12 Caulfield Peninsula Berwick Library
1998 was a year of many challenges and major changes, including the
incorporation of the Berwick Library with the Caulfield/Peninsula Library and
the reorganisation of administrative responsibilities of the Branch to
accommodate this change. Major initiatives of the faculty teams for
Business/Economics and Art/Design were the implementation of the FADIB model for
the delivery of information services and substantial serial cancellation
projects. Both Berwick and Peninsula campus libraries were involved in building
projects, and the Berwick Library was the recipient of a Strategic Innovations
Funding Grant. Staff from the various service areas of the Branch were involved
in the selection and implementation of the new library system, Voyager.
In February 1998 the Library Management Committee incorporated the Berwick and
Caulfield/Peninsula Branches, resulting in a restructure of the management of
the Branch. Changes included the Berwick Liaison Librarian reporting to the
Caulfield/Peninsula Divisional Librarian and the Assistant Divisional Librarian
assuming responsibility for Information Services on both the Caulfield and
Peninsula campuses, as well as the day-to-day management of the Peninsula
Library. The Nursing/Education Subject Librarian now manages the User Education
program for the Caulfield and Peninsula campuses, and the Divisional Librarian
has assumed responsibility for Serials, Lending Services and Administration
across the three sites, in addition to management of the day-to-day operations
of the Caulfield Library and the Faculty Teams of Business/Economics and
Art/Design.
In 1998 the FADIB model for the delivery of information services was implemented
in order to reflect the University's cross-campus teaching models, and thus
provide a more relevant information service for the staff and students of the
University. During the year, the Business/Economics and Art/Design teams met on
each of the relevant sites and developed effective communication networks,
including email lists. The Business/Economics faculty team was involved in the
development of the Library's Information Literary project, and produced a
webpage that was part of the presentation to the Faculty Board Meeting in
December at Gippsland. The team continued to support the Faculty's flexible
learning initiatives by providing access to products such as ProQuest Direct via
the web. In July the Art/Design team met at Gippsland with members of the School
to discuss library services and expenditure of the Library budget. The
implementation of the FADIB model impacted on staff in all areas of the Branch,
and substantially increased communication and cooperation between staff on all
campuses.
During June and July the Faculty teams of Business/Economics and Art/Design
initiated a review and cancellation process for serials attributed to these
faculties. The review concentrated on identifying and eliminating duplicate
subscriptions, as well as high-cost, low-usage titles. The process resulted in
cancellations of over $45,000 (14%) for Business/Economics serials and
approximately $6,000 (19%) for Art/Design. Reference serial subscriptions
costing approximately $10,000 were cancelled at the Caulfield and Peninsula
libraries.
Relocation of the Peninsula Library was completed in February 1998. Library
staff have hosted many visitors, including senior library staff from other
Universities, but no date has yet been set for an official opening. Planning
continued in 1998 for the proposed relocation of the entrance of the Caulfield
Library, and the expansion of the Library on level 2 of Building A. Current
plans include incorporating the outside balcony areas on level 3 and 4 into the
Library, and structural engineers have been contracted as has an architectural
firm to review space proposals across the Caulfield campus.
Work began in late 1998 to extend the Berwick Library to twice its current
size. Although the Library was developed as an electronic library, additional
print copies and study spaces are needed to cope with the academic requirements
of the increasing number of students enrolled at Berwick. Anticipated completion
date of the extension is March 1999.
The fine teamwork and extensive commitment and initiative of Branch staff were
the key factors responsible for the delivery of the quality library service at
Caulfield, Peninsula and Berwick in 1998. Judy Nolan was awarded the LASIE Maguire
Medal for her "spirited paper" The Demise of Information
Privacy in Australia," which was published in the December 1998 issue
of LASIE. Judy Hopley and Gillian Careem were awarded double increments
for their outstanding contributions to the Monash University Library. Joyce
Jenkin was selected as one of the Monash University representatives at
"Learning about Managing" in Daylesford in April.
Branch staff participated in other local, national and international staff
development activities, including Customer Service Training sessions, emergency
evacuation training, the ALA Convention, ALIA Conference, RIL Spinning the Web,
Online & On Disc Conference 98, and Voyager training.
Joint projects between the Branch and the Faculties in 1998 included the
development of a touch-screen directory for the Caulfield Campus Library by FIT
students, and a satisfaction survey conducted by two Mt. Eliza Master of
Business students. The joint project between the Peninsula Library and the
Frankston Library Service, the Mornington Peninsula Local History Index,
continued to make significant progress and will be launched in February 1999.
The Faculties of Arts and Business/Economics, in conjunction with the Library,
submitted a successful proposal to the Strategic Innovations Fund for a grant
for the Berwick and Gippsland Libraries. A grant of $101,000 was received and
will be used to purchase monographs and databases, and extend the
Audio-on-Demand project, including wiring for theatres.
The decreased door statistics and loan statistics for the Caulfield and
Peninsula Libraries reflect the availability of materials available on the web
and the reduction in the number of the students enrolled at Peninsula. Berwick
Library statistics reflect substantial increases in all areas, including door
statistics (30%), Electronic Reserve accesses (257%), and information literacy
participants (34%). These increases are due to a greater number of students on
campus, and increased marketing of library services. Summer hours of opening
were extended at Peninsula and Caulfield to support the expanded summer programs
of Monash University.
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