Introduction

6 Client Services

• 6.1 Lending Services
  • Table 3. Loans and Renewals, 1998
  • Figure 1. Comparison of Loans and Renewals 1997/1998
• 6.2 Document Delivery Services
  • Table 4. DocDel Items Sent and Received, 1998
  • Figure 2. Comparison of Requests from Monash University Clients 1997/1998
• 6.3 Reference and Information Services
  • Table 5. Statistics of Reference Inquiries 1998
• 6.4 Information Literacy
  • Table 6. Information Literacy Statistics, 1998
  • The Virtual Librarian.
• 6.5 MONINFO
• 6.6 Publications and Publicity Unit
• 6.7 Flexible Library Services Unit
  • Services.
  • Resources.
  • Quality Assurance.

6.1 Lending Services

The number of loans and renewals decreased by 7.2%, compared with 1997. All Libraries experienced a drop in loans, with the exception of the Matheson, Biomedical and Berwick Libraries. A number of factors could have contributed to the decrease in loans for 1998, including:

• the increase in the loan period for undergraduates from one week to two, leading to a drop in the number of loan transactions;
• increased availability of information provided by the Library in electronic form;
• the availability of material on the web;
• an increase in the number of multiple copies purchased; and
• a reduction in the number of students enrolled at Peninsula.

6.2 Document Delivery Services

The Document Delivery (DocDel) Unit continued to provide an efficient and effective service with the number of requests processed increasing by 7.8% this year. The faculties have adjusted to the quota system and the Unit kept within its budget. Many faculties made use of special services including fast track and premium track services, which increased by 97.6%.

The DocDel database provided a reliable working tool, a largely paperless office; valuable statistics for the whole year and most importantly streamlined processing that facilitated quick responses to users' queries. DocDel webpages were reduced and simplified for users and 56% of requests were submitted electronically via the webpages.

6.3 Reference and Information Services

The number of reference and directional inquiries decreased by 2.4% from 1997. Multels centralised telephone inquiries service responded to 24,434 calls, a slight decrease on 1997 calls of 26,328. Of the 1998 calls, 17,026 were completed at the time of the call, the other 7,408 calls being referred to other numbers.

6.4 Information Literacy

The name of the Library's User Education/Reference Subcommittee was changed to Reference and Information Literacy Subcommittee, to reflect a broader interpretation of the nature of user education. This reflects the increasing emphasis, in the university community, on the acquisition of life-long learning skills.

Information services staff continued to provide a large number of face-to-face classes ranging from basic instruction in the use of the catalogue to in-depth research methodology for specific disciplines. In general these were either initiated by Library staff, offered on a voluntary basis, or incorporated into a particular subject as a compulsory, but unassessed, requirement. Increasingly however, the acquisition of information literacy skills is being acknowledged by academics as an essential requirement for students, and some courses were beginning to include such units into the assessable component of a subject. In some cases Library staff provided both the instruction and the assessment; in other cases Library staff trained academic tutors who then instructed and assessed their students. In addition, the development of the electronic information literacy project will offer further opportunities for academics and Library staff to work together to ensure that Monash students graduate with well developed information handling skills.

Although there was a reduction in the number of information literacy sessions conducted in 1998 by 15.8%, class sizes increased by 2706. There has been a need to have larger classes due to the reduction in staff numbers. The number of staff contact hours was reduced from 1,443.5 hours to 1,205 hours, a reduction of 16.5%.

The Virtual Librarian.

The Virtual Librarian, an Information Literacy Project, was conceived to provide online, twenty-four hours a day, access to instruction in the steps required to find information and in the use of various library tools. The web was chosen as the delivery platform, and in April 1998 a project officer was appointed. To date a structure for the information and the site has been designed. Research was undertaken into the most effective methods for presenting information electronically and ensuring user interactivity. Widespread consultation has taken place within the Library to ensure that all relevant information has a place within the site. Tutorials addressing key information seeking strategies have been completed, with further work to provide increased subject specific information to take place in 1999. Also completed were a number of tutorials addressing the use of particular electronic products. Each tutorial includes self-assessment tasks and provision has also been made within the site for tasks to be graded and the marks recorded. An initial usability study has been undertaken, and the ABI Inform tutorial was assessed by a group of Business and Economics students under the supervision of their tutor.

6.5 MONINFO

MONINFO has had a busy year with a steady growth in document supply. There has been a constant demand for information research requests in spite of the availability of free databases on the Internet. The major challenge has been to address the problem of escalating online charges and the constraints on access to Monash electronic databases due to licensing agreements.

6.6 Publications and Publicity Unit

Four issues of The Information were again published this year, both in print and on the web. The emphasis in the Publications Unit has been towards developing electronic publications and this is reflected in the fact that only three new brochures were printed this year although the information literacy area has continued to produce new in-house guides and help sheets. Work on updating the Publications Style Manual and the Guidelines for Library Webpages is continuing.

The collection of data for DETYA revealed that in 1997 Library staff contributed sixteen articles to academic journals, conferences, and monographs, slightly more than the eleven listed for 1996.

6.7 Flexible Library Services Unit

In February 1998 the Library established its Flexible Library Services Unit with a coordinating hub based at Gippsland and outposts on all the other Monash campuses. Flexible Library Services is a national and international service for undergraduate and postgraduate Monash students. It is the conduit through which students located in all Australian states and those residing in some 40 countries throughout the world use Monash University Library.

Services.

Library services offered through Flexible Library Services to off campus students' parallel those accorded to on campus students. Thus there is the virtual equivalent of an information desk, and a postal loans and photocopying service which draws upon the Library's books and journal resources. An array of electronic services and resources are also available through the Unit.

Resources.

In mid year the unit launched its Flexible Library Services web site which further opened up access to the Library's vast range of electronic resources such as CD-ROM databases, electronic journals and exam papers. Web based electronic request forms further facilitated off campus students' access to the Library's rich collections. The web site has proved to be popular with off campus students who are increasingly using technologies to use the Library from a distance. By the end of the year, some 75% of students requested books and photocopies or sent queries to the virtual information desk via fax, email or through the web site. The phone service continues to provide a vital human link where students call in to discuss their information needs.

Quality Assurance.

As part of its quality assurance program, the Library surveyed distance education students residing overseas to assess satisfaction levels with existing library services and identify potential enhancements. Students studying through TMC, Singapore were also surveyed to determine the types of services the Unit could offer to students enrolled in Monash University off shore, joint venture partnerships.