11 Law Library
1998 has been a successful one for the Law Library, in part because of the
awards that both the Law Library and members of its staff have won and in part
because, despite the world currency crisis, the Library has largely managed to
maintain subscriptions at 1997 levels and continued to purchase the highest
quality literature for its collection. The `success' on the collection
management front has been due to the hard decisions taken and major
cancellations made over the previous three years, particularly of US and UK
titles - material that is now readily available on the Internet. The decline of
the Australian dollar against both US and UK currencies during 1998, however,
meant that the Library might again be in difficulty in 1999, with a further
review of serial subscriptions likely to be required.
1998 was a particularly successful year on the awards front. Lisa Smith was
awarded one of the Vice-Chancellor's Awards for Excellence and also one of the
Australian Library and Information Association's Awards for Innovation in
Victoria. This was awarded in recognition of Lisa's development of the Law
Library's webpages, widely regarded as among the best in the country.
Nicholas Pengelley completed studies towards an LLM at Monash and was awarded
the degree in October. The Law Librarian published a regular column in the Law
Librarian (the journal of the British and Irish Association of Law
Librarians) and two articles in refereed journals:
(1998) "The Hindmarsh Island Bridge Act. Must laws based on
the race power be for the `benefit' of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders?
And what has bridge building got to do with the race power anyway?" Sydney
Law Review 20(1) 144-157.
(1998) "Female genital mutilation: grounds for grant of an
Australian protection visa? The ramifications of Applicant A." Monash
University Law Review 24(1) 94-115.
A great deal of further refurbishment was undertaken in the Law Library during
the year. The first floor computer laboratory was completely rebuilt and the
windows painted by Marina Baker. Further comfortable reading furniture was
installed and a rare book display case was constructed in the Library. This has
allowed the rare book collection (previously housed in the Law Librarian's
office) to be placed on open display. `Resource' rooms were constructed on the
third and fourth floors of the Library to facilitate access by faculty members
and research staff to the Library and necessary equipment.
Law School staff and students had access to the Butterworths Online service for
several months during 1998. That access, to the complete range of products, was
on an interim or trial arrangement whilst Butterworths tested access and decided
on their fee structure for educational institutions. When these fees were
finally determined, it was discovered that the subscription to the entire range
of products, with internal and remote access to Law School staff and students,
would cost well in excess of $100,000 per annum. The Law Library Committee
considered this to be an exorbitant fee and that to pay it, even if within the
means of the Library, would be to send the wrong message to the publishers.
Principally for that reason, but also in part because of the low usage of many
of the individual products, the Law Library decided to subscribe only to a very
limited range of products.
This decision was taken by the Law Librarian with the support of the acting
Chair of the Law Library Committee and the coordinator of the Legal Research
Methods course. Melbourne University's Law Library undertook similar action, as
did other law schools. The Law Library will keep this situation under review
during 1999 and will reconsider its options should the publisher formulate a
more realistic charging policy.
1998 saw the establishment of the Faculty of Information Technology (FIT)
Library team, in response to the changes proposed by the Library faculty and
discipline based (FADIB) model. The members of the team during 1998 were Nick
Pengelley, Lisa Smith, Andrew Dixon, Sara Miranda and Myles Strous.
The FIT team held meetings at Clayton and at Gippsland where an evaluation of
the collection was carried out. A communications strategy, based largely on
email communication, was established and members of the team assumed
responsibility for particular areas of collection development and budget
monitoring. The FIT Library budget for 1998 was allocated by November.
The major task of the FIT team during its first year was the development of a
list of serials to be cancelled in response to the reduction in buying power
referred to above. The list, comprising annual serial expenditure of
approximately $50,000, was approved almost without dissent by Faculty members.
The necessary cancellations have been made. A great deal of thanks is owed to
the members of the team who carried through this difficult work in a highly
competent and professional manner.
The major task for 1999, begun late in 1998, will involve the identification
and transfer of journals and books to Caulfield in response to the move of the
School of Information Management and Systems from Clayton to that Campus.
Relevant serials and monographs have been identified by SIMS staff and the
Collection Management Librarian. Robert Stafford is assisting with the plans for
the move.
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