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Align with the University's defining themes of innovation, engagement, internationalisation and global development to support the wider Monash community. Improve services through co-operative arrangements with CAUL, CAVAL and the University of Melbourne/Monash protocol and build on these relationships for the benefit of all Australian libraries, including achieving greater buying power.
Support Monash students and staff in Monash affiliated hospitals and other teaching and research locations
Providing quality Library services to the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences staff and students continues to be one of the more complicated challenges for the Library, as both numbers of students and locations for clinical placements continue to increase. During 2007 planning for the graduate Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) degree to be introduced at Gippsland added to the complexity, as did increasing numbers of students in existing courses.
The Library acquired 1,124 items and some print journals to support Monash students at teaching hospitals throughout Victoria. More than $240,000 was spent on material for hospitals in 2007. Electronic resources selected for the faculty, including e-books, are increasing each year. All electronic information purchased by the Library is available to staff and students at all locations, including overseas campuses and clinical schools.
Hospital library support from the Commonwealth Teaching Hospitals grant has dwindled as a new distribution model has been implemented, providing further challenges in supporting increasing numbers of placements in 2007.
The range of activities offered to support hospital based staff and students in 2007 included:
- meeting with the Dandenong Hospital Clinical Dean and their library team to consider improving the existing library space, encourage the use of electronic information and some options for library education;
- working with library staff at Moorabbin to transfer collections to Clayton in conjunction with the Monash staff and students relocating to Notting Hill;
- meeting with staff from the Departments of Immunology, Surgery and Australian Centre for Blood Diseases at Prahran and with the Ian Potter Librarian to understand their teaching and research needs and establish liaison mechanisms;
- Hargrave-Andrew Library processing 1,180 items no longer required by hospitals, of which 786 last copies were retained and the remaining multiple copies discarded;
- a medical librarian receiving an intercampus mobility award to enable training sessions to be held at Monash University Malaysia as a follow up to a training session held in Australia.
To facilitate the coordination of library services provided by the hospital libraries, the Director, Client Services, Science Health and Engineering convenes the Hospital Librarians Committee, which meets three times per year.
Librarians in the faculty team for Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences regularly present information literacy tutorials for Monash University staff and students located in the hospitals and represent the University on hospital library committees such as:
- The Southern Health Library Network Committee
- The Ian Potter Advisory Committee
- The Ian Potter Management Committee.
Support international campuses and partnerships
Monash South Africa
A new three-storey Library and Learning Commons building was officially opened on the Monash South Africa campus on 23 February 2007 by the Honourable ME Surty, Deputy Minister of Education and His Excellency Mr Philip Green, Australian High Commissioner. This new building represents an investment of approximately R65 million by Monash University.
The building was positioned to be the focal point of the campus in the future and its design was based on the Monash University Library’s Facilities Master Plan. The new facilities significantly upgrade those in the original Library: floor space increased from 350 square metres to 1,900 square metres; there are more than double the original number of workstations, and there are quiet study seats, express terminals and photocopiers, an additional 60 seats in open discussion areas and an IT training room with capacity for 20 attendees included in the new building.
A library technician from South Africa visited the Sir Louis Matheson Library for a week in mid November to undertake technical services training program in the Information Resources Division, and Ms Nthabiseng Kotsokoane was appointed as the new South African Chief Librarian late in 2007.
Monash Sunway
The University Librarian Ms Cathrine Harboe-Ree and Janette Burke, Director Central Services attended the opening of the new Monash Sunway campus in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia on 3 September 2007 by the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister. Sunway Library and Learning Commons is an integral part of the new campus and its design principles are based on the Monash University Library’s Facilities Master Plan.
Prior to the official opening local library staff organised the transfer of the collection from its former home at the Tun Hussein Onn Library into the new building. The Library Management System (Voyager) was also fully implemented and students at Sunway and Johur Bahru libraries can borrow materials using the loans system. Reciprocal borrowing rights have been established between Sunway campus and Sunway College, further enhancing the range of materials available to students and staff. The Johur Bahru clinical school library serves fifty third year students and was officially opened on 5 February 2007 with 302 volumes and five computers.
Provide services as appropriate to Monash partner organisations and commercial operations on campus
The Library’s External Client Services unit provides tailored library skills programs and support to over 3,000 students enrolled each year in specialist courses at Monash College. These students are generally still improving their English language skills and have little experience in research methods, and have benefited from sessions developed specifically to meet their needs. Sessions in the general use of the library and searching skills are run in the Monash College computer laboratories. Classes are aligned with course work and practical help is provided. In 2007 Library staff delivered approximately 120 classes. During 2007 some of Monash College courses were moved to the Caulfield campus and classes were provided by subject specialist staff member from the Caulfield Library.
Negotiations with Monash College began with the final outcome a service level agreement between the Library and Monash College with a defined set of services. Monash College students now have borrowing privileges and access to library services commensurate with Monash University undergraduate students.
Participate in a range of other collaborative endeavours to further Monash goals
Academic and Research Libraries Acquisitions Consortium (ARLAC)
ARLAC comprises ten Victorian and South Australian universities and the State Library of Victoria. Through the Consortium the participating libraries aim to achieve maximum value from their expenditure on books as well as access to a range of cost-effective ancillary services such as the supply of catalogue records and pre-processing of books. Libraries also expect excellent customer service, speedy delivery of books and to be able to take advantage of sophisticated interfaces between their internal computer systems and those of the service providers.
The most recent ARLAC Request for Proposal (RFP) process was undertaken during 2007 through the Monash TenderLink system, with the 2008-2010 contract signed at the end of 2007. Member libraries have agreed to commit minimum percentages of their total book budget allocation to the purchase of books from the successful service providers over the life of the supply contract. Their total commitment to date is over $7 million for purchases from Australian and overseas publishers until 2010. The Library’s Director, Information Resources, Monash University is currently the chair of ARLAC.
Asian Libraries in Melbourne (University of Melbourne / Monash Protocol)
Notable achievements of the Asian Libraries in Melbourne (ALIM) Group include the following:
- Completion of ALIM's survey on Asian-language resources in Victorian public and academic libraries, now loaded on the ALIM website.
- An investigation and report on Asian studies databases subscribed to by Australian research libraries. The list of databases has been loaded on to the ALIM website.
- Monash University Library support of Melbourne University's Asian Architecture undergraduate unit. 127 volumes of Korean architecture materials, including specially ordered items, were sent on long-term loan to University of Melbourne Library for a semester, and the Monash Korean Studies Librarian, Jung-Sim Kim, gave a presentation on Korean Architecture resources for students taking the subject.
Support alumni access to Monash resources
New membership offer to alumni
In February 2007, the Library was successful in negotiating alumni access to SourceOECD database, which comprises books, periodicals, and statistical databases on the wide variety of themes issued by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD).
Alumni membership also became available through the South African and Sunway campuses library. A lifelong membership fee for print-based borrowing was offered.
Support the University’s internationalisation activities on and off campus.
Sichuan University visits
A delegation of senior staff from Sichuan University, China visited Monash for a three-week Dean’s Leadership Training Program organised to assist in the establishment of joint research and education programs under a cooperative agreement between the two universities in August 2007. The delegation was given tours of the Asian Studies Research Collection and the Hargrave-Andrew Library.
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