Providing access to print collections in branch
libraries
Ensuring hours of opening and services meet the
needs of students and staff
In 2003 door counts rose for the third consecutive year, indicating
a continuing trend towards increasingly busy libraries and a subsequent
demand for longer opening hours.
During 2003 all library branch managers evaluated hours of opening
to ensure they were responsive to patterns of use and user needs
and within the library's goals and budget. Door statistics were
collected daily, and opening hours publicised via signage and the
web. Evaluation of the publicised hours of opening data against
the actual hours of opening indicated that the branches were open
100 per cent of the advertised time.
|
The door count for the last seven
years shows the fluctuating numbers of visitors to the library.
The last three years have seen a reversal of the downward
trend experienced from 1997 - 2000. |
User feedback obtained in the Client Satisfaction Survey indicated
dissatisfaction with library opening hours on some campuses. To
address user demand for longer opening hours the following changes
were made in 2003:
- Caulfield Library permanently extended evening and weekend
opening hours by 8.5 hours per week, and trialled even longer
hours mid-October to mid-November, with a decision regarding
permanent adoption of these hours due in 2004;
- Matheson Library increased hours by 6 hours per weekend for
the four weekends during first and second semester exams;
- Funding from the Faculty of Law enabled the Law Library to
increase hours by 8 hours per weekend for a total of seven weekends
spanning the months of November, January and February, to support
summer law programs;
- The Pharmacy Library extended the evening hours of opening
to 9pm prior to first semester exams;
- The hours of opening for the Berwick Library and Peninsula
Library were reviewed in 2003, and will be extended from 5-6pm
on Fridays in 2004 to complete the standardisation of opening
hours during the week.
Providing loans services
Monitoring loans
For the third year in succession the total number of items lent
by the library increased. The total loans figure of 1,120,564 is
the highest recorded. In addition, the number of items supplied
to library users as intercampus loan requests increased by 23.8
per cent in 2003 to a record total of 70,633.
Improving reliability of circulation records
In 2003 library systems staff worked closely with university administration
to improve the accuracy of the library's student and staff records.
The adoption of the university mandated email address for students
vastly improved the library's ability to warn users of potential
overdue fines and enabled users to respond promptly.
Providing access to reserve collections
Building electronic reading lists
During 2003 the Readings and Reserve Working Group established
and maintenance of an online procedures manual, enabling all staff
to efficiently manage the work associated with the reading list
web pages. In addition, the University Copyright Officer worked
closely with library staff to ensure that appropriate permissions
had been obtained and that library users could access electronic
resources without breaching copyright. The uptake for the electronic
reading lists has been impressive with reading lists now supporting
subjects in most disciplines and at all campuses.
Providing access to other libraries' collections
Participating in reciprocal borrowing schemes and
consortia
In 2003 the library participated in the following reciprocal borrowing
schemes and consortia, allowing Monash staff and students access
to other libraries' collections:
- Co-operative Action by Victorian Academic Libraries (CAVAL)
- University Library Australia (ULA)
- South Eastern Scientific and Technical Information Consortium
(SESTICON)
- Melbourne-Monash Intercampus Loans
- Melbourne Asian Research Libraries Consortium
Obtaining materials from other libraries for postgraduate students
and staff
Providing an inter-lending and document delivery
service
The number of requests received from Monash staff and students
for items not held by Monash has remained stable for several years.
Of the 24,047 items supplied in 2003 only 3125 (13 per cent) were
books with the remainder supplied as photocopies or digitised articles.
Approximately 30 per cent of the articles supplied are delivered
as digitised items directly to the desktop of the Monash staff
member or student. Individual articles are increasingly sourced
off shore rather than from within Australia, as the delivery times
are better.
Total items supplied to Monash staff and postgraduates from 2001
- 2003 were:
| 2003 |
24 047 |
| 2002 |
23 359 |
| 2001 |
24 037 |
Improving access to the document delivery service
In late 2003 software for automating inter-library loans was selected
and installed as part of the library system upgrade. The functions
will be enabled in the library's online catalogue in second semester,
2004. The new inter-library loan module will provide integration
with the library's catalogue and patron file, providing an automatic
check for the item in the library's catalogue and allowing users
to track the status of their requests.
Leading and supporting the university's information management
strategies
Collaborating to develop metadata standards
The library's Metadata/eCataloguing Coordinator and the Web Manager
were members of the university's Content Management System (CMS)
Metadata Working Party and contributed to the drafting of metadata
standards for use with the CMS. For more details: lib.monash.edu.au/metadata
Participation on information management steering
committee
The library supports the development of a coordinated approach
to management of information resources for the university, by contributing
metadata advice, devising and implementing a range of projects
and through the University Librarians' participation on the Information
Management Steering Committee, which is convened by the Director,
Information Technology Services Division.
Establishing the Monash University ePrint Repository
An electronic print repository was trialled in the first half
of 2003. The eprint repository or archive was initially developed
to provide a means by which researchers could make their work available
for comment to other researchers without having to go through the
often-lengthy publication process. The repository was also established
to address threats to the sustainability of traditional scholarly
communication, the increasing prices of journals and the lack of
access to the volume of research produced. The trial was moved
into an established service in June 2003 with 27 papers being deposited.
The repository includes pre-prints, peer-reviewed papers, working
papers, theses and conference proceedings.
The establishment of the Monash University ePrint Repository has
the potential to provide enormous benefits for the University research
community by:
- providing a central collection of research
- increasing the visibility, and usage of research
- increasing access to existing research materials not available
elsewhere
- providing a search mechanism to locate specific research, by
subject, keyword, or Monash faculty
The repository can be found at eprint.monash.edu.au/ [unlinked
01/04/2008] .
In 2004 the repository will be incorporated into the Australian
Research Repositories Online to the World (ARROW) project.
Leading the Australian Research Repositories Online
to the World (ARROW) project
Monash University has received funding from the Australian Commonwealth
Department of Education, Science and Training, under Backing
Australia's Ability to identify and test software to support
best practice institutional digital repositories comprising e-prints,
digital theses and electronic publishing. Monash University is
the lead institution in a consortium also including the University
of New South Wales, Swinburne University of Technology and the
National Library of Australia. Funding is for a three-year project.
The ARROW project was conceived in response to a need to integrate
management of the university's digital information. |
