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Heather Todd
So Far, So Good: Value-adding Services "Down Under"
To put our mission "We link people with information" into practice, the University of Queensland Library in Brisbane, Australia provides value-adding services — both high-tech and low-tech.
Achieving High-tech Success
For example, last year the new high-tech Journal Article Service was launched. This online service facilitates requesting and delivery of articles. What began as a temporary solution to a short-term problem may end up as a permanent enhancement, so successful has it been.
"When the university decided to invest $13.5 million in a major expansion of the Biological Sciences Library we were very happy," observed Acting University Librarian Mary Lyons. "However, we knew there would be some inconvenience for at least a year. With the closing of an entire branch, and collections moved out of the old building, we realized it would be more difficult for clients to obtain items usually found on the library shelves.
"While most books were moved to other locations on campus, the print journals were stored in an air-conditioned warehouse several kilometers away. Clients may have been willing to walk a bit further to get their books, but the loss of the print journal collection was more problematic: A courier service would be slow and costly. Providing journal articles to the desktop made much more sense — and at minimal cost."
The library invested in new scanning equipment and ensured that the Internet link from the warehouse to UQ would be able to cope. In anticipation of the high demand for desktop delivery it had already invested heavily in electronic backsets of journals, and purchased 17 backsets from Elsevier — many in the STM area.
"The article delivery service has proven to be very popular with over 20,000 articles scanned so far," continued Ms. Lyons. "We even received requests on Christmas Day and at 12 AM on New Year's Day! With comments like 'Love the service — don't stop when you move back in from clients, it seems the disruption to our normal service is actually an improvement!'
Yet Embracing Low-tech Success
On the other end of the scale, the library has managed to satisfy "non-academic" reading requirements of some geographically isolated clients.
At UQ Gatton, 85 kilometers west of Brisbane, a Recreational Reading collection has been established, with a wide range of best-selling and popular fiction, award-winning titles and Australian fiction, plus best-selling biographies, sport and travel titles.
"Many UQ Gatton students — who are studying agribusiness, agriculture, animal studies, environmental management or horticulture — live on campus and have limited transport. They are quite isolated," noted UQ Gatton Library Manager Karen Seymour. "The fiction collection established several years ago for both staff and students on the campus has been very popular, and in response to client demand we decided to expand the collection. We now subscribe to several popular magazines such as Madison, Wheels and Rolling Stone. They are much appreciated."
On the other side of Brisbane, 30 kilometers southeast and ten kilometers across the water, is the Moreton Bay Research Station on Stradbroke Island, one of the world's largest sand islands. By day, the station (complete with mini-library) provides a wide range of marine research and teaching activities for groups including undergraduates, post-graduate and international researchers and government agencies.
By night, however, the station really comes into its own! In consultation with staff from the station, the library developed a feature film collection of major Australian films used by international students as part of their Australian Studies course. With not a lot of entertainment on the island, film showings are great opportunities for the researchers to soak in the Aussie culture. Popcorn is supplied by the students!
So, whether high-tech or low-tech, the University of Queensland Library is always seeking new and better ways
of doing business — including developing innovative value-adding services. So far, so good. 
The University of Queensland (UQ) is one of Australia's premier learning and research institutions. It is the largest and oldest university in Queensland and has produced generations of graduates who have gone on to become leaders in all areas of society and industry. The university is a founding member of the national Group of Eight, an alliance of research-strong "sandstone" universities committed to ensuring that Australia has higher education institutions which are genuinely world-class, and additionally belongs to the global Universitas 21 alliance. UQ also is building a cluster of international-quality research centers and institutes that will keep it at the forefront of emerging research fields, particularly among the biosciences.
www.uq.edu.au
