RESOURCE CENTRE
General. The Resource Centre offers students and staff of the College a wide range of library and audio-visual services. Besides providing access to collections of learning resource materials and loans of materials and equipment, the Resource Centre takes an active role in providing information, educational activities and media design and production to support teaching and research programs.
The Resource Centre operates on four campuses and at several service sites:
Carseldine Telephone 263 6222 - ext 246 (Loans) - ext 255 (Information)
- ext 297 (Audio-visual Services) Carseldine Curriculum Centre
Telephone 263 6222 - ext 296 (Loans) - ext 349 (Information)
- ext 297 (Audio-visual Services) Kedron Park Telephone 57 7077 - ext 258 (Loans)
- ext 231 (Information)
- ext 278 (Audio-visual Services) Kelvin Grove Telephone direct lines 352 8359 (Loans)
352 8374 (Information)
352 8383 (Audio-visual Services) Telephone direct lines 343 0692 (Loans and Information)
343 0777 (Audio-visual Services) Mount Gravatt
The Resource Centre on each campus supports the teaching and research programs of the academic schools and divisions based at that campus and resources are dis- tributed according to the courses taught there. Hence the strength of the Resource Centre at the Carseldine campus is primary and pre-school teacher education, recreation and welfare; Kedron Park - business studies: Kelvin Grove - secondary teacher educa- tion, creative and performing arts, social and community studies, and early childhood studies; Mount Gravatt - primary, pre-school, special education, manual arts and TAFE teacher education. At present the Resource Centre collections hold about 600,000 volumes of print and audio-visual materials.
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Opening Hours. Notices displaying Resource Centre hours are prominent on the cam- puses and in brochures included in the Resource Centre Guide which is available dur- ing Orientation Week and from the Information Desks.
Membership. All staff and full-time and part-time students are automatically 'members' of the Resource Centre and may borrow materials on any and all of the campuses. All users must produce their College identification card whenever and wherever they borrow.
Staff and students may also be eligible to register for reciprocal borrowing privileges from a number of other tertiary institutions. Enquiries may be made at Circulations Desks.
Students who are undertaking continuing education programs may need to register as Associate Borrowers. For information on borrower status ask at the Circulations Desk.
Audio-visual Services. Classroom services, equipment loans and production services are offered by the Resource Centre through its Audio-visual Services unit.
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Audio-visual Services on each campus provide facilities for the production of material in a variety of formats for lectures, seminars, evaluative studies and field work. Produc- tion services include slide-copying, black-and-white and colour photography, microfilming, audio and video recording and production, laminating and graphics. Staff are available for the professional planning and production of programs.
Classroom services are available for student and staff teaching needs but should be booked well in advance.
Equipment loans of cassette recorders, projectors, cameras, portapaks and a wide range of other specialist hardware and associated accessories are available from the Audio- visual Services staff. Where necessary, training in the use of the Resource Centre's equipment may be arranged with the staff.
Information Services. The Resource Centre provides a range of information services to users. Librarians are always on duty at the Information Desks to answer queries and to help users find and use the collections and resources. Inter-library loans may be ar- ranged if the Resource Centre cannot provide the needed material. On-line searches of information databases are offered for appropriate reference needs; however, some charges may be made for this service.
Consultation with teaching staff on the development of resources and services is promot- ed through the departmental liaison service.
User Education. The Resource Centre is committed to teaching students efficient information-seeking skills. The development of such skills is seen as important both for students' success in their College studies and for their general professional development.
All new students have the opportunity to participate in orientation sessions. The aim of these sessions is to familiarise students with the facilities and services available, explain how the catalogues are organised and how to locate and borrow items from the collection.
Instruction on more sophisticated subject-oriented information search strategies is offered to class groups and individual students. Teaching staff interested in these programs should contact their Liaison Librarian and students should enquire at the Information Desk or ask their lecturers.
A range of information and instructional publications and audio-visual programs is avail- able to users. These include orientation guides, literature and research guides and bib- liographies. Ask for them at the Information Desk.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Circulation Services. The Resource Centre's broad policies relating to circulation serv- ices are outlined in the Resource Centre Guide. However, some procedural details may differ from campus to campus. Notices and guides are available at each campus.
The following Rules and Schedules promulgated by the College Council apply through- out the Resource Centre:
Any resource borrower who returns resource materials later than the stipulated loan period will be deemed guilty of a breach of discipline/ misconduct and will be subject to penalties (including fines) according to the schedules established from time to time by the Resource Centre for each resource item retained in ex- cess of the stipulated period.
Any resource borrower who retains resource material in excess of the stipulated loan period as set out in the resource schedule for a period deemed unreasona- ble by the Campus Principal will be subject to disciplinary action as stated in the provisions of By-Law No. 7/By-Law No. 8. In the case of unreturned resource materi- als, this action would normally be to charge restitution costs for the material con- cerned.
In the event that a student has not discharged his/her financial liability to the in- stitution at the completion of a semester, he/she shall not receive a certification of the award to which he/she is entitled, under which circumstances he/she is not entitled to seek re-enrolment in a succeeding semester, or to graduate.
Schedules to Cover Regulations for the Borrowing of Items from the Resource Centre:
1. Student 'Resource item' loans Loan periods: two weeks
Fines: 20c per day to a maximum of $5 for one item 2. Staff 'Resource item' loans
Loan periods: four weeks
Fines: 20c per day to a maximum of $5 for one item 3. Student and Staff 'short term' loans
Loan periods: as specified at time of borrowing Fines: as displayed at the place of borrowing
4. If for a period of more than two weeks, liability by way of fine or restitu- tion remains outstanding, then borrowing privileges will be forfeited.
Cataloguing System. The Resource Centre uses the Dewey Decimal classification sys- tem for the organisation of its collection materials. All new materials are listed in the multi-campus microfiche catalogue. Users at Kelvin Grove campus will also need to check their campus card catalogue for complete collection coverage.
Copying Facilities. The Resource Centre on each campus has photocopiers and micro- form reader-printers for self-service copying of materials in accordance with the provi- sions of the Copyright Act.
COMPUTING SERVICES
Introduction. The Computing Services Unit is responsible for the provision of comput- ing facilities and services. A variety of equipment, software, data communications facil- ities and human resources is available to meet computing needs which arise from the teaching and research activities of the College, as well as from support areas including administrative branches and the Resource Centre. In addition, the computing needs 98
of the community are recognised and addressed by the Computing Services Unit.
Although the College is well equipped to meet the bulk of its computing needs internal- ly, provision is made for external computing services to be accessed where necessary.
Computing Policy and Planning. The major directions, as well as the policies and plans for the provision of computing facilities and services within the College arise from proposals to the Executive Principal from the Computing Policy and Planning Commit- tee. The Computing Policy and Planning Committee is receptive to proposals concern- ing the computing needs of users and potential users throughout the College as a basis for policy formulation. The Computing Policy and Planning Committee acts in an advi- sory capacity to the Manager of Computing Services, where necessary.
Copies of all papers of the Computing Policy and Planning committee meetings, includ- ing terms of reference of all related committees and groups are held in each campus Resource Centre.
Organisation and Management. The College has adopted a model for the delivery of computing services which incorporates decentralised operations and distributed process- ing in conjunction with centralised organisation and management. It is felt that this model is appropriate in respect to the geographic distribution of the users, and the need to provide an effective and efficient service.
The Computing Services Unit is under the control of the Manager,Computing Services, who is the administrative and technical director of all Computing Services activities in the College. The Manager of Computing Services is responsible to the Executive Prin- cipal for the implementation of the computing policies and plans adopted by the College.
The work of the Computing Services Unit is carried out by the three functional sections which it incorporates. These sections and their major functions are described below.
The Customer Services Section provides a computing consultancy and support service to College staff generally. The work of the Customer Services Section includes the pro- vision of training programs for staff, the co-ordination of systems and standards to as- sist staff and student users, and the provision of an information service about computing in the College. The Customer Services Section is under the control of the Manager of Customer Services, who supervises a staff of Computer System Advisers, a Computer Software Librarian, Computer Centre Receptionists and Data Entry Operators. It is in- tended that the first point of contact between users and potential users and the Com- puting Services Unit be the campus-based Computer Systems Adviser or the Computer Centre Receptionist.
The Systems Development Section provides for the software development needs of the College. This includes a planning, consultancy and advisory service to user departments, in addition to a range of related services including feasibility studies, systems analysis and design, programming and conversion. The Systems Development Section is under the control of the Manager of Systems Services, who supervises a staff of Systems Analysts and Programmers. It is intended that the Systems Development Section pro- vides a common unified facility for the development of in-house computer software for all user departments of the College. The task of prioritisation of software development projects rests with the Systems Group which is a sub- committee of the Computing Policy and Planning Committee. The Systems Group makes recommendations on these mat- ters to the Executive Principal.
The Technical Services Section provides for computer operations in the campus Com- puter Centres, and for a variety of technical support services including the selection, acquisition, installation and maintenance of all computing equipment, proprietary soft- ware and data communications facilities for the College. The Technical Services Sec- tion is under the control of the Manager of Technical Services who supervises a staff which includes the Network Operations Supervisor and Computer Operators as well as
GENERAL INFORMATION
a Technologist and Computer Technicians. The Technical Services Section has a limit- ed capacity for the design and fabrication of specialised computer hardware to meet specific needs in areas applicable to the sphere of activities of the College.
Computing Facilities. The computing facilities available within the College include a distributed network of Hewlett Packard HP3000 minicomputers with at least one node on each campus supporting in excess of 220 terminals and other peripheral devices, in excess of 90 micro-computer systems together with a wide variety of computer soft- ware which is applicable to the diverse teaching, research, data-processing and community-based activities of the College. The College also operates a DEC LSI 11 computer system for special purpose research into psychology and special education.
Access to local, national and overseas computer-based information processing and retrieval services is available via telecommunications links.
College Computer Users Committee. The College Computer Users Committee pro- vides a forum for discussion of the major interests of users of computing applications in the light of available resources and facilities, and of operational factors as they affect users. The College Computer Users Committee provides input to the Computing Policy and Planning Committee, and liaises directly with the Manager of Computing Services and with Sectional Managers of the Computing Services Unit. It assists the Manager of Computing Services in the identification of equipment, software, training and other needs. The members of the College Computer Users Committee are the six chairper- sons of the local Computer Users Groups.
Local Computer Users Groups. There are six Local Computer Users Groups which bring together interested users on each of the four campuses, and in addition users within the College administrative branches and the Resource Centre. Participation in meetings is open to all local staff. Staff should ensure that student interests are brought to the attention of the relevant group.
Special Interest Groups In Computing. These groups provide a forum for staff to dis- cuss areas of computing which are more specialised. Two such groups have been formed.
The Special Interest Group in Reading and Reading Research is involved in exploring the use of computer technology to assist the controlled study of reading. The Microcom- puter Special Interest Group caters for staff interested in either learning how to use a microcomputer or sharing their knowledge and expertise in this field with others. The group holds regular meetings, conducts workshops and produces a newsletter.