Monash Library Supports the University's Expansion into Flexible Learning

In 1998, the Library will provide an enhanced service for off campus students as part of a staged transition to a more flexible, pro-active library service to support the Monash Plan

Library services that are offered to students who are not required to attend a Monash campus will parallel, as far as possible, the services provided to on campus students

The key features

Services previously restricted to Distance Education students will be extended to the mixed mode and off shore students.
The library collections on all of the campuses will be used to support the information needs of Monash's off campus students. Previously this was limited to the Gippsland library collections.
There will be an extensive range of access points into the library's services. These will include electronic access through faculty web links, open learning centres, telecentres and public libraries.

How we will do it

Gippsland campus library's External Services Unit will be transformed into a broader based unit that will operate across the whole Monash Library. The new section, known as the Remote Library Services Unit (RELSU), will be located at the Gippsland campus. It will be responsible for serving all Monash's off campus and mixed mode students.

Strong links will continue to be developed with the Distance Education Centre, Student Administration, and faculties. Coordination of activities and close liaison between the Library and these sectors will ensure that RELSU provides relevant and efficient services to off campus students.

Surveys will be undertaken to gauge the library service needs of Distance Education students residing overseas and students enrolled in courses offered by Monash's off shore sites.

RELSU will offer...

An inquiry/request service via telephone, fax, electronic mail or by post.
Postal loans and photocopies of journal articles or chapters of books from all the Monash Library collections
A reference service
An information search service incorporating computer catalogue, CD-ROM and other database searches
Information literacy skills programs
A referral service to other libraries or information centres

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If you are planning to provide flexible learning programs you can contact the
RELSU Project Manager, Marie-Therese Van Dyk (email: mtvandyk@lib.monash.edu.au), or the
Associate University Librarian, Chooi Hon Ho (email: chooihon@lib.monash.edu.au),
to ask for further information about the services.
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Three Monash library staff members have been awarded prizes in recognition of excellence in career and academic pursuits this year.

* Alanna Brown *
* Carol Ruddock *
* Sir John Jocklunn *

Alanna Brown	In June Alanna, Reference Librarian at the Gippsland campus, received the Bibliographical Society of Australia and New Zealand's Annual Essay Prize for her Masters Thesis, "Editing Ulysses: the struggle for a definitive text", which she submitted last year. Alanna was awarded a cash prize and has been asked to submit an article on her thesis topic for publication in the Society's bulletin.
Carol Ruddock	Carol, a staff member at Peninsula Campus Library, was awarded a Monash University Career Transition Scholarship in August. The scholarships aim to assist staff in gaining a qualification which will enhance their career prospects within the University. As a recipient of the scholarship, Carol has been awarded assistance with tuition fees and a grant for books and equipment while she undertakes her Associate Diploma in Library and Information Studies.
Sir John Yocklunn	In October, Gippsland's Associate University Librarian, Sir John Yocklunn, was awarded the Australian Library and Information Association (ALIA) Victorian Branch Merit Award for long and dedicated service to the Gippsland Regional ALIA group. Sir John, who plans to retire next year, has had an active association with the LAA/ALIA since 1964, when he first joined the association. He became a professional member in 1967. From 1967 to 1970, while working in Papua New Guinea, Sir John was a committee member in the PNG branch of the LAA, and a General Councillor of LAA, representing PNG, in 1968 and 1970. On taking up the position of Chief Librarian of the Gippsland Institute of Advanced Education, (now the Gippsland campus of Monash University) in December 1983, Sir John became active in the Gippsland regional group of LAA and was Chairperson of the group from 1984 to 1994. Sir John was also a member of the Victorian Branch Council of LAA, representing the group from 1985 to 1994.
The Library extends its congratulations to Alanna, Carol and John.

More Books!
Faster!
Cheaper!
Amazon.com
http://amazon.com
BookPlace
http://www.bookpages.co.uk
Bibliofind
http://www.bibliofind.com
Bibliocity
http://www.bibliocity.com

It is reported, not without some irony, that one of the greatest success stories of internet commerce is the self-proclaimed 'Earth's biggest bookstore', Amazon.com. Although their claim to be the biggest is currently being disputed in the courts by commercial rivals, Monash Library has been making good use of their site for fast acquisition of urgently needed books. Listed are some 2.5million titles with information about their likely availability. Many have reviews from a range of journals and newspapers. Also included are interviews with authors, offers of free personal email alerting services, and opportunities for readers' comments and criticism of books listed. Many of the titles are heavily discounted.

Amazon can sometimes be slow to list new British titles and for these we have been using another Internet bookshop, BookPlace, which bills itself as 'Britain's BEST Internet bookstore'. There are now possibly hundreds of other bookshops on the Net, not least of which is Monash University's own bookshop (http://bookshop.adm.monash.edu.au).

Internet shops are proving to be even more useful for locating older material which traditionally libraries can spend years chasing. In recent months we have succeeded in acquiring some fifty such books via two sites, Bibliofind and Bibliocity. Both list the stock of dozens of booksellers that specialise in second-hand and antiquarian material. Bibliofind comprises mainly British, German and US shops, Bibliocity also includes a significant number of Australian shops.

Electronic
Resources
DATABASES
Good news for users of IAC SearchBank and LION Literature on Line. We have taken out subscriptions to both these excellent services. IAC is available now, LION will be coming soon.

CD-ROM Network
The library's CD-ROM network is now accessible using MONALISA which provides a Windows-based menu to access the many CD-ROMS available in the library. Instructions for installing MONALISA on your PC are at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/guides/
monalisa/monalisa.htm AUTOMATIC SDI
Users of the OVID Current Contents database can use the web interface to save searches so that results will be automatically emailed each time the database is updated. The instructions can be found at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/
biomed/ovid.htm, under the section on Current Contents. The AutoSDI feature will be extended to other OVID databases soon.

Rare Books Exhibition -
Sexpectations: single white females

The new exhibition in the Rare Books area marks the 10th anniversary of the Centre for Women's Studies at Monash University. The curators are four students of the Centre. Items on display are from the Rare Books Collection and include books on birth control, prostitution, sex advice books, art and photography books, and issues of various magazines such as Picture Post, and even early issues of Lot's Wife and its predecessor, Chaos. This 'News in Brief" illustration was taken from Chaos, Vol 3 (1), March 9, 1963, p.12

The exhibition runs from Monday 20 October 1997 until the end of February 1998. An extensive catalogue is available free. The text of the catalogue, as well as a selection of the images, is available at http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/hss/rare/xhibitn.htm

For further information, contact the Rare Books Librarian, Richard Overell on 99052689, or email richard.overell@lib.monash.edu.au.

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Refurbished Reference Area
Laptops
Postgraduate Student Forum
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Refurbished Reference Area	The main information desk is now prominently situated opposite the entrance. Next to this desk, clusters of computer workstations provide access to a wide range of online resources including electronicdatabases and the Internet. The next project is to move current serials to the ground floor and to provide a new books display area. Further information on the Reference area, its collection and services, is available at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/hss/about/refcoll.htm
Laptops	From December, students with laptops can take advantage of 24 workstations with power connections that will be located in the West Reading room.
Postgraduate Student Forum	On the 21st of October, postgraduate students participated in a forum with library staff. The aim of the forum was to get feedback on library matters, to find out what postgraduate priorities for library services are, and to establish future networks and develop ongoing links with students. About 20 people attended and discussion was wide-ranging with a number of concerns addressed. Participants agreed that the forum has been a valuable exercise and should be repeated. It was suggested that in future, the students might consider including some library information in their newsletter, The Magnet.

Important News from Student Reading / Reserve
The Library needs course reading lists or recommendations of new or essential texts for first semester as soon as they become available, as there will be important changes in loans conditions in 1998. For example, the standard undergraduate loan will now be 14 days.
Restricted loan conditions may also change. In H&SS, for instance, the Short Loan period has been extended to three days. Please check with your branch for details.
The Library needs Student Reading / Reserve requests by early February 1998
Forms for submitting your requests electronically are available for...

Caulfield at http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/caulfield/resform.htm

H&SS at http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/hss/about/resform.htm

Peninsula at http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/pen/resformp.htm

More electronic forms will become available during 1998

Your contacts for Student Reading / Reserve are....

Berwick: Debbie Hedger x52695 debbie.hedger@lib.monash.edu.au
Biomed: Marjorie Eadie x52639 marjorie.eadie@lib.monash.edu.au
Caulfield: Bronwyn Dethick x32299 bronwyn.dethick@lib.monash.edu.au
or on the web at http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/caulfield/resnotes.htm
H&SS: David Groenewegen x52626 david.groenewegen@lib.monash.edu.au
or on the web at http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/hss/about/resinfo.htm
Hargrave: Kim Arndell x52651 kim.arndell@lib.monash.edu.au
Gippsland: Carolyn Russell x26316
Law: Dawn Carroll x51585 dawn.carroll@law.monash.edu.au
Peninsula: Judy Sheehan x44254 judy.sheehan@lib.monash.edu.au
or on the web at http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/pen/resnotes.htm

Other issues of The Information

Maintained by editors@lib.monash.edu.au

Authorised by the Library Publications Committee

Electronic Resources	DATABASES Good news for users of IAC SearchBank and LION Literature on Line. We have taken out subscriptions to both these excellent services. IAC is available now, LION will be coming soon.
CD-ROM Network The library's CD-ROM network is now accessible using MONALISA which provides a Windows-based menu to access the many CD-ROMS available in the library. Instructions for installing MONALISA on your PC are at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/guides/ monalisa/monalisa.htm		AUTOMATIC SDI Users of the OVID Current Contents database can use the web interface to save searches so that results will be automatically emailed each time the database is updated. The instructions can be found at: http://www.lib.monash.edu.au/ biomed/ovid.htm, under the section on Current Contents. The AutoSDI feature will be extended to other OVID databases soon.