Across the sector, universities are transforming the student experience by reconceptualising the ways in which they partner with students. The academic library is at the heart of the university experience and libraries have a long history of collaboration and engaging with their communities. As such academic libraries are the perfect next frontier…

University libraries worldwide are reconceptualising the ways in which they support the research agenda in their respective institutions. This paper is based on a survey completed by member libraries of the Queensland University Libraries Office of Cooperation (QULOC), the findings of which may be informative for other university libraries. After…

Since 2008, Victoria University (VU) Library has employed 20 or more Student Assistants annually who work on a casual basis for up to 12 hours per week during terms/semesters to staff the Library in Study Hall mode (where there is self-service access to PCs and collections and limited staff assistance). This initiative appears to have been highly…

There is a general perception that as librarians, we know what constitutes and defines a rare book, that our heritage book collections are well-documented and their future survival is planned for and secure. This discussion paper asks whether our definitions of heritage material might be too narrow and whether they reflect the reality across all…

This collection of 34 papers and speeches presented at the conference covers a wide range of topics pertaining to the role of libraries in contemporary society, including issues in library education, library/community relations, library planning and policy-making, technological trends, library services, and library administration. While several…

The Sydney Public Library began as the Australian Subscription Library and Reading Room which opened in Sydney on December 1, 1827, with 1,000 volumes. The Municipal Council of Sydney took possession of the library in 1909. The library evolved from a closed access, fixed shelf position library to an open access system in 1910. A complete…

This second part of an analysis of scientific and technical information (STI) services in Australia considers their development in the context of discipline formation in information management. The case studies used are the STI services from Part I. A case study protocol is used to consider the extent to which the development of the services may…

Academic library managers need a multimethod, objective, valid tool for measuring service quality. Examines three research studies in the measurement of service quality in Australian and New Zealand academic libraries: the Hernon and Altman Study; Hernon and Calvert Study; and the University of Waikato (Hamilton, New Zealand) Survey, a two-stage…

Based on material obtained and observations made in 1982, this Australian study focuses on the British Library's inter-library comparison (ILC) project for academic libraries. The report is presented in five sections, the first of which is a brief introduction. The second section deals with the general concept of inter-organization comparison as a…

The three papers in this collection on library statistics were presented at the 1984 IFLA general conference. In "The Management Use of Library Statistics," Geoffrey G. Allen of the Western Australian Institute of Technology discusses current uses and misuses of library statistics and illustrates some practical applications of statistics…

Papers on the application of statistics to library research and library administration which were presented at the 1982 International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA) conference include: (1) "Price Indexes for Library Materials: Steps toward International Standardization" by Frederick C. Lynden (United States); (2)…

During 2003, Monash University Library conducted a comprehensive quality review as part of the university's program of reviews. A quality management group was established in September 2002 to drive the process. All staff were given the opportunity to contribute input to the initial self-review. Methods of collecting data, collating responses and…

In 2002, the Department of Education, Science and Training (DEST), Higher Education Information Infrastructure Advisory Committee commissioned the National Library of Australia to analyse the uniqueness and overlap of Australian university library collections, comparing library collections in each state, using the National Bibliographic Database…

Findings from informetric research represent an important background resource to add to the mix of information useful for resolving difficult and ongoing problems in specific library environments or information service settings. This paper provides examples of informetric research that can be useful input to decision-making in the field of library…

Recent reports on Australia's research infrastructure have highlighted the decline in serial subscriptions in academic and research libraries during the 1990s. They have used the annual CAUL statistics in order to support these claims. This article examines the CAUL statistics for serial subscriptions, indicating their numerous flaws when used for…