Goal 5: Physical Environment
To enrich the total study and campus experience
through provision of innovative and welcoming facilities that both
stimulate learning and respond to study and research needs.
Five of the Library’s ten branches are new or have now been refurbished, including the refurbished C L Butchers Pharmacy Library, which was opened on 1 December 2008. The two largest branches, Matheson and Caulfield, have not yet been refurbished. Planning has commenced to consider the costs and implications of expanding the Caulfield Library. A bid to expand the Matheson Library and develop its role has been made to the Commonwealth Government’s Education Investment Fund.
Planning for a new Law Library at the Caulfield campus commenced, as it is envisaged that the Law Faculty will move to the Caulfield campus in 2012.
Provide study spaces which meet the differing needs of users for group and individual study
Following a review of the Facilities Master Plan (FMP), an audit of all branch libraries was undertaken. Wherever possible the recommendations of the review have been implemented, including revamping library entrances to achieve consistency across all branches and adopting elements of learning commons in each branch.
Provide reliable high quality physical libraries, technology and workstations
Following a review of all training and meeting rooms, facilities were upgraded to include new data projectors and smart boards. Flexible furniture was also installed to extend the functionality of the rooms. Videoconference facilities have been installed for staff at the Matheson and Caulfield Libraries and a portable unit is being used by staff in Gippsland until new facilities can be installed as part of the learning space developments at that branch. Web cam facilities and interactive communication software are being included as part of the upgrade of staff computers as appropriate.
A number of software applications were installed, including Second Life on all student-use computers in response to a request from the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences to use Second Life for teaching purposes. The rollout of Lotus Notes to all staff computers in the Library was completed over several months.
Over 67 power points were installed on new work stations at the Caulfield Library and further power points were installed at other branch libraries in response to the increased usage of laptops.
In conjunction with learning skills establishment in the Library, staff accommodation has been reviewed in all branches. Work has been undertaken to reconfigure this accommodation at several branches. Work at other branches will be undertaken during 2009.
Signage was reviewed at all branch libraries and changes were identified and made.
Pharmacy Library reopens
The CL Butchers Pharmacy Library moved back to its permanent home in the Manning Building on the Parkville campus and the temporary site at 407 Royal Parade was closed. The refurbished library provides a better, more convenient facility for users and is almost double the size it was formerly; it now occupies the majority of the ground floor of the Manning Building. The library has been designed to be technologically enabled, more adaptable to changing study styles, easier to navigate and modern in appearance and function.
Staff from the Monash University Museum of Art created a display at the entrance using pharmacy artifacts made available by Pharmaceutical Defence Limited. The Museum also provided and installed artworks from the University collection in the Library to enhance the cultural experience of library users.
Journals that were held off-site during the refurbishment have been returned to the library. A group study area has been equipped with a smart board and serves as a flexible learning space. A training room is available for students’ use when it is not being used for classes or workshops.
Innovative learning space development
The Library received more than $300,000 from the Learning Spaces Taskforce to develop open and group-based collaboration spaces in the Gippsland Library. This will enable learning and information research skills to be taught in an innovative and technologically enriched environment, as well as providing an area for students to undertake collaborative learning. Together with comprehensive wireless connectivity being rolled out at Gippsland, this will significantly improve on-campus learning and collaboration facilities for students. Library staff prepared for the renovations by relocating serials and reviewing holdings. The design of the new learning space was endorsed in late 2008 and will be completed in 2009. This initiative is an example of the growing collaboration between the Library and the e-Education Centre.
Provide a secure and safe environment
Security
The Library’s security and sound systems were reviewed. As a result, a professionally developed and consistent sound recording for the closing message was created for all of the branch libraries.
Safety
The Library met all of the occupational health and safety criteria in 2008 and according to reports received from the University’s Occupational Health and Safety Unit, has made considerable improvements since 2005 in reducing injuries and compensation claims and increasing the rate of hazard reporting. The number of incidents has decreased from 28 in 2005 to 16 in 2008 and the number of hazards reported has increased from four in 2005 to 31 in 2008. The increase in hazard reporting enables action to be taken before an injury or an incident results. As a result of OHS initiatives in the Library, Workcover claims have decreased from six in 2006 to zero in 2008.
Provide facilities for people with special needs
Services provided by the Library for patrons with disabilities include retrieval of items from the collections, arranging inter-campus and inter-library loans, and providing personal assistance with the use of assistive technologies available at seven of the eight branch libraries. A resting room service is provided in the Sir Louis Matheson Library. The use and appropriateness of these facilities are monitored by each branch's Disability Contact Officer.
Provide responsive hours of opening
Extended evening hours were trialled at the Peninsula Library, opening until 9 pm on Monday to Thursday for the two weeks immediately before the exams.
The Library continues to receive requests for longer opening hours at all campuses and will again review opening hours in 2009.
House the collection to standards that ensure preservation of resources for long-term research value
Sir Louis Matheson Collection Refurbishment Project
The focus of this project in 2008 has been the main and reference collections, Matheson Store and Music and Multimedia kits. Books and Elsevier and Springer serial abstracts and bibliographies have been sent to the offsite store, criteria have been developed for relocation of kit materials and weeding and relocation of the reference collection is proceeding ahead of weeding in selected Dewey ranges of the main collection.
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