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Library Collections and Access Policy

This document is not in force yet. It will take effect from 01/01/2025.

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This Policy sets out the principles for how the University’s Library manages and provides access to resource collections and services for the following:

  1. Part A – Library Collections: sets out the principles for the management of the Library Collections to provide free and timely access to these by staff, students, and external members to support the education and research priorities of the University.
  2. Part B – Special Collections: sets out the principles for the management of Special Collections.
  3. Part C - Externally Managed Collections: sets out the principles for the management of Externally Managed Collections.
  4. Part D - External Members: sets out the principles for access to Library services and resources by External Members.

(2) This Policy describes specific conditions that provide or limit access to some resources, buildings, and spaces.

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Section 2 - Scope

(3) Each of the Parts of this Policy has its own scope specific to a collection type or to an External Member type.

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Section 3 - Principles

Part A - Library Collections

Scope

(4) Part A of this Policy:

  1. applies to the Library Collections and to staff and students as defined in this Policy;
  2. sets out the principles for the management of the University of Canberra Library Collections by its Library; and
  3. supports the University’s priorities for education and research through management of access to physical and electronic resources in its Library Collections. 

(5) The scope of Part A of this Policy applies to the Library Collections’ resources catalogued in the Library management software, specifically the: 

  1. General Collection, which comprises electronic and physical resources as defined in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024, and includes the Short Loan Collection and the UC Authors Collection
  2. Deposit Collection
  3. Thesis Collection.

Principles

Access

(6) Library Collections access management will ensure:

  1. students have access to resources required to succeed in their course of study regardless of the mode of delivery of a unit/course or a student’s physical location 
  2. access to necessary resources for staff who are teaching the University’s students or undertaking research.

(7) The Library will:  

  1. prioritise acquiring and providing access to open access resources such as those with Creative Commons licenses, including Open Educational Resources (OERs)
  2. prioritise acquiring and providing access to electronic resources in preference to physical resources  
  3. catalogue resources in the Library Collections so they are discoverable via Library Search 
  4. provide the University community with free and timely access to resources held in the Library Collections to the extent that licensing and technical requirements allow 
  5. support partners, faculties and business units to ensure students studying online and at all student locations have equivalent access to required, recommended and research resources to support their learning and meet their Course Learning Outcomes (CLOs) 
  6. support students’ timely access to a unit’s required and recommended resources when needed, to achieve a unit’s unit learning outcomes
  7. support students’ timely access when needed to resources required to enable them to undertake research in a higher degree by research course
  8. facilitate access to resources not held in the Library Collections through interlibrary loans and document delivery services, where those resources are required to support the University’s education and research priorities.

Collection management

(8) The Library will manage the Library Collections in collaboration with the University community in accordance with the Library’s Collection Management Criteria to:  

  1. support equity of access to education and research resources 
  2. align with the University’s strategic priorities for education
  3. support the University’s research priorities
  4. ensure compliance with relevant Legislation, Standards, Statutes, Rules, Policies and Procedures
  5. ensure good practice financial management of the Library budget
  6. manage regular valuations of the Library Collections and Special Collections
  7. ensure the collection is relevant, current and aligned with teaching and research priorities of the University.

Connection with community

(9) The Library will: 

  1. be a learning hub for the education and research activities of the University 
  2. engage with the University community in priority setting for acquisitions in alignment with the Collection Management Criteria   
  3. engage with Library-focused associations, groups and other libraries to maintain and build knowledge of best practice and emerging trends and initiatives in collection management and library policy  
  4. engage with the wider ACT community as relevant to support the achievement of the University’s approved strategic plan.

Part B - Special Collections

Scope

(10) Part B of this Policy applies to Special Collections, including: 

  1. the Clough Collection
  2. the Rare Books Collection 
  3. any other Special Collection as determined by the University Librarian. 

Principles

(11) A Special Collection:

  1. will be determined by the University Librarian per clause 6(1)(a) of the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024
  2. can only be acquired and determined via donation to the University  

(12) A Special Collection will typically be a formed collection; that, is, no additional resources will be acquired to add to that collection. 

(13) Acceptance of a donation of a Special Collection is at the discretion of the University Librarian on consideration of both: 

  1. the University’s ability to appropriately manage and support the donation in perpetuity  
  2. its relevance to the University’s education and research priorities. 

(14) Deselection of a resource from a Special Collection may occur under conditions such as:

  1. the University Librarian determines that the resource is no longer required 
  2. a resource is damaged and irreparable. 

(15) Resources in a Special Collection:

  1. will be discoverable in the Library Search 
  2. are not able to be borrowed. 

(16) Individual resources in a Special Collection may be individually managed to ensure their preservation.

Valuation

(17) A valuation of each named Special Collection will occur every 5 years.

(18) A valuation of a Special Collection will be undertaken in compliance with the Finance Governance Policy.

Part C - External Managed Collections

Scope

(19) Part C of this Policy applies to External Managed Collections, including:

  1. the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature (NCACL) 
  2. any other Externally Managed Collection as determined by the University Librarian. 

Principles

(20) From time to time the University Librarian may agree that the Library will host an Externally Managed Collection because the Externally Managed Collection proposed to the University:

  1. is of national or international importance;
  2. is closely aligned with and supports the University’s education and research priorities; and 
  3. the University has the capacity, capability and financial ability to do so.

(21) The University and the owner of an Externally Managed Collection will sign a legally binding agreement setting out respective roles and responsibilities for the hosting and management of the Externally Managed Collection.  

(22) Where a legally binding agreement is required, the delegate must consult with and receive advice from the Office of the General Counsel on the agreement.

Part D - External Members

Scope

(23) Part D of this Policy applies to external Members as defined in this Policy

Principles

(24) The University Librarian may approve an External Member’s access to a Library resource and/or collection.  

(25) External Member access to and borrowing of resources in a collection will be determined by the type of External Member as determined by the University Librarian in accordance with the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024.

(26) External Member access to and borrowing of resources in a collection will be limited by:

  1. the conditions which apply to each collection or individual resource or set of resources in a collection including licensing agreements, technical requirements, copyright, special access or management conditions  
  2. any other factors as determined by the University Librarian. 

(27) The right of an External Member to access or borrow a resource is at the discretion of the University Librarian as described in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024.

(28) An External Member is prohibited from accessing and borrowing Required or Recommended resources.

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Section 4 - Responsibilities

WHO RESPONSIBILITIES
Library staff Implementing this Policy and the associated Procedure as directed by the University Librarian in compliance with the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024.
University Librarian Complying with the responsibilities as described in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024.
External Members Complying with the agreement for access to the Library and Library Collections for their category of External Member as determined by the University Librarian.
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Section 5 - Definitions

TERM DEFINITION
Clough Collection  The research collection purchased from Dr Richard Clough in 1974. The Clough Collection comprises early works on the history of landscape, landscape design, gardens in many countries, plants and gardening, art, architecture and design. Titles held in the Clough Collection are discoverable through Library Search. 
Collection  Has the meaning given to it in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024. 
Course Has the meaning given to it in the University of Canberra Courses and Awards (Courses of Study) Rules 2023.
Creative Commons licenses The Creative Commons licenses that are designed ‘give everyone from individual creators to large institutions a standardized way to grant the public permission to use their creative work under copyright law’. There are 6 different Creative Commons license types.
Deposit Collection  The Deposit Collection which aims to hold one copy of each University-created publication, in an e-preferred format.
Externally managed collection A collection not managed by the University but held in or by the Library as determined by a legal agreement by the entity managing the collection.
External Member A person who, or organisation that, is not a current University of Canberra staff member, or student, and who has access to and borrowing rights for Library resources determined by their approved External Member status and the type of library resource or collection type.
Formed collection A Collection where no additional resources will be acquired by the Library for that Collection.
Library As defined in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024.
Library Collections As defined in the Scope under Part A – Library Collections.
Library management software The software used by Library staff for managing print, electronic and electronic resources including cataloguing. 
Library Search The search interface that provides the gateway to resources catalogued in the Library’s library management software in response to a search query.
National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature (NCACL) The resources for the National Centre for Australian Children’s Literature (NCACL) are catalogued in the Library management software, and searchable via the Library Search. Management of this collection is the responsibility of NCACL, a registered charity whose operations are managed by volunteers, and through its own Collection Policy. The University has a formal agreement with the NCACL Incorporated to provide specified services.  
Open license The use of an open license, such one of the 6 Creative Commons licenses, to grant the public permission to use the work as allowed by the license type selected, such as reusing, sharing and/or adapting/remixing  a work protected by copyright.
Open Access (OA)  ‘Free access to information and unrestricted use of electronic resources for everyone. Any kind of digital content can be OA, from texts and data to software, audio, video, and multi-media. While most of these are related to text only, a growing number are integrating text with images, data, and executable code. OA can also apply to non-scholarly content, like music, movies, and novels.’ (UNESCO, What is Open Access?) (see also Creative Commons)
Open Educational Resources (OERs) ‘Learning, teaching and research materials in any format and medium that reside in the public domain or are under copyright that have been released under an open license, that permit no-cost access, re-use, re-purpose, adaptation and redistribution by others. Open license refers to a license that respects the intellectual property rights of the copyright owner and provides permissions granting the public the rights to access, reuse, re-purpose, adapt and redistribute educational materials.’ (UNESCO Open Educational Resources). (see also Creative Commons)
Rare Books Collection  The Rare Books Collection comprised of books with an imprint pre-1900, plus some special or limited editions.
Reading list  Has the meaning given to it in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024.
Reading list software The software used to provide a unit’s reading list to students within their UCLearn (Canvas) teaching site.
Recommended resource  Any supplementary but recommended resource identified by a Unit Convener to support a student’s successful achievement of a unit’s Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs). 
Required resource  A compulsory resource in any unit or course as determined by a Unit Convener as essential for a student’s successful achievement of a unit’s Unit Learning Outcomes (ULOs). 
Resource  As defined in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024. 
Short Loan Collection  The Short Loan Collection of required and recommended resources as selected by academic staff. Resources in the Short Loan Collection are available for a reduced loan period according to demand.
Special Collection  A collection defined by the University Librarian as a Special Collection. A Special Collection is typically a formed collection (see Formed collection). Resources in a Special Collection may not be borrowed. Access to a resource in a Special Collection is by application to the Library staff.
Staff A person who is a member of the staff of the University, whether full-time, part-time, contract, sessional or casual and includes all academic, professional, technical and administrative officers and employees, and for the purposes of this Policy and the associated Procedure includes staff at Third Party Providers who teach University of Canberra students.
Student  A person (including a member of staff employed by the University) undertaking any course for higher education provided by the University, including:   
  • any course leading to the award of a degree, diploma or certificate of the University; or   
  • a unit forming part of such a course.  
Thesis Collection  The Thesis Collection which is the collection of theses completed at the University of Canberra or at the Canberra College of Advanced Education. 
UC Authors Collection  The UC Authors Collection is a collection of books and book chapters by University of Canberra authors held by the Library.  
University community  All University staff and students.
University Librarian  As defined in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024.