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Rhodes Scholar Rachel Swift Full Image (428.69K)

Friday, 18 June 2004

A South Australian Rhodes Scholar is among those appealing for public support to maintain and improve one of the State's greatest assets: the Barr Smith Library at the University of Adelaide.

With more than two million items in its collection, the Barr Smith is an invaluable resource not just for students and staff of the University but also to people throughout South Australia, the nation and even overseas.

The annual Barr Smith Library Appeal is on again, raising funds to maintain and build on its collections for the benefit of future generations. This year's appeal is focused on raising money for electronic resources, which are rapidly growing in importance.

Rachel Swift, 23, from Urrbrae, was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship to study at Oxford later this year. She says the library has made a major difference to the quality of her education.

"The Barr Smith Library has provided a wealth of valuable resources to supplement my studies," says Ms Swift, who is currently finishing a double-degree in Science and Arts at the University of Adelaide.

"The ability to instantly access worldwide research of the highest quality is the foundation for developing a strong research environment, which the Barr Smith Library clearly fosters," she says.

University Librarian Ray Choate says the library is well underway to making its mark in the "virtual age", and requires further support to do so.

"The Barr Smith Library is a pre-eminent research library for print collections, and print remains a primary focus in our collecting. However, we are also a leader in virtual access to materials over the World Wide Web.

"Seventy percent of our research journals are now delivered electronically to the desktop of the researcher and student. Our Electronic Texts collection is averaging nearly 35,000 online requests per day," Mr Choate says.

He says funds raised in this year's appeal will not only support the print collections but will greatly assist in building electronic collections, through the acquisition of "ebooks" and use of scanning technology. Digitising one book alone costs around $150, which is why the annual appeal is so important.

Donations can be made to the Alumni, Community Relations and Development office: +61 8 8303 5800.