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Library Collections and Access Procedure

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

Section 1 - Purpose

(1) This Procedure outlines how the University’s Library manages and provides access to resources, collections and services for the following: 

  1. Part A – Library Collections: sets out the procedures 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 procedures for the management of Special Collections.
  3. Part C – Externally Managed Collections: sets out the procedures for the management of Externally Managed Collections.
  4. Part D – External Members: sets out the conditions of access to Library services and resources by External Members.

(2) This Procedure sets out specific conditions to be met to provide or limit access to some resources, buildings, and spaces.

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Section 2 - Scope

(3) This Procedure has the same scope as the Library Collections and Access Policy.

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Section 3 - Policy

(4) The governing Policy of this Procedure is the Library Collections and Access Policy.

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Section 4 - Procedure

Part A - Part A – Library Collections

Scope

(5) Part A of this Procedure has the same scope as Part A of the Library Collections and Access Policy.

Access

(6) Access to an electronic resource may be limited by its licensing conditions.

(7) Considering the Collection Management Criteria, the University will:

  1. support fair access to Library resources by suspending a person’s borrowing rights and applying a penalty if a Library resource on loan becomes overdue as allowed in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024;
  2. consider providing a resource via interlibrary loan or on-demand document delivery if it is not available in the Library or not suitable for acquisition;
  3. consider technical requirements and other barriers to access for resources and supporting services; and
  4. provide resources and supporting information about access to the Library Collections and services on the Library web pages.

(8) To support access to physical resources and associated services, the University will:

  1. provide access to devices for printing, scanning and photocopying of Library-held physical resources subject to any licensing or copyright restrictions;
  2. enable the loan of physical resources held in the Library Collections at Bruce campus to staff and students;
  3. ensure, through contracts and partner Operations Manuals, that students studying through partners and at other University of Canberra campuses have equivalent access to the physical resources and services available to students studying at the Bruce campus, which are required to achieve their unit and course learning outcomes;
  4. provide services to enable access to the Library Collections at Bruce campus by members of the University community with a disability and/or ongoing health condition registered with the University, in collaboration with the relevant University support services; and
  5. provide services to eligible members of the University community unable to access physical resources located in the library spaces at Bruce campus, such as students studying online, to enable access to resources – information about these services and any associated fees will be included on the Library web pages as revised from time to time.

(9) Services for members of the University community who cannot access physical resources may include:

  1. postal loans from the Library Collections to staff and students located within Australia;
  2. photocopying and scanning print resources from the Library Collections that are not available electronically, subject to licensing, copyright, and any other relevant restrictions;
  3. research assistance including via phone, online chat and email services;
  4. document delivery; and
  5. interlibrary loans to staff and students located within Australia.

Acquisition

(10) Considering the Collection Management Criteria, the University will:

  1. enable acquisition of resources to support its education and research priorities;
  2. prioritise acquisition of resources which are Open Access resources and/or are Open Educational Resources (OERs);
  3. prioritise acquisition of electronic resources accessible online; and
  4. The University will ensure Library acquisitions are made within the annual budget provided for that purpose.

Discovery

(11) To support the discovery of resources in the Library Collections, the University will:

  1. catalogue resources in the Library Collections using the library management software;
  2. support the provision of a search function for the Library Collections;
  3. enable discovery of resources as allowed by their licensing and any other conditions; and
  4. support the provision of reading list software in unit teaching sites.

Borrowing

(12) Borrowing periods will be set by the University Librarian and be published on the Library web pages.

(13) Borrowing periods may vary according to whether a student is an undergraduate coursework student, a doctoral student, a masters by research student, or an honours student.

(14) Conditions that apply to borrowing a resource and penalties for damaged, lost or late items  will be published on the Library web pages.

(15) Library borrowers may review their loans and requests, and renew the loan of a resource, by accessing their personal Library account.

(16) Borrowed items may be recalled if requested by another borrower, or requested for the Short Loan Collection.

(17) A student may authorise another person to borrow or collect a Library resource on their behalf.

Short Loan Collection

(18) A resource in a Short Loan Collection is:

  1. a required or a recommended resource in a unit
  2. a physical resource, such as a paper book.
  3. A Unit Convener may determine a resource is a required or recommended resource in a unit.

(19) A penalty will apply to the borrower of a resource from the Short Loan Collection if it is returned late.

(20) Access to a resource in a Short Loan Collection is restricted to students currently enrolled in a course of study and to University staff.

Required and recommended resources for a unit or course of study

(21) The Unit Convener must ensure all required and recommended resources selected for a unit will be:

  1. accessible when needed by students enrolled in a unit or course of study; and
  2. available to students through the Reading List according to the timelines provided by the Library for the relevant teaching period; and
  3. available at no additional charge to the student beyond the student’s tuition fee when needed.

(22) A Unit Convener will select required and recommended resources from the existing Library Collections where it is possible to do so, noting that:

  1. the Library will acquire additional resources required or recommended for a unit or course for the Library Collections as requested by a Unit Convener, Program Director, research supervisor, or equivalent academic authority within the constraints of the Library budget, and subject to the Collection Management Criteria; and
  2. if a required or recommended resource selected does not comply with the Collection Management Criteria, the Library may suggest alternative equivalent resources; and
  3. the Library will provide support to a Unit Convener, Program Director, research supervisor, or equivalent academic authority to select an Open Educational Resource(s) and/or an Open Access resource(s) for required and recommended resources wherever it is possible to do so subject to the Collection Management Criteria.

Exception conditions for a required or recommended resource in a unit or course

Closed access exception conditions

(23) If a required or recommended resource proposed by a Unit Convener for acquisition is not an Open Educational Resource or an Open Access resource, it must meet one of the following exception conditions:

EXCEPTION CONDITION NO. DESCRIPTION
1 The Unit Convener has consulted with the Library and reviewed possible Open Educational Resources and Open Access resources, and resources already held in the Library Collections and found:
  • no Open Educational Resource or Open Access equivalent resource is available
  • an Open Educational Resource or Open Access equivalent resource is available but it lacks Australian context, and/or it does not meet the Collection Management Criteria
  • there is not an equivalent resource in the Library Collections which has unlimited licensing through its existing licensing and subscription arrangements with academic publishers.
2 The resource is one produced by, or required to be used by students, by an external accrediting body in a required unit in an externally accredited course.
3 The Unit Convener has established a plan to replace closed access resources with equivalent Open Access or Open Educational Resources within 2 calendar years, except for those that continue to be required by Exception Condition 2.

Physical resource exception conditions

(24) If a required or recommended resource in a unit or course of study must be a physical resource, it must meet ALL the following exception conditions:  

  1. the Library has been consulted and no electronic version of the resource, nor an equivalent electronic resource, is available;
  2. there are no students studying the unit online, flexibly, or at another location who need timely access to the resource;
  3. there are no students enrolled in the unit or course unable to physically access the resource at the Bruce campus, or at the relevant partner Library or another non-Bruce location; and
  4. there is a plan in place to replace the physical resource(s) with equivalent electronic resource(s) within 2 calendar years, or the resource is a physical resource that is only available electronically under limited conditions because of its format.

(25) To the extent that the Copyright Act 1968 allows, an electronic copy of a required or recommended physical resource must be made available online to students. 

(26) The Library may acquire physical resources to support the University’s research if the resources or equivalent resources are not available electronically or through interlibrary loan and document delivery services subject to the Library budget and consideration of the Collection Management Criteria.

Approval of an exception

(27) If a Unit Convener wishes to seek an exception to the conditions for required and recommended resources as described in clauses 23–25, they must seek written approval from their Head of School or equivalent.

(28) The Head of School must maintain a record of the exception condition and its approval.

(29) Approval of an exception condition applies for a single teaching period in which the resource is required or recommended.

Collection management

Consultation

(30) The Library will manage a university community consultation and priority setting process for the acquisition and deselection of resources.

(31) Priorities for acquisition of education and research resources beyond the ongoing licensing costs of the set of core scholarly databases will be:

  1. determined by the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (DVC) to support the achievement of the University’s strategic plan and any related faculty, education and research portfolio plans
  2. subject to the constraints on Library budget as set annually by the University.

(32) Decisions about the management of the Library Collections are the responsibility of the University Librarian in accordance with the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024 and will be informed and managed by:

  1. the University’s priorities for education and research
  2. consideration of the Collection Management Criteria
  3. priorities communicated to the Library through the consultation process
  4. good practice library administration.

(33) Resources accessible through the Library Collections will be subject to regular review using the Collection Management Criteria. The review schedule is dependent on the resource type, purpose, and licensing arrangement. Information about the review scheduled will be published on the Library web pages.

(34) If resources are under consideration for deselection the Library will consult with the relevant members of the university community prior to a final decision being made.

(35) Types of resources accessible through the Library Collections may include resources as defined in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024, including university theses and research outputs. Types of resources accessible through and held in the Library Collections may change from time-to-time in response to external and internal factors including technologies, licensing, access, modes of delivery, and the University’s education and research priorities.

(36) Resources will be catalogued in the library management software in accordance with academic library cataloguing standards.

(37) The Library will leverage collective subscription and licensing arrangements for the Library Collections where it is possible to do so, if those arrangements are relevant to the University’s strategic priorities for education and research.

(38) The Library will enable any member of the University community to recommend a resource for inclusion in the Library Collections.

(39) The Library will support the University’s adherence to the Copyright Act 1968 by:

  1. restricting access to resources to authorised users in accordance with any licensing and copyright restrictions via authenticated access controls
  2. requiring use of reading list software for recommended and required resources by Unit Conveners for copyright review.

(40) The Library will provide guidance on:

  1. what constitutes fair use;
  2. copyright restrictions;
  3. any licensing requirements related to the resource or software; and
  4. how to obtain permissions for use of copyrighted materials.

(41) The Library will enable digitisation of a print resource if commercial supply is unavailable and an alternative equivalent resource cannot be identified. Digitisation is subject to the Copyright Act 1968 and any associated electronic use licensing or restrictions.

(42) The Library will apply the Collection Management Criteria as appropriate to the resource.

Collection Management Criteria

(43) The primary consideration when applying the Collection Management Criteria to a resource is to ensure that:

  1. enrolled students have free and timely access to required and recommended resources in their unit or course of study when needed, and/or to support their research activities in a higher degree by research course
  2. staff teaching students or undertaking research in the areas of the University’s research priority have access to the resources required for that research. 

(44) The application of the Collection Management Criteria:

  1. must consider each Criterion
  2. may vary as the context of the resource varies – for example, size and location of the student cohort, or the proposed use for a resource
  3. applies to all aspects of collection management including acquisition, access, replacement and deselection.

(45) Application of the Criteria includes consideration of the following:

CONSIDERATIONS DESCRIPTION
Access
  • Licensing: The resource is an Open Educational Resource (OER), or is an Open Access (OA) resource, or has acceptable licensing and availability appropriate to the size and location of the user cohort and the use proposed for the resource
  • Required or recommended: The resource is required or recommended in a unit and a student enrolled in the unit can access the resource as and when they need to
  • Research priorities: The resource is required to support the achievement of the University’s research priorities as determined by the DVC
  • Electronic: The resource is electronic and can be made available online
  • Security of access: Access to the resource can be limited by the means of the University’s access controls as required by licensing restrictions and/or application of the Copyright Act 1968.
Cost of initial acquisition and ongoing acquisition costs
  • The type and frequency of access that is likely to be required
  • Cohort size
  • Options for interlibrary loan or document delivery (as relevant)
  • Initial acquisition costs to enable access for a student cohort (as relevant)
  • Total cost of ownership over the resource’s lifecycle (Will this resource be used be multiple teaching periods and/or years?)
Recency and relevance
  • The resource will provide the University community with access to current research and/or information relevant to the University’s education mission, or research priorities, or some other compelling strategic priority exists
  • The resource is seminal or important to a discipline or provide important historical context and understanding
  • The resource will contribute to supporting the University’s disciplines, courses, and/or education and research priorities, or fill an existing resource gap, or address an existing imbalance in the Library Collections
Demand and usage
  • There is evidence of ongoing or projected demand and usage, or the case put forward is acceptable
  • The vendor’s licensing of the resource supports the projected demand and usage
  • The resource is or will be required or recommended in a unit or for a course of study
  • The resource is required to support the University’s research priorities
  • Document delivery or inter-library loan is a suitable alternative to acquisition
  • An Open Educational Resource or an Open Access resource alternative can be identified
Language
  • Whether the resource is an English language resource, and
  • If the resource is not in English an acceptable rationale is provided by the stakeholder supporting its addition to the Library Collections
Quality
  • Whether the quality of the resource is sufficient for inclusion in the Library Collections. Considerations may include scholarship, creativity, and authority.

Connection with community

(46) The Library will:

  1. collaborate with the University community in collection development;
  2. enable public access to open educational resources and open access resources catalogued in the library management system; and
  3. provide access to resources to External Members as appropriate to their member type and relevant resource access conditions.

Part B - Special Collections

Scope

(47) Part B of this Procedure has the same scope as Part B of the Library Collections and Access Policy.

Procedure

(48) Information describing each Special Collection and its access conditions will be published on the Library’s web pages.

(49) A resource in a Special Collection:

  1. will be catalogued in the Library management system
  2. will be identifiable through the Library management system as belonging to a particular Special Collection, and the catalogue record made discoverable through the Library search
  3. will only be able to be viewed by prior arrangement with the Library
  4. must not be removed from the Bruce Campus library building
  5. will not be available to other libraries via document delivery or inter-library loans.

(50) An individual resource or set of resources in a Special Collection may have one or more special access and use conditions applied to ensure protection and preservation, such as:

  1. it may not be photocopied
  2. it may not be touched
  3. it may not be removed from the room to which it has been delivered for access
  4. it may require a Library staff member to remain in attendance.

(51) Special management conditions may include:

  1. a resource’s physical location and how its physical environment is managed
  2. who is allowed to have access to a resource in a Special Collection and under what conditions
  3. how the resource may be used
  4. conditions on a resource’s deselection.

(52) Individual resources may be individually managed to ensure their preservation.

Part C - Externally Managed Collections

Scope

(53) Part C of this Procedure has the same scope as Part C of the Library Collections and Access Policy.

Procedure

(54) An Externally Managed Collection will be managed according to the legal agreement between the University and the owner of the Externally Managed Collection.

(55) Information about the Externally Managed Collection will be published on the Library’s web pages if allowed in the legal agreement and appropriate to that collection.

Part D - External Members

Scope

(56) Part D of this Procedure has the same scope as Part D of the Library Collections and Access Policy.

Procedure

(57) The University or the University Librarian may approve a person, a group of persons, or an organisation to be External Members.

(58) The Library will publish the list of External Member types on the Library web pages, as amended from time-to-time.

(59) Borrowing rights for External Members will be determined by the External Member type. The borrowing rights for each External Member type will be published on the Library web pages.

(60) A fee may be associated with an application to become an External Member; for example, a Community Member.

(61) An External Member will be provided with a Library-issued identity card that enables restricted access to physical Library resources.

(62) External Members may:

  1. access the Bruce Campus Library spaces during public access hours
  2. access open educational and open access electronic resources
  3. request assistance, which will be provided at the discretion of Library staff
  4. borrow a maximum of 10 physical resources from the General Collection (excluding items in the Short Loan Collection)
  5. renew a borrowed resource if that resource is not reserved by another Library borrower
  6. place reservations on any general items that are already borrowed (excluding items in the Short Loan Collection).

Access restrictions

(63) Access to the physical Bruce Campus Library spaces is available to External Members during public opening hours only. Public Bruce Library spaces’ opening hours will be published on the Library web pages.

(64) Public opening hours will vary according to the University’s calendar, business requirements, and other factors as determined by the University Librarian.

(65) External Members will not be provided with access to electronic resources that are not Open Access resources or Open Educational Resources due to licensing restrictions.

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Section 5 - Responsibilities

WHO RESPONSIBILITIES
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.
Head of School (or equivalent) Reviewing requests for and record any approvals of exception conditions.
Library staff Implementing this Procedure and the associated Policy as directed by the University Librarian in compliance with the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024.
Staff Applying this Procedure and the associated Policy as required by the University Librarian and comply with the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024.
Students Complying with the direction of the Library staff and in compliance with the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024.
Unit Convener Implementing this Procedure and the associated Policy relevant to their role in compliance with the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024.
University community As described throughout this Procedure and in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024 as relevant to their status as staff or student. (See also Staff and Student.)
University librarian Complying with the responsibilities as described in Part 2(6) of the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Services) Rules 2024.
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Section 6 - Definitions

TERM DEFINITION
Collection  Has the meaning given to it in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024. 
Collection management The acquisition, retention and management, preservation, and provision of access to resources in the Library Collections.
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 to ‘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.
Library As defined in the University of Canberra Facilities (Library and Information Service) Rules 2024.
Library Collections As defined in Part A of the Library Collections and Access Policy.
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.
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?) 
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) 
Open license The use of an open license, such one of the six 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.
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 for reading list management and displayed in unit teaching sites in UCLearn(Canvas).
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 (ULO).
Resource As defined in the University of Canberra (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 Special Collection defined by the University Librarian as a Special Collection. A Special Collection is typically a 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 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) who 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.  
Unit As defined in the University of Canberra Courses and Awards (Courses of Study) Rules 2023.
Unit teaching site The online teaching site created in the learning management system for a coursework unit offered in a teaching period.
University community The University of Canberra’s staff and students as defined in this Procedure.
University librarian As defined in the University of Canberra (Library and Information Service) Rule 2024.