CSIRO library services

World class research needs to be informed by world class information resources. CSIRO's information resources are an essential element of supporting the work of Australia's premier science agency. As the largest science library in Australia, our collection comprises extensive electronic and print resources covering the span of science and social science disciplines and extending over 100 years. Resources are backed by professional outreach, reference and data management services.

The collection includes online access to over 50,000 electronic journal titles, 300,000 electronic books, 200 relevant databases and 15km of print resources, including a comprehensive collection of technical reports.

Our collection of technical and annual reports are progressively being digitised.

Library Services delivers:

• Access to the information resources.
• Text and data mining of resources.
• Rapid turnaround for document and loan requests for staff.
• Curated literature and alert services.
• Publication and bibliographic advice and assistance
• Research data management services for planning and publication.
• Citation analysis.
• Measurement of publication impact in both literature and data.

Libraries can contact the Document delivery service: Request from the CSIRO Document Supply Centre.

Use of CSIRO Library services is largely restricted to CSIRO staff however the following resources are available to researchers and the public:

• View the CSIRO Library catalogue.
• Search the CSIRO Data Access Portal - CSIRO's Data Access Portal (DAP) is an institutional repository enabling the capture, publication and sharing of a range of research outputs, including data, software, code, and images.
• Search the CSIRO Publications Repository - The repository contains records of more than 80 years of CSIRO research publications, including journal articles, conference papers, books and reports. Some recent records may have full-text attachments available where copyright and confidentiality conditions permit.

CSIRO's Access Position Statement on Open Access:

The Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) is Australia’s national science research agency. We solve the greatest challenges using innovative science and technology and use science to solve real issues to unlock a better future for our community, our economy, our planet.  Dissemination of our research outputs and outcomes is essential both to support national and international research excellence and to increase the visibility of CSIRO’s research.  Dissemination of our research outputs also enables CSIRO to collaborate more easily nationally and internationally, including with industry.  The Minister responsible for CSIRO, the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, has stated an expectation that CSIRO will ensure that its publications from public funding are openly available within a reasonable time period, either through the publisher or through a CSIRO registry.

CSIRO is committed to enabling Open Access to its research outputs (for research outputs to be distributed online, free of cost or other access impediments). This is consistent with the policy intent of the Australian Government’s Open Access initiatives to increase access to publicly funded information.

Open Access publication enables CSIRO to share our research effectively and equitably with global partners and stakeholders. Open Access supports the generation of new knowledge applied to solve complex problems, stimulate innovation, deliver social benefits and drive economic prosperity, locally, nationally and globally by facilitating exposure, sharing, comparison, use and critique of research. It also enables CSIRO to meet requirements of national and international funding bodies, including the ARC and NHMRC. 

CSIRO chooses what content it publishes and when, and needs to do so mindful of the expectations of the government, the contractual arrangements with our collaborators and commercial clients and additionally, the role that CSIRO is playing in each case (for example, the role of commercial publisher in the case of CSIRO Publishing; or security implications).  To deliver the policy intent, CSIRO adopts the most appropriate business model to use in each case, including Open Access models. (April 2020)