Goal 1: Information Resources:

In 2005 the library worked to ensure that the selection, acquisition, creation, cataloguing, storage and preservation of scholarly information were in line with the needs and requirements of the university community.

The library also continued its efforts to provide prompt, seamless, reliable and easy-to-use access to high quality scholarly information, regardless of the location of the information or the user.

Selecting new materials

The selection of new resources for inclusion in the collection is guided by the Collection Development Policy. In 2005 the policy was significantly updated to reflect current research and teaching programs for the faculties of Arts, Education, Information Technology and Pharmacy, as well as several schools in Science and Business and Economics.  A wide range of print and electronic resources were reviewed or trialled for potential acquisition, including new databases, e-journals and e-book packages.

Acquiring and processing new materials

The budget for the acquisition and licensing of information resources was $15.07 million.  Of this, 39% was spent on electronic resources; 22% was spent on subscriptions to print journals; and 39% was spent on books, audio-visual materials, and microform sets.  This is similar to the pattern of expenditure in 2004.  The number of print journal subscriptions continues to decrease as more titles become available electronically, with a total of 8,779 at the end of 2005, a reduction of 224 titles from the previous year.

Growing demand for books to support teaching

The range of printed monographs increased significantly with a record 58,042 orders placed and 79,011 non-serial items added to the collection. This is double the number of orders placed five years ago, and reflects growing demand for books to support teaching across the six Victorian campuses. The target of 95% of order requests placed by the end of the year was exceeded with 95.3% placed.

Receiving donated materials

Major donations received during the year included the King Norodom Sihanouk Collection comprising a substantial portion of the former King of Cambodia's personal archives. It is the first time a head of state has made a donation of this type to the university. The invaluable memorabilia and documentation included 16 boxes of books, serials, videos, DVDs, records, music, lyric sheets and documents. A large portion of the donation relates to Norodom Sihanouk’s creative activities as a filmmaker, musician and composer. It also contains material relating to his political and ceremonial roles.

Another notable donation was a large collection of Italian books donated by the Italian Ministry for Culture in September. This donation was only the third made by the Italian government to universities in cities outside Europe with large Italian communities.

Increasing catalogue records and accessibility of electronic resources

At the end of December 2005 there were 752 internet databases,  There were 25,863 catalogue records for e-journals and 98,457 records for e-books.

Substantial new electronic resources were made accessible in 2005. A number of major electronic backfiles and e-book collections were purchased.

Streamlining supply of books from major service providers

The processes for selecting, ordering and cataloguing new books from major suppliers were streamlined to effectively manage the increasing number of new resources acquired or licensed by the library. These included:

• Blanket orders were placed for new Australian books for the Hargrave-Andrew and Sir Louis Matheson Libraries.  This has improved the range of new titles acquired and new titles are being made available faster.
   
• Library staff undertake online selection of new resources using vendor-provided new title information matching Monash University subject interests.  Interfaces have been developed to load these selections daily to the library acquisitions system, and automatically check for unwanted duplication.  Orders are sent electronically to the vendor within 24 hours, and catalogue records are provided on shipment of the books. 

The new workflows have significantly reduced the number of orders awaiting placement at any time, and speeded up the acquisition process.  It has also enabled staff to keep pace with the increased acquisition rate.

From left: Cathrine Harboe-Ree, University Librarian; Royal Kingdom of Cambodia's ambassador to Australia, His Excellency Mr Meas Kim Heng; Emeritus Professor David Chandler; Professor Stephen Parker, Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor

From left: Dr Francesco De Conno, Consul General of Italy in Melbourne; the Hon Nicola Bono, Deputy Minister for Cultural Heritage with the Italian Ministry for Culture; Professor Homer Le Grand, Dean of Arts; Dr Mirna Cicioni, Senior Lecturer in Italian Studies; and Ms Christine Cooze, the library’s Director, Client Services, Humanities and Social Sciences

Preserving the collection through appropriate storage and treatment

Increasing off-site storage capacity

With rapidly growing collections and the refurbishment of branch libraries there is a pressing need to address alternative long-term storage requirements for low use resources that are still required for research. 

A consultant was engaged to assist with the scoping of storage needs for the next 10 years, and to prepare a brief on storage standards.  The resultant report provides a basis for a business case for an offsite storage facility.  In 2005 Monash University Library filled its allocated space in the CARM (Cooperative Action by Victorian Academic Libraries Archival and Research Materials) Centre.  In response to a tender issued by CAVAL (Cooperative Action by Victorian Academic Libraries) the library has taken up 1300 linear metres of high density shelving space at the centre on a permanent lease.  This enables the library to retain ownership of resources being relocated to the CARM Centre, and provide access to these resources through the library catalogue.

Promoting and preserving the university’s recorded intellectual output: scholarly communication

Digitising Centre for Gippsland Studies Picture Collection

A project commenced to digitise more than 1700 historical photos from the Monash University Centre for Gippsland Studies, store them in the ARROW repository and make them available on the internet through PictureAustralia. 

Completing ARROW project design development phase

In 2005, the Australian Research Repository Online to the World (ARROW) project reached a workable solution in its development of an institutional repository capable of storing a wide range of digital material. Monash is the lead institution in this national project funded by the Department of Education, Science and Training. The other project partners are Swinburne University, the University of New South Wales and the National Library of Australia.

A general purpose repository solution using open source Fedora and VTLS Inc. proprietary  software was installed by the four consortium members in mid November. Considerable content was loaded into the Monash ARROW Repository including:

• Faculty of Business and Economics working/discussion papers
• digitised images from the Centre for Gippsland Studies picture collection theses and
• patents

The project has exceeded its original three-year goal to design, research and test a revolutionary software solution for the storage and easy access of digital scholarly material in Australia.  With the design and testing phase complete, the project is now gearing up its role in the Research Quality Framework which will involve the repository being used to collect and store Monash research output.

Forging ahead with a new scholarly publishing model

The Monash ePress, which is managed by the library, continued in its efforts to provide a technologically advanced and economically viable model for the publishing of scholarly material. By the end of 2005 seven titles had been published, with two titles commissioned for publication in 2006 and a number of others under negotiation.

Milestones reached in the area of production that will have a major impact on the ePress publishing process going forward include:

• Print-on-demand through Sydney University Press. In March 2005, Melbourne 2030 was launched online and in print, with print-on-demand versions available for purchase through Sydney University Press. The other two books published in 2005 are also available both in print and online through this system.

• Rollout in September 2005 of subscription and pay-per-article purchase. The new system not only allows purchase of individual articles but also automates subscription purchase and setup. Access occurs immediately upon purchase with no intervention required from the ePress.

• Rollout in October 2005 of the ePress’s customer-management system. This system records ePress subscribers and contacts, including media and potential subscribers. It also tracks special offers (such as discounted subscription offers and free trial access offers), making it a valuable marketing tool.

Monash University ePress titles published in 2005

• History Australia (journal)
• Bible and Critical Theory (journal)
• Applied GIS (journal)
• Melbourne 2030 (book)
• Monash Business Review (journal)
• Struggle Country (book)
• Fault Lines Exposed (book)

Cataloguing sound recordings

Sound recordings from the Australian Archive of Jewish Music held in the School of Music Conservatorium were catalogued. This was part of a project by the school to digitise rare materials and make them more widely available for research through Music Australia, the National Library of Australia resource discovery portal for music. 
 

Providing infrastructure that enables access to electronic resources including journals, books and articles

Searching multiple databases with a single search

A new search portal was launched to assist users in searching multiple catalogues, databases and e-journals simultaneously with a single search. MultiSearch allows users to search multiple databases and to quickly locate full text of resources using the SFX link resolver software. It also enables users to find full text when they have the citation to an article, without needing to know which database it is located in.

Library reference staff were trained in the use of the software and it is being incorporated into library user training for 2006. 

Expanding Monash University Lectures Online

The joint project by the Library and Information Technology Services to expand the Monash University Lectures Online to an additional 40 lecture theatres was completed this year.  As part of the expansion program, the scheduling of lectures and the request for the service were both automated.

In 2005, 601,658 live audio streams were activated with an average of 496 hours of recording per week going live to the internet.

Providing access to print and other collections held in branches

Reviewing branch collections

Integration of the formerly separate government publications sequences in the Matheson Library was completed in 2005.  These are now part of the main books and journals collections and catalogue records for these items have been upgraded to improve bibliographic access.

The ongoing review of branch collections resulted in the relegation of 1,687 last copies to the CARM Centre consortium collection, and the weeding of 15,216 duplicate volumes.

Library visit numbers

Door entry count at the Hargrave-Andrew Library fell by 92,021 due to extensive refurbishment, contributing to the major part of the library’s overall decline of 108,888 visits during 2005.  The statistics indicate that some of these library visits moved to the other Clayton campus libraries but other campuses reflect both movements in student numbers and variations in the course offerings.  Pharmacy recorded an increase of 7,592 or 6.67% and Peninsula library an increase of 9,819 or 6.76%.  A new food and drink policy was also introduced in 2005, which may have had an impact on the door count with less students required to leave and re-enter after coffee or snack breaks.

Overall door count figures for 2005 totalled a very healthy 3,345,532.

Providing information about resources through the library catalogue and web site

Improving usability of library catalogue

A usability study was conducted to identity ways to improve ease of use and the aesthetic appeal of the catalogue. It investigated how easily users could perform tasks like searching for a book or journal, putting in a request for a book from another campus or checking what books they had on loan, and whether they understood the purpose of different buttons on the screen. Study participants were asked to indicate what parts of the catalogue they found confusing or difficult to use.

• Changes and actions taken as a result of the study include the following:
• The look of the catalogue was simplified and modernised with a much ‘cleaner’ interface.
• A number of new labels were tested and renamed for easier use.
• A new search interface with a single line search on the catalogue home page was added.
• The ‘basic search’ tab was moved to a more prominent position.
• Extraneous library navigation was removed, rationalised or moved.
• The separate databases such as Exams Database and South Africa Catalogue were also clearly identified using different colours and banners.

The MultiSearch portal

Extending coverage of library catalogue

Cataloguers added 51,028 new bibliographic records to the catalogue. Several projects were undertaken to improve the coverage of the library catalogue and to upgrade existing catalogue records to enable library users to find resources more effectively. 

Achievements this year included:

• Over 5,200 sub-standard records were replaced by full records.
• A regular program was developed to update holdings in the catalogue for books reported as missing or known to be permanently lost.
• A backlog of music CDs was significantly reduced.
• Detailed holdings for multi-volume works were upgraded in the catalogue for 865 works.
• Detailed holdings statements were added to 3,552 closed serial records for journals held in the Sir Louis Matheson Library.
• Monthly checking of url links and correction or removal of broken links was carried out. The target of 95% for working links was consistently exceeded with 99% being the monthly average.

Simplifying catalogue access for e-journals

In response to library user requests to simplify the catalogue access for electronic journals, the library began sourcing catalogue records for the contents of major online packages from an external provider.  A single catalogue record now includes web links to all online versions of a title, with a separate record for the print version.  This is easier for library users, and has enabled the library to do regular updates for the content of each package as well as including some resources which were previously uncatalogued.

Searching the catalogue using non-Roman scripts

The catalogue became Unicode (UTF-8) compliant as part of a major Voyager upgrade in January. The original characters are displayed beneath the Romanised version, and non-Roman characters can be entered as search terms in the catalogue.  The catalogue can now support Chinese, Japanese and Korean characters and additional non-Roman characters will be added on demand.

Improving usability of databases pages

Many library users find electronic resources through the library website via the databases or the electronic journals pages.  These are regularly updated with data sourced from the library catalogue.  The presentation of the databases pages was revamped in 2005, with the implementation of new subject headings.

Increasing access to library content through my.monash portal

The my.monash portal was launched in June 2000 and has become a highly valued tool for the student community. The portal contains targeted information that relates to course details timetables, results, library resources and email to name but a few. Within the portal, library resources such as past exams database, reading lists, lectures online, citing and referencing tutorial, web site help page and other library resources relevant to specific subjects are all represented in the student’s unit pages. The use of this page to link to library resources has been one of the reasons for the increase in usage of library resources.  For 2005, there were 966,303 downloads of exam papers; 601,658 lectures streamed online; and 3,139,712 downloads of library digitised items.

Contributing to the university’s information management initiatives

Monash University Information Management Strategy

The University Librarian was a foundation member of the university's Information Management Steering Committee, which has developed a comprehensive information management strategy for Monash University. This initiative has involved a number of the key information stakeholders at the university, including Information Technology Services, the Library, Records and Archives and the Student and Community Services Division. Implementing the strategy has been accepted as one of the key strategic priorities for the university in 2006. More details can be found at www.monash.edu.au/staff/information-management/.

Maintaining the university’s metadata website

Library staff contributed to the university’s metadata initiatives by maintaining the metadata website on behalf of the university.  The library also contributed to metadata planning as part of the university’s web Content Management System.

CMS team receives Vice Chancellor’s Award

A Content Management System (CMS) working party established in 2004 to lead the development and implementation of the CMS was awarded the 2005 Vice Chancellor’s Award for Exceptional Performance by General Staff.  The team consisted of representatives from the Library (Stephanie Foott), Information Technology Services (Andrew Norman), the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Science (Craig Wetjen) and the Faculty of Law (Kerryn Jackson).  The team played a leading role in the adoption of the CMS system, championing the system to others and assisting with the rollout to other faculties.

The Content Management System was initiated to enable Monash to deliver a range of high quality educational services over the web to varied communities of students, and to improve internal processes.

New catalogue search screen