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2008 was a year of significant completions, commencements and
consolidation. Monash University Library now combines traditional,
highly valued roles with roles that extend its contribution to
the University. The new roles include learning skills, institutional
repository management, publishing and research data management
coordination and support. Traditional roles have in many cases
been transformed in response to technological, pedagogical and
research changes and opportunities, so that collections are as
likely to be licensed as acquired and learning spaces bear little
resemblance to the original inflexible facilities.
Upgrading the Library’s physical facilities remains one of
our highest priorities. A major refurbishment of the CL Butchers
Pharmacy Library at the Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical
Sciences campus in Parkville was completed in 2008 as part of
the ongoing strategy to improve the Library’s physical facilities
and learning spaces. Works to upgrade staff and learning spaces
were undertaken at several other sites, and in some cases this
included installation of new technologies to support videoconferencing
between campuses for staff communication and student learning
activities. Some of these works also contributed to the consolidation
of the successful establishment of the Learning Skills Unit in
the Library in 2007. Planning for several other major building
projects is continuing.
For the last five years the Library has
led the national ARROW (Australian Research Repositories Online
to the World) project, which concluded at the end of 2008. The
project’s primary objective was to build a new repository management
solution for Australian universities, and to make the research
material stored in those repositories discoverable both nationally
and internationally. The project oversaw the development of a
software platform, tools, knowledge and advice on all aspects
of managing digital research outputs. Counted among the successes
of the project are the establishment of an active repository
community and the development by the National Library of Australia of a national discovery service. ARROW has given way to the Australian National Data Service (ANDS), which is a major new, federally funded project whose goal is to deliver greater access to Australia’s research data assets in forms that support easier and more effective data use and reuse. During 2008 Monash University led the ANDS Establishment Project, in collaboration with the Australian National University (ANU) and CSIRO, and is continuing its lead role as ANDS commences its activities.
The Monash University ePress was founded in 2003 as an initiative
that would lead the way in using innovative information technology
to publish scholarly material. A developmental review of the
ePress was undertaken in 2008 and strategies to implement the
recommendations will be developed in 2009 to ensure that the
ePress continues to build its role in the University as a platform
for scholarly communication.
Growth and development of the Library’s
collections was reflected by expenditure of over $16 million
on resources, 56% of which was used in the acquisition of electronic
resources. Use of physical and virtual resources increased following
initiatives to extend systems, services and training provided
by the Library as part of its Resource Discovery Framework strategy.
This year over 3.6 million visits were made to the Library’s
branches and over 7 million transactions were logged on electronic
resources.
The Library is playing an increasing role supporting
the management of research data and the new Research Data Management
Coordinator position in the Library, thought to be the first
such appointment in an Australian library, is a key strategy
in this area. Supporting this role, a new project was launched
in which contact librarians and other specialist library staff
are working with faculty and research teams to extend outreach
associated with research data management, the ePress and the
ARROW Repository.
Senior appointments in learning skills, information literacy, document delivery and branch management have contributed to continuing development and change in all Library areas. Workshops in values and behaviours, the establishment of a mentoring scheme and evolution of a professional development framework have been features of staff development during the year. Visits made by staff to and from the campuses in South Africa and Malaysia continued the support and development of staff and facilities at these
important remote campuses in their formative years.
In presenting this report to Academic Board I would like to
thank the University for its ongoing support of the Library,
particularly its sustained commitment to the development of a
strong collection, and Library staff for being consummate professionals
and a joy to work with.
Cathrine Harboe-Ree
University Librarian |
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 University Librarian, Cathrine Harboe-Ree |
