Goal 2: Information Services

Assist the Monash community to discover and use resources for learning, teaching and research, and support staff and student’s development of skills for independent and lifelong learning, through mediated, timely and flexible information services.

Provide coordinated, proactive services under the ‘one library’ banner while still meeting individual campus and faculty needs

Improving the quality of reference services

Following a review in 2005, a revised methodology for the collection of reference enquiry statistics was implemented which for the first time ensured that data was collected from all service points. Staff at service points in all branch libraries were briefed on definitions recommended by the review and these were used consistently in 2006. Two snapshot periods, each of a week’s duration, recorded more detail than in previous years on the range and categories of reference and non-reference enquiries. While the data will be more useful when collected over a longer period, at the end of one year there are indications that reference enquiries come to all service points. Reference questions relating to use of the catalogue and non-reference questions relating to loans are the most common enquiries from a broad range of areas.

The improved process across all service points and completed library refurbishments, leading to an increase in library visitors, has resulted in an increase in the identified number of reference enquiries for 2006.

* In person reference enquiries from all service points, based on revised methodology
 

ask.monash online help service

The Library has joined ask.monash, which is a customer enquiry system providing the ability to develop frequently asked questions (FAQ). The Library launched the service in August and all Library email queries now go through the ask.monash service, with integrated help and feedback provided. The Library was the first ask.monash customer to provide a service to non-Monash users. From the inception of the service until December 2006, 2,417 answers have been viewed by Monash and 1,073 by non-Monash users. The Library received 622 enquiries, with 205 referrals to library specialists. The top two queries in the FAQ database were related to loans and resources.

Members of the Library’s ask.monash implementation team, which is based at Gippsland Library.

Provision of advice and assistance to academic staff and students in using services and collections

Demonstrating the depth of the collections through exhibitions

The exhibition space in the Sir Louis Matheson Library supported four major exhibitions in 2006, beginning with the Recent Acquisitions 4 exhibition. This ran until 31 March 2006. It showed a cross-section of items acquired since 2001. The Library is planning another in this series for later in 2007.

The Home exhibition ran from April to June 2006. This featured material predominantly from Australia, but also from Britain and the United States. The display was intended to show the importance of the material both to social history and the history of architecture. Trends and tastes reflected in the styles of the homes themselves and of their interiors were traced through each decade of the 20^th century.

The Sport exhibition ran from July to September. This was mainly 19^th and 20^th century material from Australia and overseas. Sport is a major preoccupation of our society and the Library has significant holdings in the field. The opening address was given by the novelist Gerald Murnane, who revealed his long lasting love of horseracing and pondered the lack of interest in sport by many academics.

From October 2006 to February 2007 an exhibition of Ephemera was on display. This is a serious area of collecting world-wide and Monash University Library has large holdings. The material ranged from the 17^th century to the present. Historians are increasingly finding such primary source material useful for their research.

As with all exhibitions since the mid-1990s, the exhibitions for 2006 are preserved online. Engagement and liaison with faculty members and students about the development of services and collections

2006 saw a range of initiatives across the branches as Library and academic staff worked together to improve provision of, and access to, information. Some of these included:

• In consultation with the Centre for Religion and Theology, Library staff undertook a detailed assessment of research databases in religion and theology. This resulted in the licensing of ATLA Religion Database via the CSA platform.
• New online subject guides for classics, religion and Jewish civilisation were developed in consultation with academic staff.
• Liaison between Gippsland Library staff and staff from the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences ensured that the Library was able to prepare efficiently for the new ‘Criminal justice’ undergraduate courses.
• Berwick Library staff consulted with staff in Geography to build a teaching collection in urban and regional studies, supporting the new undergraduate degree.
• Law Library staff worked with academics and other university staff to set up email alerts for new and amended legislation available from a new Lawlex database subscription.
• Library staff, with the Library representative from the School of Applied Science and Engineering at the Gippsland campus, identified useful electronic books and developed strategies for maximising their use.

Development of academic staff and student information literacy skills

Increased participation in information literacy programs

There was a general increase in the number of information literacy sessions and participants in 2006, with the following sessions recorded: 237 orientation (30% increase from 2005), 247 basic instruction (29% decrease) and 785 advanced instruction (16% increase). There were a total of 26,995 participants, up 24% compared with 2005 numbers.

Participants included undergraduates, postgraduates and academic staff. A session on information literacy was included in the new Foundations of Teaching@Monash workshop for staff. Library and teaching staff involved in setting up the new medical course at Malaysia were given an overview of the information literacy program within the undergraduate medical course when they visited Melbourne.

In second semester an online form was trialled to capture more information about classes offered by librarians. The modified form will be used routinely in future.

Evaluation of information literacy programs

To complement the information obtained through the 2005 evaluation of an information literacy program at Peninsula campus, in 2006 participants’ perceptions of their programs were sought through implementation of an online feedback form across all Victorian branches. Of the 2,220 respondents, 88% agreed or strongly agreed that they had learned something new about information research that would help them with their studies and 90% agreed or strongly agreed that overall the session was useful.

Professional development for information literacy educators

During 2006, three formal opportunities for continuing professional development were arranged for librarians involved in teaching. 15 people attended the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) workshop, customized for librarians, entitled ‘Approaches to Teaching’. The major event for the year was ‘Six Frames for Information Literacy Education: A Workshop’, facilitated by internationally renowned information literacy academics Professor Christine Bruce and Dr Sylvia Edwards, which was attended by 29 Library staff. 12 people attended the first series of very practical and popular workshops, ‘Designing learning tasks around information literacy: from telling to learning’ devised and facilitated by the Faculty of Education. These workshops in particular have helped to transform librarians’ approaches to teaching so that information literacy programs encourage active learning.

To improve collaboration across teams and branches, in November librarians organized an informal workshop on their involvement with online learning and particularly Monash University Studies Online (MUSO). To continue this collaboration a teaching showcase will be held at the end of each semester.

Provision of relevant print and electronic guides to services and collections

The Library produces a range of print and online guides to assist clients to select and use the most appropriate library resources for their particular needs. For the first time since these guides were developed, a formal study of their use was undertaken to investigate how well they are meeting users’ needs. A consulting company was engaged to perform the study. User needs, preferences and behaviour were ascertained through a series of interviews, focus groups and an online questionnaire.

While the report was not finalised by the end of 2006, early drafts indicate that a large amount of useful information has been gathered. In 2007 recommendations based on the findings of the final report will be acted upon.

Promotion of the research strengths of the collection

Evaluating research collection adequacy

The Research Collection Adequacy Working Group, established in 2005, continued to develop a methodology for evaluating the collections in research areas. This methodology was applied to collections for Art and Design, Jewish Civilisation, Biomedical Engineering and Utopianism in Science Fiction. The range of areas that have been covered allow the Library to draw some general conclusions and modify the methodology for particular disciplines. The in-depth interaction between researchers and Library staff was identified as the most valuable part of the process in all areas. A Business and Economics example is yet to be completed.

The work was presented to the Council of Australian University Librarians (CAUL) during the year, generating interest and follow-up from other university libraries.

Work with faculties to provide support for teaching and research activities

Planning

The Library has developed a Research Support Plan to describe, focus, plan and prioritise how it supports the University’s research. The plan addresses six key areas. After wide consultation within the Library, the plan was taken out into the University in 2006 for further feedback and to communicate with the research community. It was also used to communicate with other university libraries, leading to ongoing dialogue on support for research. The plan, available on the internet, is a rolling three year plan that will be updated in 2007.

An Education Support Plan is also being developed, to be finalised in 2007. The plans support the University Research and Research Training and Education plans.

Programs

The Library’s popular training and assistance in EndNote bibliographic management software was provided across the University and also in a range of Monash affiliated hospitals. Demand for access to EndNote for undergraduates is increasing as research training reaches earlier into the curriculum. To help meet this need, EndNote software was rolled out on all Library computers.

Some other highlights:

• During the University’s Mock Research Quality Framework (RQF) exercise, subject librarians worked with academic staff from all faculties to help them gather evidence in support of the impact of their publications. This included citation analysis for serials and holdings analysis for monograph publications.
   
• Library staff worked with the Faculty of Art and Design to develop a presence on the faculty’s online research network, then used this to publicise EndNote and databases training.
   
• Law Library staff assisted in the provision of Westlaw training to improve research skills.
   
• In consultation with the honours co-ordinator in Political and Social Inquiry, Library staff developed a site in Monash University Studies Online (MUSO) to support honours students.
   
• Library staff assisted staff from the Centre for the Advancement of Learning and Teaching (CALT) to improve the online tutorial provided for Art and Design students.
   
• Law Library staff continued active involvement in teaching, including the development of a new first year Law unit 'Writing and research', and teaching or co-teaching in the units ‘Legal research and problem solving’, ‘Introduction to legal reasoning’, ‘Law in society’, ‘Contract’, ‘Australian legal system’, ‘Legal research and communication’ and ‘Advanced legal research’.
   
• Hargrave-Andrew Library staff ran Evidence-Based Medicine tutorials for Monash Medical Centre third year students, and later assisted in these sessions at two hospitals.
   
• Library and academic staff worked together to formally integrate Information Literacy into a large, multi campus first year psychology unit.
   
• An information literacy component included in Engineering’s postgraduate ‘Research practices’ unit in 2006 developed postgraduate skills and enhanced the Library’s knowledge and ability to develop the collections in related areas.

Dr Seamus O’Hanlon, Senior Lecturer in History (left) with Richard Overell, Rare Books Librarian, after Dr O'Hanlon opened the Rare Books Exhibition – Ephemera in October 2006