National Library of Australia’s DDS: Bridging Research and Resources

When a researcher in India needs a rare Australian manuscript, a historical newspaper article, or an out-of-print monograph, geography is no longer the barrier it once was. The National Library of Australia (NLA) runs one of the most mature document delivery operations in the world, designed to move information across cities, states, and even oceans. Its Document Delivery Service (DDS) sits at the heart of a national resource-sharing network and connects Australian collections to libraries and individual users globally. For students of library and information science, NLA’s model is a textbook example of how a national library can turn a static collection into a living, shareable resource.

What is NLA’s document delivery service? 🔗

Document delivery and interlibrary loan are two sides of the same coin. When a physical item like a book is borrowed and returned, it is an interlibrary loan (ILL). When the item is reproduced on paper or electronically, such as a journal article, it is called document delivery (DD). In practice, libraries often use the two terms together as ILL/DD.

The NLA has offered these services since its establishment in 1960, supplying copies and loans to libraries, organisations, and individuals both within Australia and overseas. Most material is supplied directly from the Library’s own collections, but it also runs mediated services to obtain copies from other institutions on behalf of a requester. Critically, all of this operates on a cost-recovery basis. Under the Copyright Act 1968, the Library does not profit from ILL/DD charges; fees simply cover the cost of supply.

The NLA describes itself as the largest net lender in Australia for these services. In other words, it gives out far more than it requests, acting as a national reservoir of last resort when an item cannot be found anywhere else.

The shift to a “digital-first” approach 🔗

A defining feature of NLA’s current policy is its digital-first philosophy. Wherever copyright and other rights allow, the Library now supplies a digital copy instead of shipping a physical item. When another library requests an interlibrary loan, the NLA will typically provide a digitised copy that can be incorporated into the requesting library’s own collection, within copyright and cultural rights obligations.

This approach delivers several benefits at once. It increases the amount of digitised content available online through Trove, Australia’s national discovery platform, for the benefit of all users. It reduces the despatch costs associated with mailing items, and it removes the risk of fragile or valuable material being damaged or lost in transit. Physical loans are now reserved for limited situations, such as when a digital copy cannot legally be made or when a physical copy is genuinely required for accessibility reasons.

Libraries Australia Document Delivery (LADD) 🔗

For libraries across Australia, the engine of national resource sharing has long been Libraries Australia Document Delivery (LADD). LADD is the system that lets member libraries request and supply items from one another, with the NLA managing the infrastructure at the centre.

What makes LADD powerful is its connection to the national catalogue. A librarian can search the Australian National Bibliographic Database (ANBD) through LADD, identify which libraries hold a particular item, and then place a request directly. Compared with systems where users must individually contact each holding library, LADD’s “find it, then get it” workflow is far more streamlined. Commentators in the field have pointed to LADD as a strong model for a user-friendly resource-sharing experience, because a user can search across the national database and simply request the item once it is located.

The technology behind LADD 🔗

Historically, LADD has run on OCLC’s Virtual Document eXchange (VDX) software. According to the LADD Document Delivery Manual, the system combines VDX and web technology with the Z39.50 search protocol. This lets users query a range of bibliographic databases, including Libraries Australia and Te Puna, New Zealand’s national bibliographic database. The use of standard protocols is what allows different library systems to talk to one another.

This interoperability is not new. Australia’s national interlending system dates back to 1989, building on an online union catalogue introduced in 1981. A major milestone came with the LIDDAS project (Local Interlending and Document Delivery Administration Systems), which adopted the VDX product and helped knit Australian libraries into a single connected system.

Cost, limits, and trans-Tasman reach 🔗

LADD also handles the practical mechanics of charging. The NLA follows the Interlibrary Resource Sharing (ILRS) code, which recommends standard fees and is reviewed annually. A typical request might cover a copy of up to 25 consecutive pages from a publication, with additional pages charged in further blocks. Payment can be automated for partner libraries or handled by credit card.

The reach extends across the Tasman Sea as well. Through a trans-Tasman link, libraries in New Zealand use Te Puna Interloan while Australian libraries use LADD, with a single search interface to both national catalogues and a centralised invoicing service. This is a good illustration of how two national systems can be bridged without forcing every library onto identical software.

The Relais ILL management system and a connected ecosystem 🔗

A common point of confusion is the role of the Relais ILL Management System. It is important to understand that NLA’s national service has run on VDX rather than Relais. Relais, developed by Relais International of Ottawa, Canada, is one of several ISO ILL-compliant systems used by other institutions within the wider Australian resource-sharing ecosystem.

A clear example is the CAVAL CARM Centre in Melbourne, a shared storage facility run by a consortium of Australian universities. CAVAL selected the Relais ILL Hosted Service to manage its interlibrary loan and document delivery. The Relais setup includes a web-based interface that lets library users create and monitor their own ILL requests, plus a staff interface for processing them, and it delivers requested material digitally to the user’s desktop.

Why interoperability matters 🔗

The reason a Relais-based system and a VDX-based system can work together is the ISO ILL Protocol (ISO 10160/10161). Both systems comply with this international standard for exchanging interlibrary loan requests. So a request created in one institution’s Relais system can be sent to, understood by, and fulfilled through the NLA’s LADD network, and vice versa. For LIS students, this is a key lesson: efficient document sharing depends less on every library using the same product and more on every library agreeing to common standards and protocols.

A new generation of resource sharing 🔗

The system is now evolving. The NLA, together with CAVAL and the technology firm Index Data, is rolling out a new national resource-sharing service built on the open-source Project ReShare platform. Announced for staged implementation through 2025, it is designed to replace the older VDX-based infrastructure while keeping all the core functions intact.

The new service promises a reciprocal model with no transaction-based fees, the ability to set preferred partners by region or sector, and automated load balancing so libraries no longer need to maintain manual lists of suppliers. It integrates fully with the Australian National Bibliographic Database. During the staged rollout, some print book loans were temporarily paused while digital copies of articles and chapters remained available, a reminder that even well-planned system migrations involve trade-offs.

Copies Direct: a service for individuals 🔗

While LADD serves libraries, the NLA also offers a service aimed squarely at individual researchers, students, and members of the public: Copies Direct. This is the route a person would use to order a copy of an item directly, without going through their local library.

Copies Direct is a digital reproduction service covering a wide range of material, including newspaper articles, book chapters, photographs, maps, manuscripts, music, and sound recordings. The typical workflow is straightforward. A user searches for an item in the National Library Catalogue or in Trove, then presses an “Order a Copy” button to begin a request. If the item is not in the catalogue, the user can simply describe what they need.

How an order works 🔗

To place an order, a requester provides several pieces of information. These include item details such as the title and other identifying information, copy details such as the format and delivery method, and a declaration of use stating whether the material is for personal use such as research or study, or for public use. The requester must read and agree to the terms of use before proceeding, and supply contact and payment details. This declaration step is not a formality; it reflects the copyright obligations a national library must uphold when reproducing collection material.

Delivery is digital-first here too. The file is usually made available for download from the Library’s website, and for very large files, a secure file-sharing service is used. The requester receives an email with a link once the copy is ready. Pricing varies with the type of material and the urgency of the request, with faster turnaround available at a higher cost. By integrating the Copies Direct request mechanism directly into the catalogue and Trove, the NLA has made finding and obtaining an item part of a single, continuous journey.

Why Copies Direct matters for global access 🔗

The NLA sees Copies Direct as a strategic service that increases access to the national collection. For an overseas researcher, including one based in India, this service can be invaluable. International libraries may request digitised copies through the resource-sharing service, and individuals anywhere can use Copies Direct to obtain material that may exist nowhere else. This is the practical face of a national library’s mission: a collection held in Canberra becomes usable from almost anywhere with an internet connection.

Lessons for the study of information services 🔗

NLA’s document delivery model brings together several principles that recur throughout the study of information products and services. There is a clear separation between the library-to-library channel (LADD) and the direct-to-user channel (Copies Direct), each designed around a different user group. There is a firm commitment to standards and interoperability, which is what allows different systems such as VDX and Relais to cooperate. And there is a guiding digital-first and cost-recovery ethos that balances access against the legal and financial realities of running a national collection.

For libraries in India and elsewhere building or modernising their own resource-sharing networks, the Australian experience offers a useful reference point. It shows that a successful national document supply system is not built on a single piece of software, but on a shared catalogue, agreed protocols, and a clear policy framework that puts access first.

What do you think? If you were designing a national document delivery service for your own country, would you prioritise a single unified platform or a network of interoperable systems linked by common standards? And how should a library balance the goal of open access against the copyright and cost-recovery constraints that govern reproducing collection material?

References

1. https://www.library.gov.au/visit/about-us/corporate-information/library-services-policies-and-plans/interlibrary-loan-and
2. https://www.library.gov.au/services/libraries/copies-and-interlibrary-loans-libraries
3. https://www.inthelibrarywiththeleadpipe.org/2018/user-centered-ill-framework/
4. https://trove.nla.gov.au/sites/default/files/attachments/2024-06/LADD%20manual%20-%20current.pdf
5. https://researchportalplus.anu.edu.au/en/publications/networking-a-nation-ill-developments-in-australia/
6. https://librarytechnology.org/pr/15184
7. https://www.indexdata.com/national-library-of-australia-reshare/
8. https://www.library.gov.au/news-media/national-library-australia-set-evolve-national-resource-sharing
9. https://www.curtin.edu.au/library/disruption-to-resource-sharing/
10. https://www.library.gov.au/services/copies-and-loans/copies-direct
11. https://www.nla.gov.au/using-library/copies-and-interlibrary-loans/copies-and-interlibrary-loans-individuals/copies-1