Information Literacy
Library Classes and Training Sessions
A well-planned program of information literacy
sessions was implemented for undergraduates, postgraduates, faculty staff,
international students and potential students.
Sessions included orientation tours and classes, workshops on the
catalogue, databases, research methodology and particular tools such as
EndNote. A number of
specialised seminars were given by the Rare Books librarian for
researchers and students.
Many classes were taken as part of the academic
program, with some sessions counting towards the student's assessment.
Other classes were scheduled by the Library in response to a
perceived need. In 2001,
particular emphasis was on providing for postgraduates and a number of
sessions were scheduled in the evenings and at weekends.
Although assistance is provided at the Information
Desk at peak periods, most libraries also provided roving reference staff
who approached users at workstations.
This additional service is of great value since many students are
either reluctant to leave their PC to ask at the desk, or are not aware
that they need assistance. It
is also a more efficient use of staff time than to provide general classes
that are not well attended. Some
libraries also scheduled "drop-in" sessions.
Students were encouraged to use the PCs in the IT training rooms
where a librarian would be on hand to provide personalised assistance with
research topics.
Students, particularly postgraduates undertaking
research, were offered appointments with their subject and liaison
librarians. Postgraduates in
the Faculty of Pharmacy were emailed with an offer of individual
assistance with searching databases or with accessing other library
resources.
Collaboration and Outside Programs
The Library participated in orientation programs
sponsored by faculties, MPA (Monash Postgraduate Association), MRGS
(Monash Research Graduate School), MAPS (Mature Age and Part-time Students
Association), Monash International, and in the survival week program and
Introducing Monash, the staff induction program.
Library staff also delivered a number of sessions for the MRGS
exPERT series.
Other outside programs to which library staff
contributed included the Host Scheme Information Program, a focus group
for the Faculty of Science, a seminar for visiting Indonesian journalists,
and the Enhancement program. CeLTS
(Centre for Learning and Teaching Support) and library staff collaborated
to provide sessions for off campus students.
Projects supporting the Monash-Melbourne protocol
included a joint roadshow at the University of Melbourne for MARLC (Monash
Asian Research Libraries Consortium) and participation in MARLC meetings.
The new Westlaw Law School partnership program was
successfully introduced to faculty staff and students by the Westlaw
trainer and Law Library staff, with ten group sessions and a number of
one-to-one training sessions.
In June, several staff visited the Tun Hussein Onn
Library at the Malaysian campus and presented an Engineering Information
Forum promoting digital resources available from Monash University
Library.
Library staff attended the meetings of faculty
boards, departments and faculty-based library advisory committees.
In these forums, they were able to further advance awareness of
library resources and services.
Library Roadshows
Marketing the Library's resources to the faculties
was one of the primary targets for 2001 for library faculty teams.
Faculty based information forums about the "E-Library" were
held at campuses and at the Alfred Hospital and Monash Medical Centre.
Each session was geared to demonstrating the electronic resources
relevant to the faculty. The
sessions provided an excellent opportunity to showcase the Library's
range of resources and to proactively market significant electronic
resources. At the same time,
the opportunity was taken to communicate on a personal level with faculty
staff about other library initiatives.
Virtual Librarian
The Virtual Librarian (VL) online help system was
further developed. It forms a
large subsection of the Library's website.
The VL site received an average of 15,000 hits per week, peaking at
around 44,000 during the orientation period.
Fourteen tutorials were extensively revised or updated.
Three new subject tutorials and four new "how to . . ." tutorials
were added. Tutorials
prepared included basic information seeking skills, Voyager and EndNote.
Some tutorials were also prepared for global use by students
attending the campuses in Malaysia and South Africa.
New technologies such as WebCT and Learningfast were explored and
evaluated for adaptation or inclusion in the library-based information
literacy toolkit. A tutorial
on using Adobe Acrobat Reader was created using the Monash Learningfast
WebAniThing software. This
tutorial runs on the purpose-bought ITS server. An abbreviated version of the Virtual Librarian was prepared
for the Computer Resources CD-ROM. The
Virtual Librarian is at www.lib.monash.edu.au/vl/
Subject Librarians in Faculties Pilot Project
Library management approved a detailed proposal for a
pilot project to place subject librarians onsite in faculty offices during
early 2002. Faculties
participating in the trial are Arts, Business and Economics, Education and
Medicine. Librarians will
typically spend half a day per week in a faculty.
The aim of the trial is to develop a proactive liaison role.
Librarians will provide a roving information service to faculty
staff and research students, demonstrate online services and discuss
issues relevant to providing library support to students and staff.
Live Help
A task force was established to develop projects to
complement the University's directions in providing global 24x7
services. The group's main
focus in 2001 was the pilot project to investigate the feasibility of
providing a real-time, interactive digital reference service to remote
users. PCs were set up with
NetMeeting software. Headphones, microphone and video cameras were used to enable
librarian and user to see and speak to each other. The trial was limited to
on campus use at Clayton in the
Matheson, Law and Hargrave-Andrew Libraries, and users were enthusiastic.
Problems identified in the trial will be worked through before it
is offered from other campuses and remotely.
Reference and Information Services
278,991 reference and general inquiries were received
at library service points. This
is an increase of 30.6% on 2000 figures, which had declined from the
previous year. The e-Query
email service responded to another 4,590 inquiries.
During the period May to September, the centralised Monash
University Library Telephone Service (MULTELS) operated an additional
eight hours per week during evenings and weekends.
During 2001, MULTELS staff handled 19,703 incoming calls, with
69.3% completed at the time of the call, the other 30.7% requiring
referral to other numbers. The
Flexible Library Services Unit (FLISU) provided an inquiries and lending
service directed to off campus students residing in Australia and
overseas. The service is
offered by telephone, fax, mail and email. There were 17,391 requests received in 2001.
Rare Books Library
Exhibitions were held regularly throughout the year.
These included:
- Outside the
main stream: an exhibition of
private press books from the Rare Book collection
- TCA: Twentieth Century Australia
- Recent Acquisitions.
Each exhibition was complemented by a Virtual
Exhibition and electronic copies of the catalogues were made available on
the web at
www.lib.monash.edu.au/exhibitions/
A number of talks were given:
- Merete Smith, Rare Books Librarian at the University
of Melbourne, on the Golden Cockerel Press
- John Arnold, Deputy Director of the National Centre
for Australian Studies, on Fanfrolico and Mountainside Presses
- Professor Stephen Cordner, Director, Victorian
Institute of Forensic Medicine, on forensic medicine book holdings in the
Rare Book collection
- Brian McMullin on Songs
of the North, the latest Ancora Press publication
- Lurline Stuart, on His
Natural Life, an Academy Editions of Australian Literature volume.
Notable acquisitions and donations added to the Rare
Book collection included:
- A collection of American underground comics from the
1930s, and a collection of American lesbian fiction from the 1950s and
early 1960s
- Books of the artist Aileen Brown
- Donation of a collection of Australian poetry books
from Jenny Gribble
- Donation from Dr Richard Travers of the first
instalment of his collection of Australian medical material
- Donation of material from collections of Hector Monro
and Jean Whyte
- Children's books donated by Lindsay Shaw
- Donation by Sandy Michell of personal items and also
funds to purchase rare books.
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