Goal 3: Lending Services Resources:

In 2005 the library worked to support teaching, learning and research by making course and research collections readily available for eligible undergraduate and postgraduate students and staff.

Providing loans services from any branch of the library

Facilitating borrowing from the collection

For many years the library has anticipated a decline in loans of print materials as the size of Monash electronic collections increases and there is improved depth to the electronic collections in many disciplines.  In 2005 loans of items from the library’s collections declined by 5.71% or 62,970 to a total of 1,039,973.  Items borrowed and then renewed increased by 3.07% or 19,678.   

Loans figures are sensitive to student population movements with large libraries such as Matheson registering only small declines. The Hargrave-Andrew Library was impacted by major building works and accessibility problems. At Pharmacy Library the number of items that could be borrowed from the collection was increased to meet the limits applying across all campuses.  New academic initiatives at Peninsula saw the first increase in the loans registered at that campus library in many years.

Browsing journals at the Sir Louis Matheson Library

Improving access to items held at distant campus libraries

The library simplified the procedures for users to request items from the collection regardless of their branch location.  This change was initiated in response to concerns expressed in the 2003 Client Survey regarding access to items not held at the user’s primary library, and confusion about the way in which requests could be lodged and the time taken to retrieve wanted items. A review of the hold process undertaken in September 2005 revealed that some 166,506 items requested were processed by library staff, an increase of 36,350 or 27.93% over the number of items processed in the same period in 2004.  In 2004 58.2% of these items were borrowed but in 2005 the figure rose to 59.3%, an additional 22,974 items. The library is looking to the operating system Voyager to provide efficiencies to allow staff to manage this increased workload.  The 2005 Client Survey indicated that users understood the changed practice and were more confident that requested items were being delivered.

Updating of student and staff records

In June the automatic update of staff records into the library catalogue from the Monash Directory Service was made possible for the first time since the installation of SAP in 1999.  This was a major breakthrough, as normally staff had to come to a loans desk and have their record created manually. In August 11,648 staff records were automatically updated in the Voyager patron file. This enables staff to make document delivery requests via the library catalogue. Similarly, regular automated updates to the student file, some 2,500 records during early semester, were completed later in the year.

Providing access to reserve collections and electronic reading lists

The library’s Lending Services Readings and Reserve Subcommittee, in collaboration with advice from the University’s copyright officer, reviewed the content of electronic reading lists and the increasing workload as more departments and faculties abandoned course handouts and readers in favour of online reading lists.

In 2005, 1055 courses were supported by electronic reading lists created by the library. This was up from 290 lists in 2002, the first year course lists were created.

Traditional library reserve collections have diminished in size as the volume of student reading material available electronically increases.  In 2005 only 48,914 items were lent from the reserve collections, decreasing from 76,037 in 2002.  An increasing number of popular textbooks are now being purchased by the library as electronic books, reducing the demand on print copies.

Providing access to other libraries’ collections

The CAVAL (Co-operative Action by Victorian Libraries) Reciprocal Borrowing Program continues to be popular.  In 2005 2,043 Monash staff and students borrowed 34,400 items from 16 other Victorian universities or colleges.  Items were borrowed from as far afield as Sunraysia TAFE and Deakin Warrnambool, with Melbourne University lending 11,294 items to 838 Monash staff and students.

Monash University Library itself continues to be a popular and valuable library for staff and students of the other Victorian academic institutions.  Melbourne University students borrowed 8983 items, Deakin University students 4,743 and RMIT 4,208. 

Obtaining materials from other libraries for postgraduate students and staff

The library purchased the Endeavor inter-library loan and document delivery module (Clio) to add to the Voyager system, replacing software that was no longer supported. The new software allows users to request material via the library catalogue. Implementation and development ran throughout the year, causing some disruption for users and library staff, but service level targets were maintained for all but one quarter.

 This service is undergoing change. Increased support to build library research collections naturally reduces the need to acquire material from other libraries. At the same time research is increasing at Monash University and the demand remains significant.