Technologies

In the ten years following the opening of the R.G. Menzies Building, which was opened with considerable pomp and ceremony by the young Queen, new technologies and inventions were introduced from around the world including the audiocassette, videodisk and halogen lamp, astroturf, ATMs and the handheld calculator. Mod cons indeed! Along came the first computer mouse, the computer language BASIC and ARPAnet (sometimes referred to as the 'grandfather' of the Internet).

Fast forward to now and the Queen commemorated her Diamond Jubilee in 2012; Australia is celebrating Canberra's Centenary in 2013; smartphones, social media and e-learning are the transistor radios, public notice boards and classrooms of today, and time-travel Doctor Who style is old hat (well, not yet, but who knows?). In the intervening time, the world-including the University Library-has experienced an exponential acceleration of technological change. In this exhibit, look at how evolving technology has influenced the way in which library staff, academics, researchers and students now manage, access and use the Library's collections and resources to the benefit of improved understanding of the world that the ANU and Australia is an integral part of.