UTS Library

UTS Library
Country Australia
Type Academic library
Established 1988
Location Sydney
Access and use
Population served 35,000
Other information
Director Mal Booth (2011–)
Staff 110
Website Library Website

UTS Library provides support for the teaching, learning and research needs of the students and staff of the University of Technology, Sydney (UTS). UTS Library is located in Haymarket, Sydney. The library is widely recognised as a leader in the innovative implementation of library services, facilities and technologies. UTS Library provides access to an extensive range of electronic resources including more than 46,000 full text eJournals (unique titles), over 98,000 eBooks and a collection of approximately 1 million books, journals and audiovisual items.

Services

Many library services are available online via the Library’s website. These include the Library Catalogue, borrowing information, referencing and writing help, BONUS+ and InterLibrary Loans, and assistance via the Ask a Librarian service. 'Ask a Librarian' offers clients a number of ways to communicate with library staff, including face-to-face, online chat, and via telephone or email. Research consultation can also be arranged for postgraduate research students and staff.

The Library has an active presence on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. In addition, the Library maintains a YouTube collection of online learning modules, designed to enhance skills in assignment writing, project management, teamwork, ethics, academic writing and speaking, referencing, statistics, mathematics and information literacy.

Facilities

Facilities include individual and group study areas, silent study rooms, discussion and group presentation rooms, a special needs room with adaptive equipment and software, a Researchers' centre for postgraduate research students and staff, express catalogues and self-service loans machines. Internet access for mobile devices and laptops is available throughout the library, as well as printing and photocopying services. Library staff provide face-to-face assistance at service points in the library and deliver a comprehensive information skills training program throughout the semester. The Library is also home to over 400 computers for UTS students and staff, and a number specifically for community members.

Library Retrieval System

The Library Retrieval System (LRS) is an automated storage and retrieval system (ASRS) for the library's low use items. The LRS currently houses 325,000 items, whilst 250,000 of the more recent and regularly accessed items of the library collection remain sitting physically on shelves.[1] The system has capacity for around one million items, ensuring a long-term storage solution for many years to come.

UTS is only the second library in Australia to use this technology, though the technology has been tested and proven in around 30 libraries in the US. UTS Library's LRS is located underground and the first to combine ASRS with Radio-frequency identification (RFID) tagging, making it one of the most technically sophisticated library systems in the world.[2] The LRS forms part of the university's City Campus Masterplan,[3] which has seen a rollout of major new buildings and facilities. The facility is highly sustainable, having been constructed as part of the 5 Green Star design rated Thomas St project nearby. These sustainable features include sustainable concrete, high grade insulation and thermal control, a natural air cooling system, a natural light feature and waste minimisation and management during construction.

It is envisaged in the City Campus Master Plan[4] that the library will eventually be relocated to a new premises forming part of the UTS Central project on Broadway, at the heart of the University Campus.

More information about the Library Retrieval System is available on the Library’s website.

Special Collections

UTS Library has a number of special collections, particularly related to the field of design. In 2011, UTS Library purchased a special collection of material relating to the Australian artist, writer and sculptor Norman Lindsay. The collection of over 700 items was formed by the cartoonist and television broadcaster James Kemsley. The collection consists of printed material – mostly books, some journals, ephemera, original illustrations, the partial manuscript of an unpublished novel by Lindsay and some original letters – dating from 1858 to 2006. The Norman Lindsay Collection contains books by and about Norman Lindsay, his extended artistic family including his brother Lionel and his literary son Jack, and the artistic milieu in which they moved. The collection is of interest to historians and researchers in the social sciences and visual communication field.

Information literacy programs

The Library has adopted the Australian Information Literacy Standards as the basis for the information literacy framework and information skills programs at UTS. Collaboration between Library staff, academic staff and other professional units at UTS is required to integrate information literacy activities into courses and to achieve quality learning outcomes. Librarians work in collaboration with academic staff to deliver course-related training, integrated into the curriculum and delivered in appropriate online and face-to-face formats.

The Library aims to ensure that the UTS community has the information literacy skills to enable information retrieval and management, to undertake quality research and to develop effective lifelong learning skills.

UTS ePRESS

UTS ePress is the digital, open access scholarly publishing arm of the university. The press publishes scholarly titles across a broad range of academic disciplines, including governance, history, law, literacy, international studies, society and social justice and indigenous studies. UTS ePress was established in 2004 to further open access to scholarly outputs, publishing peer-reviewed, scholarly literature in areas of strategic priority for UTS and beyond, attracting the involvement of scholars from around the world. The UTS eScholarship team are responsible for the management and publication of scholarly output through UTSePress. Published works are harvested by and searchable via Google Scholar. In addition, UTS eScholarship supports the data management of UTS and is home to the Australian Data Archive (ADA) NSW node and the national host of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Data Archive (ATSIDA).

History

The University of Technology, Sydney was originally known as the New South Wales Institute of Technology (1965–1988). At that time, library services were provided through the libraries of the Sydney Technical College (STC) and at the East Sydney Technical College (ESTC) from 1965 to 1971.

Other library services were established in:

The Markets Library was the University's first purpose-built library. Originally planned to replace the Brickfield Hill Library, it was large enough to also house the Broadway Library collection. The architect Philip Cox, effectively combined old brickwork and the bell tower of the Sydney Markets into the design of the new building. The restored bell tower stands sentinel outside the library.[5] The Kuring-gai Campus Library was closed in late 2015 as UTS consolidated services at the city campus.

University Librarians

There have been four University Librarians at UTS Library:

References

  1. ↑ http://www.itnews.com.au/Gallery/391061,photos-inside-uts-underground-robot-library.aspx/2#pic
  2. ↑ http://www.abc.net.au/news/2014-08-10/robots-take-control-of-sydneys-hidden-book-bunker/5658334
  3. ↑ http://www.uts.edu.au/partners-and-community/initiatives/city-campus-master-plan/overview
  4. ↑ "City Campus Master Plan: Library Retrieval System". University of Technology, Sydney.
  5. ↑ Dorothy G. Peake; Wilga A. Wilschefski (1989). A History of Library Services. University of Technology, Sydney. ISBN 0949100676.

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