19 Hargrave-Andrew Library
The two major achievements of the year were the merger of the Biomedical and
Hargrave library collections and services, and the implementation of the Voyager
automated library system. Both tasks required careful planning, project
management, temporary redeployment of staff and many additional staff hours. The
merger was preceded by consultation with clientele on needs and expectations.
The collections were merged during the mid-year break. The Biomedical
Collection was weeded of superseded titles which were subsequently offered for
sale to staff and students. The sale generated considerable interest, small
income and goodwill towards the Library.
The merger of staff and services was accomplished without disruption to
client services. Branch services were merged by the end of September.
The production of the Hargrave-Andrew Library homepage required the revision
of some two hundred files. The basic homepage was ready for Open Day.
Refurbishment of the Hargrave building continued throughout 1999. Most of the
refurbishment requested was carried out. An additional discussion room will be
built in 2000. The refurbishment of the entrance will be done at a later date,
when funding is available for the project.
I am grateful to our clients for accepting the sometimes noisy and dusty
environment, to our staff for their commitment to a successful timely merger and
to Library Management for their funding and moral support. Mr. Hans Groenewegen,
Deputy University Librarian and George Leighfield, Customer Services Librarian
are especially thanked for facilitating the building extension and
refurbishment.
All Hargrave-Andrew Library Business Plan objectives were achieved except for
the subscriptions review which required access to the Voyager Serials module
which was delayed.
The highlight of the year was the Team award given to Hargrave-Andrew staff
for co-operation and achieving merger deadlines. Krystyna Thomas received an
award for her contribution to the "Engineering Context" information
literacy component and Helen Stanton for improving work practices and for
exceptional co-operation.
The merger of the Biomedical and Hargrave library services required extensive
training of Library staff across a wide range of disciplines, including
specialised information resources. The combined reference enquiry statistics for
Hargrave-Andrew Library, the Annexe and the Alfred Sub-branch showed an overall
increase of 2% compared to the previous year.
The number of electronic services including electronic access to fulltext
journals continued to grow in the STEM disciplines. Significant acquisitions in
1999 included:
- Blackwell Science Journals Online providing access to 123 journals
- IDEAL providing electronic access to 175 Academic Press Journals
- ACM Digital Library Association for Computing Machinery journals
- Harrison Principles of Internal Medicine Online.
- DSM-IV Online
- Mental Measurements Yearbook on local area network
Subject librarians trialled new electronic resources including Journals@Ovid;
IDEAL, Grolier; PubSCIENCE; CABHealth; SciFinder; NetLibrary; ACM Digital
Library; Therapeutic Guidelines of Australia and MIMS online. The pilot of the
electronic service READS (Regional Electronic Access and Delivery of Serials)
was launched by the Vice Chancellor. The Hargrave-Andrew Library continued to
participate in the development of the Australian Virtual Engineering Library, a
national project, and in the National Electronic Library for Chemistry.
Voyager tutorials were conducted for academic staff, postgraduates and
undergraduate students of all levels. HAL subject librarians trained tutors for
the new core science subjects: SCI 1011 and SCI 1022 including assistance with
student exercises and formal lectures. K. Thomas coordinated the information
literacy components of "Engineering Context" a very successful program
which involved tele and team teaching with Gippsland and Caulfield Library
staff, hands-on tutorials, setting and correction of student exercises and the
development of a supporting website.
Internet/databases/CD-Rom tutorials rated excellent evaluation responses,
however attendances were lower than expected. Specialist tutorials were
conducted for 4th year honours students and many other presentations for
postgraduates and departmental groups focusing on new electronic resources and
services.
The Hargrave-Andrew library information program covered 4,691 participants,
318 sessions and 299.5 student contact hours.
Following the implementation of the Voyager lending services module two weeks
prior to the first semester there were a number of problems requiring urgent
attention. The training of lending services staff in Voyager so close to the
academic year was a major challenge.
The Hargrave-Andrew Library merger involved a restructuring of staff duties,
the operation of a temporary circulation desk, a move to the refurbished lending
services area and integration of reserve collections.
Vivienne Bernath took up a twelve months secondment to the Monash Medical
Centre, Evidence Based Medicine Service. We welcomed Lucy Cartmel also on a
secondment from the University of Tasmania, and Vicki McKay, Officer in Charge
of the Monash Alfred Sub-branch of the Hargrave-Andrew Library. Casual staff
also made an essential contribution to client services.
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