Melbourne Students & Learning - Research Publications
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ItemEstablishing Digital Preservation at the University of Melbourne(Swiss National Library, Bern, 2016)
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ItemNo Preview AvailableFrom zero to hero – the journey of a timeline from text heavy to interactive- creating more inclusive websites(2015 ALIA, 2017)In the minds of many, dense text and limited photos equals boring—yet numerous libraries and content providers use this format to present the valuable information that is burrowed away in their databases and catalogues. Innovative new methods of information dissemination are required to pique public interest, capture attention, and enticing people to engage with content. Digital humanities tools can make content go from zero to hero, just by changing the aesthetic. The Find & Connect web resource (Find & Connect web resource project, 2011 - 2016) is a government-funded initiative, which provides information for individuals raised in Australian out-of-home care from the beginning of the last century. Anecdotal feedback, and formal usability testing, regarding the site suggested it relied too heavily on text to deliver the content. To alter this perception, the pre-existing plain text hyperlinked timeline was transformed into a visually engaging and interactive experience for the user—using TimelineJS software by Knight Lab (Northwestern University, 2015). The new format brings together otherwise disperse content into an easily navigable, intuitive interface. Modifying the timeline code template to create a well-referenced robust tool, that was also visually appealing, was not always simple and required the resolution of several broader issues. A fundamental shift in the design process involved moving away from the Google Spreadsheet provided, and into JSON files. In addition, the hosting of the timeline was relocated to internal servers to remove the reliance on external providers. Large images, limited text, and interaction are three points of variation of the newly created timeline on the Find & Connect web resource. Initial feedback suggests this timeline version vastly improves user experience. The new timeline engages the user, encourages exploration of the content on the site, and showcases certain elements of the collection reviving a story that was otherwise lost and forgotten.
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ItemBut where is the library ...?: Reframing the library at the University of Melbourne in a shared services environment(IATUL, 2016)Commencing in late 2013 and continuing through 2014, the University of Melbourne, a research-intensive and highly ranked Australian university, undertook an extensive review of all services, business processes and the required resourcing profile to deliver them. This review, known as the Business Improvement Program, ultimately led to a complete reconceptualization of the University’s operating model, the most significant in its 160 year history. The scale of the change was sweeping and the speed was audacious, resulting in the implementation of a new shared-services model across the University known as the Melbourne Operating Model. The entire University has been reorganized according to the principles of this operating model. The model has three core elements – Chancellery (responsible for leadership of overarching University strategy, policy, brand and capital); Academic Divisions (or Faculties and Schools), and University Services where the operational activities of the University are grouped together as shared services to support Academic Divisions (Faculties) to deliver on their teaching, research and engagement agendas. How did the Library fare? As a formal, visible organisational unit, the University Library ceased to exist. The University Librarian took on the mantle of University Librarian & Executive Director, Collections and was placed in Chancellery to provide strategic direction and policy oversight to the Library as well as to the University’s other cultural collections located in Faculties. However Library services, delivered by the two directorates of Scholarly Information and Research and Collections, were positioned as discrete operational units within the Academic Services division of University Services, so that both Directors (who formerly reported to the University Librarian), now report to the Executive Director for Academic Services. In this presentation the authors outline the background and rationale of the Business Improvement Program at the University of Melbourne and describe the current organisational structure under the Melbourne Operating Model. They present their personal views on how the Model has impacted the Library’s operational activities and priorities within the wider Academic Services context and describe how operational separation from the strategic leadership of the University Librarian position has been managed.
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ItemMenzies’ book club: using a relational database to reconstruct the social networks of Robert Menzies( 2014)The University of Melbourne Library holds the personal library of Sir Robert Gordon Menzies, prime minister of Australia from 1939 to 1941 and 1949 to 1966. The collection reflects a lifetime of acquiring books and comprises almost 4000 books (as well as magazines, photograph albums and ephemera) that belonged to Menzies. As well as reflecting the owner’s tastes and interests, the collection sheds light on Menzies’ extensive personal, social and personal networks. We demonstrate in this paper how is it possible to use a relational database to piece together an impression of Menzies’ intricate social world, based on the evidence of his books. Much of the value of the collection lies in the annotations and dedications inside the books. We have discovered that almost forty percent of the volumes bear inscriptions or signs of dedication ranging from signatures and brief notes to more personal dedications. These reveal the identity of the giver of the book and often its date of acquisition. A smaller number contain signs of previous ownership, suggesting they were donated, exchanged, or perhaps lent to Menzies (and never returned). Presents to Menzies from family members and friends are common. The collection also contains numerous books presented to Menzies by international dignitaries, not to mention unsolicited gifts from his admirers and constituents. The exchange of books was a form of ‘social networking’, and these inscriptions reveal a complex network of associations both within and outside the world of politics. This paper will focus on our efforts to map the connections between books, writers of inscriptions, events and organisations relevant to the life and times of Robert Menzies. Moving beyond the bibliographic approach, our project incorporates archival research and digital technologies to learn more about Menzies’ public and private self. Looking ahead, there is further scope for this project to be used as the basis of a detailed social network analysis. Personal libraries occupy an ambiguous position in traditional library and archival practice. The professional literature on the management and conservation of personal libraries is therefore limited. In disciplines such as history and literature, however, personal libraries have been used as sources of unique biographical evidence. We are not aware of a comparable project using digital technology to build a social and biographical profile of an individual, derived from their personal library. We hope the outcomes of this project will not be confined to the interests of Australian and political history. This new approach to understanding personal libraries will encourage others working in digital humanities to explore these unique collections held in a number of Australian academic and state libraries. Personal libraries offer great potential for digital applications in the humanities. In addition to network analyses, these collections provide opportunities for book digitisation and OCR technologies, as well as database design. This project will be of interest to librarians, archivists and curators, as well as researchers working in book history, digitisation, textual analysis and digital curation. It will also interest technologists, especially database designers and developers. The online resource resulting from this project, The Robert Menzies Collection: A Living Library, has been published as a work in progress: http://www.menziescollection.esrc.unimelb.edu.au.
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ItemEstablishing and fostering communities of practice( 2012)This paper reviews the foundation literature on communities of practice. It describes two communities of practice established at the University of Melbourne Library and the lessons learned in the development of these communities. It outlines plans for the future and strategies being used to make communities of practice self-supporting.
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ItemA 'Facebook' for research. A perspective on the changing role for information about research in the provision of research services( 2008)Anyone who has either worked in research administration or has been on the receiving end of it would probably agree that that the dynamic that between researchers and research administrators is similar to that between market researchers and the public. Market researchers have an inexhaustible need to find out what the public is thinking, and are constantly surveying, running focus groups, and otherwise poking and prodding the public to tell them what they need to know. Likewise, research administrators are constantly requesting information about research from researchers in endless cycles. (Often the atmosphere in which information is collected from researchers is as if a research administrator had called them up during dinner to ask them for their publications!) The perspective that research administrators and marketers share is that they are both on the outside looking in.
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ItemThe sound of music at 780( 2007)The Dandenong hills are alive with the sound of music and it originates from Dewey Decimal Classification 780 and the location of music processing at 780 Elizabeth Street, The University of Melbourne. The presentation will demonstrate how changes in policy and procedures enabled the transformation of my position in the Monograph Team, Information Services. An upward climb from a supporting role in music processing to undertaking all aspects of information provision for music material. Hear how a progressive supervisor and an enlightened Music Librarian put their trust in a library technician to look after music and provided on-going support and encouragement. I hope you will be inspired and infused with the joy that comes from being responsible for a vital service. Highlights will be shared, including an insight into the depth and richness of music collections within The Louise Hanson-Dyer Music Library and tales of successful sagas resulting from exhaustive searches for material in this complex area. Library Technicians can climb any mountain and follow any dream.
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ItemAll change: the ever evolving Institutional Repository at the University of Melbourne( 2007)Institutional repositories are becoming prevalent in academic libraries as the location for storing theses, research publications, learning objects and other grey literature. This paper will provide brief background information on the history, the role and growth of open access Institutional Repositories and, in particular, will concentrate on the University of Melbourne’s repository. The paper will touch upon the origin and changes that it has gone through and its links to the Australasian Digital Theses (ADT) Program. It will also discuss issues for academic involvement, copyright, the Research Quality Framework (RQF) and the benefits of depositing, such as increased citation rates and linking with the University’s Themis Enterprise Management tool. In order to raise the profile and the citation rate of the University of Melbourne’s research community, the Vice-Chancellor has strongly encouraged researchers to deposit research output into the University of Melbourne ePrint Repository (UMER). This has resulted in new skills development and a change in workflows for institutional repository staff. We shall mainly speak about the role of the members of the institutional repository staff, the workflow implications, and how workflow is managed day to day. To meet the University’s priorities and timelines, flexibility and time management are essential. We shall also discuss the interaction needed outside our own team, and the positive feedback and conversations with authors and colleagues. As this is an ever evolving and fast moving field, the paper will reflect on where we are now; however, because of the impact of the RQF, the University of Melbourne's strategic plan, and the implication of new repository software, changes are to be expected.
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ItemThe open access model of research publishing(Australian Library and Information Association, 2005)
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ItemEstablishing an eprint repository at the University of Melbourne: implementation aspects( 2003)In 2002, the University of Melbourne Information Division established a repository for research output of University of Melbourne staff. The repository is one of a growing number, both nationally and internationally, using open source software compliant with the protocols and standards of the OpenArchives Initiative. The paper discusses these and also outlines the experiences of the authors in establishing the repository. The paper complements EPRINTS@MELBOURNE by Jane Garner, Lynne Horwood and Shirley Sullivan and which outlines the means used to populate and publicise the repository to academic staff.
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