. This enables users to search the Gateway for collections by subject area and find out which Australian institutions are collecting to what level in an area of interest. In August 1999, approximately 150 libraries and cultural institutions (including the National Library, State, university and special libraries) had included information about their subject collecting levels in the Gateway.

To 'Search collections by subject', browse and select one of the ALG subject headings. You can further refine your subject search by selecting a 'Library type' from the drop-down box as well as restricting your search to a specific location (eg a particular state/territory). If you want to search for collections in regional Australian (ie more deeply than just state/territory), click on the map of Australia or follow the textual link to the maps to start your broad subject search. Select a subject from the drop-down list - you can limit your search by selecting a 'Library type' (eg university, special) and/or an individual state/territory - then submit the search with the 'Search' button.

Once the search is complete, you will be presented with a map of the area searched (ie all of Australia or an individual state/territory) with the results in a table below. This table class="content" will give you a good overview of the number of libraries and cultural institutions in the region who have identified themselves as having collections relevant to your search request. The institutions will be ranked in descending order of collecting strength (definitions of the collecting levels are available) - the highest level being 'Comprehensive', the lowest, 'Nothing in this category'.

If there is more than one institution in your result set (if there is only one, it's entry will simply be displayed), this second map will enable you to search further within the region (ie at the regional level within the state/territory) - click on the map or use the drop-down options to narrow the search further regionally. The other option you will have is to make your search more specific within the subject area - make a selection from the drop-down box at the top of the screen or leave the default.

For example: From a search of all institutions in New South Wales on the broad subject of 'Agriculture', you may decide to then limit the search to just collections relating to 'Plant Disease & Pests' held by libraries in the 'Far West'. Once you submit this second search, a sub-set of institutions will be displayed.

Search Tip

• If there are no institutions with collections in the subject or selected region, you will be advised that "No libraries marched your search - please try another'. Try searching at a broader level (ie broadest subject, larger geographic area).

For more detailed information about any of the libraries or cultural institutions listed in a summary results table, follow the red link to 'More Details' to the full directory details of a library or cultural institution Gateway entry. These entries include links to summary collecting level information from the broad subjects - look for 'Subject Collecting Levels:' and 'Highlights of the collection:' for any comments which may have been provided by the institution.

Last modified: June 21 2021.