New Library Buildings:
Peninsula
Gippsland
Science, Technology and Medicine
Electronic Resources for the Humanities and Social Sciences:
Project Muse
LION: Literature Online
Student Performance Analysis
SESAME2 commands
Rare Books Exhibition
A new library for the Peninsula campus...
A new library for the Peninsula campus will be ready for occupancy early in 1998. Building commenced at the beginning of 1997 after 18 months of planning. Williams and Boag, the architects, spent considerable time consulting with library staff and users to develop the plans for the new library.
The building will provide 3000 net square metres of space, a considerable increase over the area occupied by the current library. Importantly, the building has been designed exclusively for library use and will provide improved facilities for library staff and patrons.
Features of the new building include an electronic reading area offering increased access to electronic sources of information such as the Internet. An IT training room will enable hands-on instruction in online information services. The increased space will allow the traditional print collections to be shelved in one sequence, and will also provide an increase in the number of study places available to students. A postgraduate study room will provide students with a much needed facility on the Peninsula campus.
A display, including a small model of the new building, can be viewed in the existing Peninsula campus library. Information, including photographs is available on the web at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/pen/newlib.htm
The image above illustrates the North East Elevation (top) and the South East Elevation (bottom).
...and a new wing for the Gippsland library
Twenty years ago the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education Library (as it was then) was officially deemed to be filled to capacity. Even so, increased demands upon the library still had to be met and this was simply accomplished by adding more and more people and resources until a very cramped and inefficient environment resulted. In 1998, the MUGC Library as it is now known, will finally see the answer to that problem: the completion of a $4,250,000 program of expansion and refurbishment.
The new library will offer greatly improved facilities to students and academic staff. The new wing (pictured below) will consist solely of public space. Refurbishment of the lower level of the existing library will include training facilities to provide hands-on instruction in the use of online information resources. The periodicals collection will remain on the second level of the existing library.
Within the new wing, students will have an electronic reading area to allow better access to electronic information. The traditional print resources should also be easier to locate, no longer being housed in broken sections. An increased number of study places will also be available. The new wing is expected to be completed in early October 1997, and then refurbishment of the existing library will commence.
Further information, including photographs, is available on the web at: http://www-mugc.cc.monash.edu.au/glib/newlib.htm
The image above is a computer projection courtesy Vincent Chrisp architects.
Electronic Resources for the Social Sciences and Humanities
This service offers the full text of 43 journals from the Johns Hopkins University Press. These journals cover a wide range of topics including literature, history, philosophy and the arts. Some are already held in paper at one of the Monash libraries, but many are not, and two are in fact, ‘electronic-only’ journals. An advantage of the electronic version is that the full text can be searched for keywords, authors and titles across the whole database, selected journals, or a single journal. In addition users will have 24 hour access from any campus or even from home. To use the service simply point your web browser to: http://muse.jhu.edu You can also access the individual titles directly from the Monash Electronic Resources Directory at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/er/ No password is required, since the system works from IP addresses, so provided you are connected through the Monash network, either by modem or direct access, you will be able to use Project Muse. |
This service brings together nine of Chadwyck-Healey’s full-text literary databases. Together these comprise more than 208,000 poems, 4,000 plays, 290 works of fiction and 21 versions of the English bible. In addition, four reference works are currently available - , ABELL (Annual Bibliography of English Language and Literature), the literature section of PCI (Periodical Contents Index), Bibliography of American Literature, and Webster’s Dictionary The Master Index lists works and authors available in electronic form both in LION and on the Internet as a whole. A further web resources section organises other literary web resources into seven periods from classical to 20th Century Several pricing structures are offered, depending on which databases we wish to access. For the purposes of the trial, however, we have access to the full range. Further information is available at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/hss/guides/lion.htm |
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Project Muse is here to stay. LION, on the other hand is only available on trial until 27 September. Based on your assessment of the usefulness of this service, a decision will be made on whether to join a consortium purchase and retain the service. Please speak to your Subject librarian soon to obtain a password and let us know what you think. | |||||
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Student Performance Analysis | 
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The PALS system controls the retrieval and circulation of library materials. In the process, like all automated systems, a huge amount of data is collected and stored. Raw statistics are regularly extracted and reported, but it has long been the library’s desire to use this data in conjunction with data collected in other systems to provide a more in-depth analysis of library usage.
To test the feasibility of this, Statistical Services offered to try to match PALS data against data they routinely collect for the University. The file from the library contained information on the number of items borrowed by students in the first half of 1995. This file was matched with the 1995 student load file which contained information about students’ successful completion of subjects and the grades they received.
After establishing that the average number of loans per person for that period was 18, the results of individual students who took more than 18 loans were compared with those who took less to see if there was a statistically significant difference in their successful completion of the subjects, and further, in the actual grades they received.
The final analysis was carried out for bachelor degree students on the Clayton campus. In general terms it was found that there was high correlation between students who borrowed more than the average number of items and students who performed well academically, although this varied somewhat between courses. Robert Stafford (phone: 990 52613) has a copy of the final report, if you wish to study the full results.
This analysis was performed on a small amount of data testing a relatively simple hypothesis. It is expected that the library will continue to work closely with Statistical Services on more ambitious projects. These will provide empirical evidence to assist in targeting library services and resources.
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The new exhibition opened on Thursday 24 July in the Exhibitions area, first floor, ISB. Entitled The Restoration 1660-1700, it features a wide range of political and literary works from that time. A free catalogue is available. |
This STM library will operate from two buildings. The full range of user services will be provided from the extended Hargrave library building, and will house STM materials covering the last 25 years. The Biomedical library building will serve as an STM research library. It will hold the less frequently used material in addition to reader accommodation and access to electronic services. The new library should be ready for the 1999 academic year.
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Did you know that after you have performed a search on SESAME2 you can email the results to yourself?
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Other issues of The Information
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Copyright © Monash University 1997- All Rights Reserved -Caution Last updated 7 August 1997 Maintained by editors@lib.monash.edu.au Authorised by the Library Publications Committee |
