AARLIN
Encyclopedia
AARLIN is an Australian project to develop "a national virtual research library system that will provide unmediated, personalized and seamless end-user access to the collections and resources of Australian libraries and document delivery services."

History

In late 1999, the AARLIN project, led by La Trobe University
La Trobe University
La Trobe University is a multi-campus university in Victoria, Australia. It was established in 1964 by an Act of Parliament to become the third oldest university in the state of Victoria. The main campus of La Trobe is located in the Melbourne suburb of Bundoora; two other major campuses are...

, was funded by an Australian Research Council
Australian Research Council
The Australian Research Council is the Australian Government’s main agency for allocating research funding to academics and researchers in Australian universities. Its mission is to advance Australia’s capacity to undertake research that brings economic, social and cultural benefit to the...

 (ARC) grant of $250,000 through its Research Infrastructure Equipment and Facilities Scheme (RIEFS).

An additional $150,000 was contributed by the National Library of Australia
National Library of Australia
The National Library of Australia is the largest reference library of Australia, responsible under the terms of the National Library Act for "maintaining and developing a national collection of library material, including a comprehensive collection of library material relating to Australia and the...

 and nineteen Australian university libraries.

Pilot

Six Australian university libraries were involved in the pilot phase in 2001 and 2002:
  • Flinders University
  • Murdoch University
  • La Trobe University
  • Swinburne University
  • University of Canberra
  • Victoria University of Technology

Operational phase

The AARLIN Project received $2.8 million from the DEST
Department of Education, Science and Training (Australia)
The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations is an Australian government department. Renamed in 2007 from DEST which in turn was renamed from DETYA , it absorbed the former departments of Education and Training, and Employment and Workplace Relations.The...

 Systemic Infrastructure Initiative
Systemic Infrastructure Initiative
The Systemic Infrastructure Initiative was announced by the Government of Australia in January 2001 as part of Backing Australia's Ability – An Innovation Action Plan for the Future....

 funding over three years 2002 to 2004. to implemented the system in participating Australian university libraries.

Software

The AARLIN portal provides a simultaneous searching function, targeting OPAC
OPAC
An Online Public Access Catalog is an online database of materials held by a library or group of libraries...

s, citation and fulltext databases, KINETICA
Kinetica
Kinetica is a futuristic racing game for the PlayStation 2. It was the first game to use the Kinetica game engine which would be used for Sony's runaway hit franchises, most notably Jak & Daxter, Ratchet & Clank, Sly Cooper and God of War....

, subject gateways, and other search engines. It also improves a user's access to fulltext data by deep linking to electronic resources or facilitating document delivery requests where appropriate.

The AARLIN project utilises two types of software, both produced by Ex Libris:
  • MetaLib
    MetaLib
    MetaLib is a federated search system developed by Ex Libris Ltd. MetaLib conducts simultaneous searches in multiple, and often heterogeneous, information resources such as library catalogs, journal articles, newspapers and selected quality Internet resources. The resources are often subscription...

    , front-end search software that enables searching across a range of resources
  • SFX
    SFX (software)
    SFX was the first OpenURL link resolver or link server. It remains the most widely-used OpenURL resolver, being used by over 1,500 libraries.Librarians Herbert van de Sompel, Patrick Hochstenbach and their colleagues at Ghent University in Belgium developed the OpenURL framework from 1998 to 2000....

    , an OpenURL
    OpenURL
    OpenURL is a standardized format of Uniform Resource Locator intended to enable Internet users to more easily find a copy of a resource that they are allowed to access...

    link server that helps library patrons navigate to resources and services relevant to their search queries
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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