Department of Education

The Digitisation Program continued to provide a structured
and robust program for the digitisation of collections
and records held by TAHO. The program provides a
framework for managing access to items in high demand
and the preservation/migration of unique, fragile and
unstable items. The program enables Tasmanian heritage
items to be preserved and made accessible to people from
all over the world, as well as locally, via Virtual LINC.
Preventing the deterioration of cultural heritage items
remains an important focus for LINC Tasmania. The
2010–11 treatment program for priority government
records included: Lower Court records; 150 Public
Works Department plans; items from the Convict series;
the Gaol Department, the Supreme Court and Lands
Department registers. Tasmania’s convict records have
global heritage significance and are inscribed into the United
Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation
(UNESCO) International Memory of the World Register.
At the end of June 2011, there were 201,722 heritage
documents and artefacts available online and 47,320
Tasmanian items were made newly available in 2010–11.
eBooks go
online
Performance
LINC Tasmania launched the new eBooks Plus service
in late November 2010. The objective of the service is
to deliver a statewide and fully integrated collection of
eBooks and eAudio to all LINC Tasmania clients. eBooks
are electronic books available in a digital format so that
it can be read, or listened to on a computer screen or a
handheld device, such as web-enabled mobile phone or
MP3 player. The service is free for anyone with a current
library card and is available through www.linc.tas.gov.au,
24 hours a day, seven days a week. For libraries, eBooks
provide a new opportunity to reach clients who may not
visit their local library facility regularly, but would like the
convenience of borrowing eBooks from home.
Clients embraced the new service from the beginning,
with larger than expected loans and number of borrowers.
There have been 11,700 eBook issues since the service
started in late 2010. LINC Tasmania currently offers 2,706
eBook titles. It is expected that demand for eBooks will
continue to grow as more people are using smart phones
and eBook readers.
Performance measure 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11
DoE
Target
2010–11
Tasmania
Together
Benchmark
In-person visits to LINCs N/A 3,273,328 3,354,483 3,250,000
Visits to Virtual LINC N/A 1 2,563,979 2,787,583 2,000,000
People accessing education and training programs
through LINCs (number of enrolments) 2 :
25,640
Work and Life Skills 2 N/A 1 5,625 6,754 7,000
Leisure and Lifestyle 2 N/A 1 19,881 15,080 19,500
Library items borrowed 5,171,196 5,002,129 5,015,518 3 5,100,000
Tasmanian items newly available 37,488 48,929 47,320 30,000
Percentage of significant items conserved 70% 70% 71% 73%
Heritage documents and artefacts publicly
available in digital format
People accessing literacy support services
through LINCs
50,693 172,022 201,722 190,000
N/A 1 262 500 760
6.5.2
6.5.3
Volunteer hours contributed N/A 1 92,376 94,396 90,000
1 New performance measures and ways of capturing data have been introduced meaning comparable data from previous years is not available.
2 The former measure has been broken down to present a more accurate representation of the active enrolments for community education.
3 This figure includes eBooks which have been available from 2010–11.
LINC Tasmania
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